Oak Hill Wood is a Local Nature Reserve

Local Nature Reserve

Local nature reserve or LNR is a designation for nature reserves in the United Kingdom. The designation has its origin in the recommendations of the Wild Life Conservation Special Committee which established the framework for nature conservation in the United Kingdom and suggested a national suite...

, Borough Grade I, in East Barnet

East Barnet

East Barnet is an area of North London within the London Borough of Barnet bordered by New Barnet, Cockfosters and Southgate. It is a largely residential suburb whose central area, known locally as the Village, contains a variety of shops, public houses, restaurants and services. East Barnet is...

, London. It is owned by the London Borough of Barnet

London Borough of Barnet

The London Borough of Barnet is a London borough in North London and forms part of Outer London. It has a population of 331,500 and covers . It borders Hertfordshire to the north and five other London boroughs: Harrow and Brent to the west, Camden and Haringey to the south-east and Enfield to the...

 and managed by the London Wildlife Trust

London Wildlife Trust

London Wildlife Trust was founded in 1981. It is one of 47 members of the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts , each of which is a local nature conservation charity for its area....

.

It is an ancient woodland, dominated by pedunculate oak

Pedunculate Oak

Quercus robur is commonly known as the Pedunculate Oak or English oak. It is native to most of Europe, and to Anatolia to the Caucasus, and also to parts of North Africa.-Taxonomy:Q...

, hornbeam

Hornbeam

Hornbeams are relatively small hardwood trees in the genus Carpinus . Though some botanists grouped them with the hazels and hop-hornbeams in a segregate family, Corylaceae, modern botanists place the hornbeams in the birch subfamily Coryloideae...

 and ash. A shrub layer includes hawthorns, field maple

Field Maple

Acer campestre, common name Field Maple, is a maple native to much of Europe, north to southern Scotland , Denmark, Poland and Belarus, and also southwest Asia from Turkey to the Caucasus, and north Africa in the Atlas Mountains...

s and wild service tree

Wild Service Tree

Sorbus torminalis , sometimes known as the Chequer Tree or Checker Tree, is a species of Sorbus native to Europe from England and Wales east to Denmark and Poland, south to northwest Africa, and southeast to southwest Asia from Asia Minor to the Caucasus and Alborz mountains.It is a medium-sized...

s, and among the ground flora are bluebell

Bluebell

-Plants:* genus Hyacinthoides** Common Bluebell ** Spanish Bluebell * genus Mertensia** Virginia Bluebell * Scottish Bluebell...

s and wood anenome

Anemone nemorosa

Anemone nemorosa is an early-spring flowering plant in the genus Anemone in the family Ranunculaceae, native to Europe. Common names include wood anemone, windflower, thimbleweed and smell fox, an allusion to the musky smell of the leaves...

s. Breeding birds include tawny owl

Tawny Owl

The Tawny Owl or Brown Owl is a stocky, medium-sized owl commonly found in woodlands across much of Eurasia. Its underparts are pale with dark streaks, and the upperparts are either brown or grey. Several of the eleven recognised subspecies have both variants...

s, nuthatch

Nuthatch

The nuthatches are a genus, Sitta, of small passerine birds belonging to the family Sittidae. Characterised by large heads, short tails, and powerful bills and feet, nuthatches advertise their territory using loud, simple songs...

es, tree creepers and stock doves. A small stream flows through the wood to join Pymme's Brook, which is also a Local Nature Reserve, in the neighbouring Oak Hill Park.

There is also an area of meadow which contains common wild flowers such as lady's bedstraw

Galium verum

Galium verum is a herbaceous perennial plant of the family Rubiaceae, native to Europe and Asia. It is a low scrambling plant, with the stems growing to long, frequently rooting where they touch the ground. The leaves are long and broad, shiny dark green, hairy underneath, borne in whorls of 8–12...

 and common knapweed

Centaurea nigra

Centaurea nigra is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family known by the common names Lesser Knapweed, Common Knapweed and Black Knapweed...

. It has common butterflies such as gatekeeper

Gatekeeper Butterfly

The Gatekeeper sometimes called the Hedge Brown is a common butterfly in the United Kingdom. It is a member of the subfamily Satyrinae in the family Nymphalidae. A similar species is the Meadow Brown; the two species can be difficult to distinguish with closed wings since underwing markings are...

, common blue

Common Blue

The Common Blue is a small butterfly in the family Lycaenidae, widespread over much of the Palaearctic. Recently, Polyommatus icarus was discovered in Mirabel, Quebec, Canada by Ara Sarafian, an amateur entomologist who observed the butterfly from 2005 to 2008...

 and large blue.

Oak Hill Wood dates back to at least the 11th century, when it was owned by the church. After the dissolution of the monasteries

Dissolution of the Monasteries

The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...

, church lands were sold in 1536-38 and incorporated in the Oak Hill Estate. In 1930 East Barnet Council

East Barnet Urban District

East Barnet was a local government district in south Hertfordshire from 1863 to 1965 around the town of East Barnet.The district was created under the Local Government Act 1858 on September 25, 1863, as East Barnet Valley Local Government District. The district was governed by a local board...

acquired the land and Oak Hill Park, including Oak Hill Wood, was opened in 1933. In 1997 the wood was established as a Local Nature Reserve.

There is access from Mansfield Avenue, Daneland and Brookside, as well as from Oak Hill Park.

External links

• Oak Hill Wood on the VisitWoods website