14. Lambourne Hall

Estate Management Plan

14. Lambourne Hall Estate

Date (from/to) / 1st April 2012 to 31st March 2032
Date of last review [UKWAS 2.1.3] / First management plan
Owner/tenant / Essex County Council, County Hall, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 1QH
Agent/contact / Brian Stacey, Woodland Officer, Essex County Council
Signed declaration of tenure rights and agreements to public availability of the plan [UKWAS 1.1.3/1.1.5/2.1.2] / Essex County Council

1 Background information

1.1 Location

Nearest town, village or feature / Abridge
Grid reference / TQ 480 970
Total area (ha) / 18.79 ha

1.2 Description of the woodland(s) in the landscape

The woodland on this estate consists of six small discrete blocks of woodland. The woodlands are Ape’s Grove (5.96 ha – Grid ref.: TQ 476 970), Jubilee Plantation (1.74 ha - Grid ref.: TQ 477 965), Mutton Corner (0.67 ha - Grid ref.: TQ 482 962), Great Wood (8.23 ha - Grid ref.: TQ 484 963), Conduit Wood (1.52 ha – Grid ref.: TQ 480 957) and Halfmoon Wood (0.62 ha - Grid ref.: TQ 477 959). The landscape of the area has been characterised as a river valley landscape being on the south side of the broad gentle Roding Valley. The estate varies in altitude between about 37m in the north and about 89m above mean sea level in the south.
The woodlands are in the parish of Lambourne. The settlement of Abridge is about 300m west of the most northerly woodland block of the estate. The estate is about 2km from the main woodland blocks of Hainault Forest (see location plan Map 14:1).
Apes Grove, Mutton Corner and Great Wood are designated as ASNW and although not designated there is evidence to indicate that Conduit Wood may also be ASNW but was not large enough to be included within the Ancient Woodland Inventory; all 4 of these woodlands are designated as LoWS.
All six woodland contribute to the wooded feel of the local landscape.
The soil under all the woodland blocks is classified as slowly permeable, seasonally wet, slightly acid but base-rich loamy and clayey that have derived from deposits of the Lowestoft formation.

1.3 History of Management

Historically Ape’s Grove, Mutton Corner and the part of Great Wood north of the stream appear to have been managed as hornbeam coppice with standards although there has been little of this type of intervention for several decades.
There has been little significant recent management intervention in any of the woodland. In the late 1980s the western part of Jubilee Plantation and about 1 ha of Apes Grove (south east corner) cleared of storm damage and restocked. In the mid 1990s and attempt was made to reintroduce coppicing into Ape’s Grove but this was stopped soon after it commenced because of the public out–cry at the ‘vandalism’; as a result no other significant management interventions have been attempted since. Other works have been limited to the removal of dangerous trees, the thinning/clearing of small areas of understory and the creation of a number of footbridges and board walks to facilitate public access in Ape’s Grove and Great Wood. Much of this work is undertaken by Epping Forest Country Care volunteers.
It is proposed prior to the commencement of this plan to reintroduce coppicing to compartment 4 during the winter of 2011/12.

2 Woodland Information

2.1 Areas and features

Designated Areas / Map No. / In Woodland / Adjacent to woodland
Special areas for conservation (SACs)
Special Protection Areas (SPAs)
Ramsar Sites (see note on Guidance)
National Nature Reserves (NNRs)
Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs)
Other designations (e.g. National Park (NP) / World Heritage Site) / Yes
Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs)
Local Nature Reserves (LNRs)
TPO / Conservation Area (CA)
Details:
Ape’s Grove, Mutton Corner, Great Wood and Conduit Wood have been designated as Local Wildlife Sites.
Rare and important species / Map No. / In Woodland / Adjacent to woodland
Red Data Book or BAP species / Yes
Rare, threatened, EPS or SAP species / Yes
Details:
An environmental resources assessment of the Lambourne Estate Woodland was undertaken by Applied Ecology Limited during 2010. A copy of the full report of this assessment is available on request. The highlights are:
  • The report indicates that dormouse is probably not present within in the Lambourne Woods.
  • No evidence was found to suggest Great Crested Newts were breeding in the wood although two individuals were found.
  • A large badger sett was found in Great Wood and an outlier sett in Jubilee Plantation (see report Maps 14:3b & c for approximate location).
  • Fifty-eight veteran trees were identified within the woodland (see report and Map 14:3 for approximate location).
  • Six species of bat were found to use the woodland for foraging and 158 trees that were potential bat roosts were identified (see report of approximate location of bat roost trees) and one possible bat roost.
  • No Schedule 1 bird species were recorded during the survey visits. Two species on the Red List of Birds of Conservation Concern, namely song thrush and starling, were recorded in some of the woods. Five Amber-listed Birds of Conservation Concern were recorded including dunnock, goldcrest, stock dove and green woodpecker. Male cuckoos were observed and heard calling. Cuckoo, dunnock and song thrush were the only birds recorded that are listed as priority species in the UK BAP.
  • A total of 126 invertebrate species was recorded from the five woods (Ape’s Grove was not surveyed) sampled, including eight species with formal status (four of which were Nationally Scarce (NS) Category B, one NS Category A, one NS, one NS Lower Risk, and one Red Data Book Category 2 Vulnerable).
  • Only 43 species of fungi were identified, one of which is on the red data list for Essex.

Habitats / Map No. / In Woodland / Adjacent to woodland
Ancient semi-natural woodland (ASNW) / Yes
Other semi-natural woodland / Yes
Plantations on ancient woodland sites (PAWS)
Semi-natural features in PAWS
Woodland margins and hedges
Veteran and other notable trees
Breeding sites
Habitats of notable species
Unimproved grasslands
Rides and open ground
Valuable wildlife communities
Feeding area
Lowland heath
Peatlands
Others
Details:
Three woodlands, Ape’s Grove, Mutton Corner and Great Wood are designated as ASNW. Conduit Wood may also be ASNW but it has not been designated. All the woodlands are considered to be variants of NVC type W8. The woodlands are all included within Lowland Mixed Deciduous Woodland UK HAP and the hedgerows of Featherbed Lane are within the Hedgerow UK HAP
Water / Map No. / In Woodland / Adjacent to woodland
Watercourses / 14:3 / Yes
Lakes
Ponds / 14:3 / Yes / Yes
Wetland habitats
Details:
There 3 streams associated with these woodlands one flows north-east through Great Wood, one flows north through Apes Grove and one flows north along the western edge of Jubilee Plantation. There are 5 ponds in, or immediately adjacent to Great Wood and 2 or immediately adjacent to Conduit Wood. There is also a dry pond in Conduit Wood. There are also a number of pounds in the area around the woodlands.
Landscape / Map No. / In Woodland / Adjacent to woodland
Landscape designated areas
Landscape features
Rock exposures
Historic landscapes
Areas of the woodland prominent from roads / Yes
Areas of the woodland prominent from settlements / Yes
Details:
The whole estate and surrounding area is within the metropolitan green belt. The woodlands can all be seen from nearby settlements and roads.
Cultural features / Map No. / In Woodland / Adjacent to woodland
Public rights of way / 14:3 / Yes / Yes
Prominent viewing points
Existing permissive footpaths / 14:3 / Yes
Proposed permissive footpaths
Areas managed with traditional management systems / Yes
Details:
There are public rights of way through Conduit Wood and Jubilee Plantation and adjacent to Ape’s Grove and Mutton Corner and to Halfmoon Wood. Conduit Wood and Ape’s Grove are both on the Three Forests Way. There are permissive footpaths in Great Wood, Mutton Corner and Ape’s Grove.
Ape’s Grove, Mutton Corner and part of Great Wood north of the stream has historically been managed on a coppice with standards regime.
Archaeological Features / Map No. / In Woodland / Adjacent to woodland
Scheduled monument
Historical feature (Inc. designed landscapes, registered parks and gardens) / 14:3 / Yes
Other
Details:
All the woodlands except Halfmoon Wood have remnant wood bank and ditch structures. Conduit Wood is on Featherbed Lane which is believed to be an ancient green lane.

2.2 Woodland resource characteristics

The woodland characteristics of the woodlands on this sub-estate are described in the ecological and economic reports produced for the European funded ‘Multi-For’ Project.
The environmental report is ‘Lambourne Hall Estate Woods: Environmental Resource Analysis’ prepared by Applied Ecology Limited was published in January 2011. It’s main conclusions are:
  • The six woodlands comprising Lambourne Woods are relatively small and set, with a number of similarly sized woods, in landscape of mixed, though primarily arable, farming. All are open to public access and their formal and informal path networks appear to be used by small numbers of people, including dog-walkers and school groups, which are unlikely to pose a severe threat to their biodiversity.
  • All six woodlands are more or less similar in their biological character, being typical boulder clay woods of south-east England, but each exhibits small variations resulting mainly from past management. Results of the present survey indicate, above all, that the woods show the effects of cessation of woodland management. Thus, they lack structural diversity and are heavily shaded by a closed canopy formed by un-thinned standard trees and by over-mature coppice growth.
  • Low diversity of woodland structure and shading lead, in turn, to a reduction in the diversity and numbers of many woodland plant and animal species and this survey shows that a number of species and species groups are poorly represented. Nonetheless, the woods retain many important ecological characteristics that provide them with high potential for biodiversity improvement, should woodland management be re-instated. Thus, few introduced alien species of tree, shrub or ground-cover plant are present in woods other than Halfmoon; none of the woods suffer from coniferisation, and the soil structure and woodland plant seed bank are likely to be intact.
  • Woodlands have typically been managed commercially to supply a wide range of timber and wood products, including firewood. The historical management systems employed, such as coppice with standards and high forest management, created the diverse and rotationally changing conditions within a wood that benefitted a wide range of woodland species.
The economic report is ‘Economic Resource Analysis: Lambourne Hall Estate’ prepared by Lockhart Garratt was published in September 2010. Although the recommendations in the report are sound and make economic sense it suggests coppicing works on a larger scale than is likely to be tolerated by local users of the woodlands. The stored hornbeam coppice stools are likely to suffer significant mortality if brought back into rotation. There is likely to be the need to recruit and, or plant new coppice stools to ensure that there is adequate density of stool. At present deer and rabbit predation does not appear to be a significant problem in these woodlands but this will need to be monitored when coppicing is restarted.

2.3 Site description

Ape’s Grove
This is a small roughly rectangular woodland of just under 6 hectares in area on the lower slopes of the southern side of the valley of the River Roding. It is designated as ancient semi-natural woodland (ASNW) and a local wildlife site (LoWS). The woodland slopes gently to the north and is surrounded by a significant ditch and bank structure.
There is currently no vehicle access into the woodland although the Council has vehicle access rights to the woodlands southern boundary. There are public rights of way along the southern and western sides of the woodlands with access point located in the north-west, south-west and south-east corners of the woodland. There is a permissive path around the inside edge of the whole woodland. The woodland is well used by the local population.
The site was traditionally managed as hornbeam coppice with oak/ash standards; there has been no significant coppicing undertaken for many years. The site can be divided into two based on the age of the crop.
The majority of the site is predominately over mature hornbeam coppice with sporadic oak and ash standards. Some oak and ash are over mature and showing signs of decline, dieback and storm damage. The oak are generally of reasonable timber quality. The hornbeam coppice has been neglected for several decades and substantially damaged by squirrels. Some limited, localised regeneration of ash is present. The understorey is largely absent. A good quantity of standing and fallen deadwood is present. Bluebells and dog's mercury present throughout. Occasional muntjac slots are apparent.
The south east corner of the woodland suffered significant storm damage during the 1980s; this damaged was cleared and an area of about 1.3ha was replanted about 20 years ago with a mixture of oak (20%) ash (20%) and hornbeam (60%) planted at 2.5m spacing. Trees have developed well since establishment and there are some promising stems of ash, oak and birch. However severe squirrel damage has occurred, particularly to the main stems of hornbeam which has compromised form and vigour.
Jubilee Plantation
A small rectangular woodland of 1.74ha on a gentle north facing slope. The woodland does not have any designations. There are ditch and bank structures on all sides other than the southern. There is a large depression in the south east quadrant of the wood.
There is a public footpath along the length of the site that enters the site in the north west corner where it connects to Ape’s Grove. The footpath becomes a public bridle way where it leaves the eastern end of the wood over a small bridge; the bridle way connects to Church Lane. The Council has vehicle access rights along the bridleway into the woodland.
The western two-thirds of the woodland is a broadleaf species plantation of ash (35%), oak (35%) and hornbeam (30%) established as an intimate mixture of individual species at 3m x 3m spacing. Trees have developed relatively well since establishment however the quality is generally poor in part due to squirrel damage and wide spacing. The plantation is bordered on three sides by a very narrow strip of semi-mature woodland and hedge of ash and thorn.
The eastern third of the woodland is relatively open canopy of mature oak with a poor quality and understocked central area of mainly sweet chestnut (cleft product quality) and a few oak, ash and alder with a few pine and larch located towards woodland edge. Heavy understorey of elder with some hazel on southern side bordering the public footpath. Bramble, nettles and bluebells present in places.
Mutton Corner
A small triangular woodland of 0.67ha on the gentle mid-slope on the south side of the Roding Valley. It is designated as ASNW and LoWS. It has a ditch and bank feature around about 75% of its boundary.
A public footpath runs along its northern boundary with a permissive footpath through the wood than connects the public footpath to Great Wood. The Council has a right of access for management around the headland of the adjacent field to the permissive path which is wide enough to be a track through the wood.
Over mature hornbeam coppice with occasional oak and over mature ash standards creating a relatively open canopy. The oaks are of reasonable to poor quality and the hornbeam of firewood quality. The coppice stools are widely spaced and understocked. Roe deer slots have been observed.
Great Wood
This is the largest wood on the estate at 8.23ha. It straddles a small stream and the associated valley that flows north east through the wood. It is designated as ASNW and LoWS. Much of the northern end of the wood is bounded by a bank and ditch. The southern end of the sites eastern boundary is a deep ditch with no apparent bank; there is also a large badger sett near this boundary. The south east of the wood contains a number of ponds.
The site has no direct access from public rights of way but can be accessed indirectly via a permissive path through Mutton Corner. There is a network of permissive paths throughout the wood which includes a way marked circular walk and 2 foot bridges constructed by Epping Forest Country Care volunteers over the stream. There appears to be a number of points at which permissive access into the wood is gained – none directly off public rights of way. There is a north-south central ride through the woodland, and old maps indicate there used to be a similar ride running east-west but this is no long shown on maps and is not apparent on the ground. The Council’s vehicular access into the wood is through a gate at the southern end of the north-south ride and also from a point on the east side of the woodland where there is no apparent entry point. These entry points are reached from an extension to the headland track that serves Mutton Corner; the line of the access initially crosses the field south of the woodland and then follows the headland around the wood to the two access points. The access does not exist as a track on the ground so it may be more practical to get to the entry points by following the field headland around the edge of the woodland instead it crossing the field.