Welcome to Bentley Wood
This is one of the largest and most wildlife-rich ancient woods in southern England
Bentley Wood is a private woodland and a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) owned and managed by the Trustees of the Bentley Wood Charitable Trust. It is a working woodland and the Trust’s aims include producing sustainable timber production for local markets, the conservation of the woodland’s wildlife and the provision of local public access.
Bentley Wood is a special place, one of the largest (665 hectares) and most wildlife-rich ancient woodlands in southern England despite being almost entirely cleared of trees during and after the Second World War. Shortly afterwards it was replanted with a crop of broadleaved trees, the majority of which are beech and oak, as well as with several species of non-native conifers.
Management of the woodland is currently aimed at restoring the majority of the plantations to native woodland through the gradual removal of exotic conifers and, where necessary, replanting with a range of native trees such as oak, elm, lime, cherry and hornbeam.
Areas of coppice and other small-scale fellings create and maintain existing clearings and glades which, along with the wide rides, support the rich diversity of butterflies, moths and other insects found at Bentley Wood. Cattle are periodically put out to graze in the larger, fenced open spaces.
The Draining Field, which lies in the central southern section, has been restored from arable land and is developing into a flower-rich pasture with wet areas and scrub edges. This sunny area provides a home for a vast array of insects during the summer months.
At least 36 species of butterfly are recorded regularly, some of which are of conservation concern. These include the pearl-bordered fritillary as well as the Duke of Burgundy. Woodland rides and clearings are their traditional strongholds and their decline in modern woodlands can be linked to lack of management practices such as coppicing and the formation of regular canopy gaps.
A system of widening rides and creating sunny scallops has been adopted so that a distinct woodland edge can be created where butterflies and other creatures can flourish and along which they can move around the wood. The wood also supports over 1,000 species of moth, about half of which are macro-moths. This amounts to around three-quarters of all the macro-moths recorded in Wiltshire and makes the wood nationally important for lepidoptera.
Most of the moths cannot, of course, be seen in daylight but it is possible to encounter some day-flying species such as drab looper, argent and sable, broad and narrow-bordered bee hawk moths in late spring and summer.
So many of our insects depend on a rich and varied vegetation for their source of food. A long history of continuous woodland cover, stretching back over many hundreds of years, has allowed the ground flora, scrub and trees to develop, despite the ravages in the middle of the last century. Over 70 ancient woodland indicator species have been recorded, some of which have been confined to the edges following the period of disturbance associated with tree replanting. It is hoped that sympathetic management will allow these specialist plants to spread more widely within the woodland and, indeed, there are encouraging signs that this is happening.
In spring bluebells are abundant in some areas together with moschatel, Solomon’s seal, wild garlic and anemones as well as some more unusual species such as herb paris, toothwort and early-purple orchids. Some of the open spaces and clearings provide colour and sources of nectar during the summer months while in late summer large numbers of meadow saffron can be seen in one part of the wood. Despite their name, these delicate flowers are now largely confined to woodland sites in Wiltshire.
Fungi are numerous, especially in the autumn, and our list of species stands at around 800, many of which are new records for the county. Read more here.
The diverse geology of the wood, coupled with a wide range of tree species and the long period of continuous woodland cover, all help to create suitable habitat conditions for these organisms which are neither plant nor animal.
There are several man-made ponds scattered throughout the wood to add diversity and provide important breeding habitats for frogs, toads, newts, dragonflies and damselflies.
The southern hawker, downy emerald and ruddy darter dragonflies are regularly seen at the ponds, along with blue-tailed damselfly and emerald damselfly, to name but a few.
Away from the ponds, the majestic emperor dragonfly can be seen hawking in rides and clearings for much of the summer, often alongside the broad-bodied chaser.
Common lizards are frequently sighted in sunny spots such as the clearings. Grass snakes are occasionally seen, as are slow worms, but there are no recent records of the adder.
Restructuring of the ride-sides has improved the habitat for birds. In addition to the common woodland species, tree pipits are seen increasingly in the clearings. Three species of both owl and woodpecker have been recorded.
Buzzards are commonly recorded as well as kestrel and sparrowhawk and also the occasional red kite.
Spotted flycatchers breed in the more open parts of the woodland whereas firecrests prefer denser cover, where its song distinguishes it from the more common goldcrest.
The Nightjar has returned after an absence of many years.
All of the nest boxes are checked regularly and the information is passed to the British Trust for Ornithology for analysis.
Roe and fallow deer are likely to be seen throughout the year, with increasing reports of muntjac. Although rarely seen, dormice are present in several areas of the wood where a healthy hazel understorey is found.
A surprising number of hares can be glimpsed in the heart of the wood, as well as in the clearings.
Please help protect this rich habitat by keeping to the permissive tracks and rides and staying out of the established woodland, taking care not to damage or disturb the wildlife along the way.