The KHWP in partnership with the Forestry Commission and Natural England have been working with some of the small woodland owners in Combwell Wood since Autumn 2009.

Combwell Wood is 164ha of ancient woodland situated opposite our office at Begebury Pinetum and was originaly bought by Woodlands.co.uk before being divided into smaller plots and sold to people who wanted to own a little piece of English woodland.

Most of the woodland (111ha) is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest due to its rare Atlantic bryophyte communities and flora typical of wealden woodlands.

The main aim of the project was to engage with as many woodland owners as possible and talk about how their individual woods could be managed for biodiversity gain and  woodland products. It was also important to consider the small woodland units as part of a much larger woodland habitat and part of the living landscape.

An initial get together was held in October 2009 and included informative talks by Richard Pain (Forestry Commission) and Jane Robertson (Natural England) who outlined the benefits of woodland management, the grants available to help achieve this and why Combwell was such a special wood.

Other activities included a tour of the wood with local woodsman Mark Herbert who pointed out the potential and some of the indicators of previous management.

A survery of part of the wood was carried out by Dr Nicola Bannister, identifying archaeological features still visible today in the wood after centuries. These included saw pits, charcoal hearths, woodbanks and a pond bay. You can read Dr Bannister's report on the history and archaelogy of Combwell Wood by clicking on the link below:

 Combwell Wood Archaeology Report

 A survival skills day was hosted by David Hunt ; one of the woodland owners near the middle of Combwell. Both children and adults had great fun building shelters and lighting fires whilst learning about woodcraft.

A major outcome of the project was to write a management plan for the whole wood: to give guidance to individual woodland owners on best practice whilst considering Combwell as a habitat feature within a wider living landscape. The plan was written by Richard Pain (FC) and Ian Johnstone (KHWP)after a survey was carried out  on the whole wood.

The plan was presented to the woodland owners in October 2010 as part of a pack of information. You can read the Combwell Wood management plan by clicking on the following link:

Combwell Wood Management Plan

We hope to continue supporting the good work the woodland owners are doing to bring large parts of the wood back into management. This can be done by helping with Rhododendron control, writing individual management plans and helping with funding applications.