Thrift Wood nature reserve
BicknacreMap Ref: TL 790 017.
Public Transport - Buses run every half hour between Chelmsford and South Woodham Ferrers, stopping at the main gate.
Dogs allowed if under effective control.
Directions
The entrance is on the B1418 road 400m south of the Brewer's Arms pub in Bicknacre. There is parking for a few cars at the main gate, with overflow parking on the verge opposite.
This 48 acre wood consists of Hornbeam coppice with many Oak standards, some Birch, Ash and coppiced Sweet Chestnut, and a number of Wild Service trees.
Designation:
Site of Special Scientific Interest
What to look for:
The reserve is one of the principal sites in the county for Common Cow-wheat, food plant of the Heath Fritillary Butterfly. It also has lots of slender St John's wort, Heath Wood-rush and Pale and Pill sedges.
There is a sizeable pool with a raised bog, thought to have been formed many years ago from clay-digging for brickmaking.
There are a number of birds including Woodpeckers and a good population of woodland warblers. The wood teems with Wood Ants and has a wide range of other insects. Coppicing has been reintroduced, resulting in a marked increase in both resident and summer migrant birds and also in plantlife. The pond with its raised bog is cleared annually of rank vegetation.
Access
Accessible at all times.
Did you know?
The Heath fritillary butterfly became extinct in Essex but was re-established in the reserve in 1984.