The Green Chain website [visit link]
tells us:
"Oxleas Wood is part of a large
woodland including Jack Wood, Castle Wood and Shepherdleas Wood. Today Oxleas is
a very impressive ancient woodland, dominated by tall oak trees, with an
understorey of hazel and sweet chestnut. It is actively managed for nature
conservation and is reckoned by ecologists to be one of the most important
woodlands for wildlife in the whole of London. Together with Shepherdleas and
Jacks Wood it is the remains of a once much larger area of land which has been
continuously wooded for thousands of years. Over that time an incredibly complex
community of plants and animals have grown up and evolved
together.
The wood is home to many different
kinds of breeding birds including tree creepers, nuthatches, woodpeckers,
chiffchaffs, long tailed tits and the relative newcomers - ring necked
parakeets. A huge variety of flowering plants, tree and shrubs grow in the
woods. Many of them what are known as “ancient woodland indicators” (PDF, 51KB).
An outstanding feature of the wood is the number of wild service trees, of all
ages, scattered throughout the wood. This unusual berry-bearing native tree only
sows itself on land which has never been cultivated.
In spring there are drifts of
bluebells with wood anemone and wood sorrel, and in autumn a wide variety of
fungi (especially after mild wet spells).
There is a small water course - not
suitable for stream dipping.
Notable species
include:
Trees/shrubs: oak, silver birch, sweet chestnut, hornbeam, ash, wild
service tree, hazel, crack willow and alder; also, beech, birch, holly,
hawthorn, sycamore, yew, holm oak, turkey oak.
Oxleas Meadow:
A large area of
grassland, on the slope south from the cafe, much of it managed for wildlife. In
summer it is bright with buttercups, ox-eye daisies, yarrow, red and white
clover and humming with bees, grasshoppers, ladybirds and
butterflies.
Under the southern part of Oxleas
Meadow is a giant reservoir, built just under 30 years ago. It receives treated
water from the non-tidal reaches of the Thames and releases it for the needs of
people in a large area of south east London and north west Kent.
Falconwood Field is a large enclosed
field, opposite Oxleas Wood on Welling Way and opposite Eltham Park North on
Rochester Way. It is used as a short cut by commuters to Falconwood Station and
by dog walkers. In summer it is left to grow until late summer when the grass is
cut as a conservation meadow area and removed to encourage the wild flowers to
seed. By cutting it in this way the meadow species are
encouraged.
Crucial points from the site’s
history
Ancient woodland - storehouse of wildlife and materials essential to
people:
Parts of the woods are at least 8000 years old, dating back to the
last Ice Age. The steep slopes are part of the reason for its survival: land
like this was not suitable for cultivation or building. But the woodland itself
was anyway very valuable. For thousands of years, timber was the only raw
material for building as well as providing wood for fuel for cooking and
heating. Trees from here were used for ship-building in the Woolwich and
Deptford dockyards.
Travellers and robbers:
Shooters
Hill has been a major route for travellers since at least Roman times. It lies
on the straight line of the old Watling Street. When the woods are described in
early documents it is because they were a source of fear –they gave cover to
bands of robbers, intent on attacking travellers. As early as 1313, when Edward
II was on the throne, an order was made to widen the highway here, to reduce the
threat. This situation continued for the next 500 years, or more, with many
travellers carrying arms to defend themselves. The road over the hill was lined
with gibbets, displaying the hanged remains of convicted robbers. It came to
such a pitch that in 1810 a plan was suggested to dig a tunnel under Shooters
Hill in order to try to allow travellers to proceed unmolested by
highwaymen.
Recent protest and victory:
The
late 1980s and early 1990s saw a dramatic demonstration of public commitment to
the woods when a new road running north south (the East London River Crossing)
was planned to cut a great swathe through Oxleas and Shepherdleas Woods, and
link with a new crossing across the Thames. There was a long-running and
ultimately successful campaign to save the woods.
Rhododendron alert!:
These plants
originate from the Caucasus, and were planted by Victorian gardeners in the
gardens of the large houses which once stood at the top of Shooters Hill. Being
very vigorous growers, they spread much too successfully into the ancient
woodland and were threatening to crowd out the wild woodland plants. They are
evergreen and their leaf cover is very dense, so they shade out other plants and
act as an umbrella, drying out the soil beneath. When the leaves fall, they rot
only very slowly, preventing other plant seedlings getting up through the leaf
litter, and their leaf litter is very acid –which many plants cannot survive.
The rhododendron is now cut back regularly to keep it in check.
Severndroog Castle:
A very
unusual triangular building, with three towers around the edge. Built in1784 in
memory of sea-faring man, Sir William James, the tower has some of the most
spectacular views across London. On a clear day from the tower you can see
across seven counties.
Closed to the public in the 1980s,
it recently featured on the BBC programme Restoration, when local people bid for
the opportunity to restore it. Although unsuccessful in that bid, there is a now
a move to apply for Heritage Lottery Fund money.
Access points into
the site:
The Green Chain walk comes in from the south, from Shepherdleas
Wood across Rochester Way. The other branches come in at the north west corner
from Kenilworth Gardens, from the west from Eltham Common and at the north east
corner from across Bellegrove Road.
Other entrances come in from Welling
Way and Shooters Hill."