Join
Enjoy access to more than 500 places with National Trust membership. Join today and help protect nature, beauty and history – for everyone, for ever.
Danbury Commons and Blakes Wood
Explore Essex's second largest area of common land
National Trust Danbury Common, The Armoury, Penny Royal Road, Danbury, Essex, CM3 4ED
Opening times for 7 December 2023
Asset Opening time Countryside 09:00 - 16:00 MTWTFSS2728293012345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031OpenPartially openClosedCar park
Electric vehicle charging point
The closest electric charging point is: Sandon, Chelmsford CM2 7RR
Dogs
Please be aware that there are reptiles, including adders on site so we'd advise you keep your dogs under close control.
Pub
The closest pub to Danbury Common car park is: The Cricketers Arms, Penny Royal Rd, Danbury Common, Danbury, Chelmsford CM3 4ED
Some steep and uneven routes, slippery in places. Unmade car park surfaces and no visitor facilities on site.
Steps/uneven terrain
The landscape is a mixture of steep slopes, uneven heathland paths and in winter the woodland paths can become muddy.
By road
From M25 take J18, 2 miles from A12 along A414 towards Maldon. Danbury Common car park 1 mile south from Danbury village centre along B1418.Blake's Wood car park 2 miles north from Danbury village centre towards Lt Baddow, then left into Rifhams Chase
By train
Main line train station at Chelmsford, 6 miles. Chelmsford Bus Station opposite train station.
By bus
For Danbury Common take First 36, Chelmsford Bus Station-South Woodham. Daily service. For Danbury village and Blake's Wood take First 31, Chelmsford Bus Station-Maldon. Daily service. Blake's Wood can be reached via a short walk along Rifhams Lane. See FirstGroup for travel information
By bicycle
National Cycle Network Route 1 is open between Harlow and Maldon, via Chelmsford. It passes by the edge of Blake's Wood and Danbury and Lingwood Commons
National Trust Danbury Common, The Armoury, Penny Royal Road, Danbury, Essex, CM3 4ED
Planning your visit
Article
Visiting Danbury Commons and Blakes Wood with your dog
Danbury Commons and Blakes Wood is a two pawprint rated place. Find out where you can and can't go with your dog and the facilities available for dog owners.
Highlights
Danbury Common
Lowland heath and ancient woodland, rich in wildlife with views from Danbury ridge, the highest point in Essex.
Blakes Wood
An ancient working coppiced woodland on Danbury ridge, with seasonal woodland floor and wildflowers.
Lingwood Common
Lowland heath and ancient woodland rich in wildlife with views from Danbury ridge, the highest point in Essex.
Backwarden
Lowland heath with numerous wildlife-rich ponds and hornbeam ancient woodland coppice. There is also an ancient earthworks.
Wildlife
Across these sites you'll find adders, nightingales in spring, harebells, dormice and seasonal carpets of woodland flowers.
Things to see and do
Article
Things to see and do at Danbury Commons and Blakes Wood
With resident nightingales and adders, Danbury Commons and Blakes Wood offer a diverse wildlife environment. Why not try a geocache GPS trail with the family to discover it all?
Top trails
Trail
Danbury Common to Lingwood Common walk
An easy, 1.5 mile walk through wetlands, wooded glades and open heathland, that makes an ideal family walk.
Trail
Lingwood Common to Blakes Wood walk
A 3.5-mile circular walk, ideal for families, through mixed woodland between Blake's Wood and Lingwood Common.
About Danbury Commons and Blakes Wood
Lose yourself in 214 acres of heath, gorse and coppice encompassing a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), ancient woodland and military defences designed to give Napoleon a run for his money.
The woodlands of Danbury and Lingwood Commons hide their 107 metre high ridge-top location on one of Essex's highest hills. For centuries, self-sufficient commoners under the Lord of the Manor's watchful eye came here to graze their domestic animals, cutting down scrub and trees for fuel and creating an open landscape. Today we carefully manage the commons in a similar way using simulated grazing by tractor to encourage the growth of rare flora and fauna.
See if you can trace clues to the commons unlikely use as a centre of military operation. From early times, Danbury's elevated position between the Crouch and Blackwater estuaries has been turned to strategic defence and army encampment. Between 1780 and 1815 threat came with the Napoleonic Wars whilst the First and Second World Wars saw the area used extensively as training grounds.
Don't miss exploring Blakes Wood, an ancient woodland on a sloping site spanning 100 acres of clear streams, valleys, mighty oaks, chestnuts and coppiced hornbeam. In spring our woodland floor is a riot of colourful wild flowers, including one of the best bluebell displays in the area, primrose and yellow archangel.
On the south-western edge of Danbury is Backwarden Nature Reserve, leased to Essex Wildlife Trust who manage a block of nearly 250 acres on Danbury Ridge; a mosaic of woodland, common and heath, streams and bogs. This is a great place to look out for wild flowers, reptiles (including adders), nesting birds and insects.
Our work
Article
Our work at Danbury Commons and Blakes Wood
From coppicing trees to counting dormice, learn about the work we carry out at Danbury Commons and Blakes Wood to conserve this special landscape now and for generations to come.
Support us
Volunteer with us
Search for live volunteering opportunities, or register your interest with Danbury Commons and Blakes Wood.