Woodland restoration

Oldbury Hill is an ancient woodland and SSSI which requires ongoing active management to maintain and enhance its ecological value. The works formed part of an approved woodland management programme, designed to improve the condition over the next few years.

The interventions delivered may have appeared extensive; this was because work of this nature has not happened for some years at the site and prominent areas were affected. Less than 5% of the site was impacted overall and there are currently no further plans for work of this volume to occur between 2026 and 2032 in our 10-year plan.

Moving forward, over the next few years we will be:

• Monitoring the level and quality of regeneration taking place in the areas where felling has recently taken place
• Looking to tackle areas of invasive rhododendron
• Carrying out light-touch thinning around the site’s oldest and ‘open grown’ trees.

This is because these trees carry a very high value to wildlife when compared to the many relatively young, straight-grown trees found across most of the rest of the site.

The works were authorised and supported by the Forestry Commission and Natural England as part of our overall woodland management plan for the area, which was formally approved and put out to public consultation in 2022.

All the works were consented by Natural England on 23 August 2024 and carried out under a Forestry Commission approved woodland management plan and felling licence. Part of the site is a Scheduled Monument, and consultation was undertaken with Historic England prior to the project commencing.

The woodland management works required specialist forestry machinery to safely fell, process and extract timber from the site efficiently. The contractors we engaged to carry out the works used equipment that is standard within the forestry industry for this type of operation, and the machine sizes and weights were kept to a minimum, with brash matting (stacked branches) installed to protect the ground wherever feasibly possible.

Felling intensities were advised and supported by Natural England as they wanted to see increased light levels within the woodland, to help restore the ecology and degraded seed banks of specific parts of the ancient woodland that had been planted with shade-casting conifers. This will improve habitat diversity, encourage natural regeneration and reinvigorate natural processes. The Scots pine plantations removed were planted by the National Trust as a timber stock in 1951, creating a Plantation on Ancient Woodland Site (PAWS). The work undertaken has helped to reverse this intervention in favour of the special ecology the site supports. Some Scots pine trees have been retained on the margins of the newly opened areas, but the majority have been removed to increase overall biodiversity and light levels.

Scots pine and beech have their place within a mixed woodland and do not, in themselves, represent a loss of biodiversity. The issue arises where Scots pine has been planted as a dense monoculture, suppressing light to the woodland floor and limiting opportunities for a wider range of native flora and fauna to thrive. Trees need space to grow into their natural habit, developing broad crowns and the veteran features that support wildlife. Many of these stands were planted too closely together and were never thinned, resulting in overcrowded, uniform woodland with reduced ecological value.

We are not eradicating Beech. Instead, this is a process of selective thinning, retaining the highest-quality trees so they can reach full maturity while increasing light levels at ground level. Veteran beech trees offer significantly greater biodiversity value than younger, more uniform specimens, providing important habitat features for a wide range of woodland species.

The contractor we used has a good reputation for carrying out forestry work on sensitive sites and with minimal impact. Whilst some short-term effects are always inevitable in works of this nature, we and the Forestry Commission (the regulators of all forestry work in England) are satisfied with the way that the site has been left and have full confidence that it will recover as intended.

Our Area Ranger acted as Forest Works Manager on the project, producing and sharing a detailed work specification before meeting on site and liaising daily with the team, who carried out the work until it was complete.

The primary objective, as outlined in our woodland management plan, was biodiversity, woodland restoration, and habitat improvement. Some timber was removed from site, and all timber-related income received as a secondary benefit of delivering this project is being reinvested into local conservation work, as per the National Trust’s charitable purpose. Generating income is never a primary driver for our organisation when it comes to woodland management.

Yes. The works were undertaken outside of the bird nesting season and a European Protected Species assessment was completed before operations commenced. This involved our fully trained National Trust staff member risk-assessing specific areas of the site for the likelihood of bats, dormice and badgers, as is legally required. During all works, the contractor was specifically instructed to remain vigilant towards the presence of any wildlife that might appear, with no issues encountered or recorded.

The Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) features of Oldbury wood include 250 species of fungi, some of which are notable. Invertebrates include saproxylic specialists (organisms that depend on decaying, dead or dying wood), and bryophytes such as mosses and liverwort, often growing on fallen branches and rotting stumps.

Brash matting was used to protect soils and provide an essential new deadwood resource to increase fungal habitat potential. This scattered deadwood and the natural regeneration of felled areas over the next few years will help to support vital mycorrhizal (root fungi) communities moving forwards.

Our intention has always been for the open areas created by the felling work to regenerate naturally via local seed sources over the next few years. The main benefit of doing this is that we will hopefully see tree seed of local provenance brought in by the wind and by foraging birds and mammals. This will provide a greater diversity of genetic variation than if we were to purchase trees from a nursery. These naturally occurring trees will also take root exactly where they will be growing for the rest of their lives; unlike nursery stock which must be moved and uprooted, changing the soil environment it has adapted to in its earliest years. The result should be a more resilient woodland in the face of climate change and rising pest and disease issues nationally.

There is no particular point in time to which we are seeking to return the woodland. Rather, we are addressing essential and routine management that, for one reason or another, has not been carried out over recent decades. Dense planting and extensive monocultures do not create healthy, resilient or diverse woodland ecosystems. Thoughtful woodland management helps to promote structural diversity, improves conditions for native flora and fauna, and enables trees to develop as healthy, mature specimens within a balanced woodland environment.

Many native tree species are experiencing the effects of a changing climate. In periods of prolonged drought, beech can be particularly vulnerable due to its relatively shallow root system and limited ability to access deeper water reserves. There is no conclusive evidence that oak is universally more susceptible to decline than other native tree species, as vulnerability varies according to site conditions, age, health and the specific stresses involved. Sensible thinning can help reduce competition for limited resources, allowing the remaining trees greater access to available water, light and nutrients. By removing poorer-quality specimens, the strongest trees are better placed to withstand environmental pressures and develop into healthy, mature woodland features.

It is common for significant woodland management to have an immediate visual impact, but this will reduce over time. The objective was to create conditions that allow woodland regeneration and greater biodiversity in the mid to long term. This type of work does not always look aesthetically pleasing at the beginning.

You may have noticed that some trees around Oldbury and the car park have recently been marked with yellow dots. These markings identify trees that require minor maintenance work, which is scheduled to take place in the autumn.

The work will involve the removal of small amounts of dead wood from branches overhanging areas where there may be a future risk to people or property. This is part of ongoing tree management to help ensure the area remains safe while preserving the health and appearance of the trees.

In nature-led woodland work, not all timber and woody material is removed from the project area. Deadwood provides a habitat resource for important fungi and other wildlife and our approved woodland management plan specifically identifies the creation and retention of deadwood as a management objective.

The root systems of the trees that were removed will remain in situ, supporting the structure of the soils for many years as they slowly break down. By this time, we expect the felled areas to have regenerated with new rooting activity from younger trees, shrubs, and ground flora that we intend to colonise the area over time. This will help to maintain / improve soil porosity and water uptake.

The risk of wildfires occurring on site will have nominally increased due to the felling works undertaken, but we consider the overall likelihood of wildfires occurring at Oldbury Hill to be low. We will, of course, monitor any issues at the site carefully over the next couple of years to ensure we are doing all we can for visitor safety in the countryside.

The silt and water trap at the bottom of the byway has been partially cleared. This will be an annual task. The rill which catches byway runoff has been reinstated and has been seen to be working, diverting water from the byway to the trap, prior to reaching the residence.

The brash generated by the operation will remain in place. It will decompose over time providing nutrition and shelter for fungi, together with deadwood habitat for invertebrates. This is standard forestry practice and will breakdown quite quickly, feeding the remaining trees and providing shelter for emergent saplings.

Historic England (HE) were consulted, and details of the planned works as part of the woodland management programme were provided to them. HE deemed that a Scheduled Monument Consent application was not required.

Information about archaeology, including links to reports of work carried out, scheduled monument description and bibliographic references to earlier work at Oldbury are available via Heritage Records Online here: MNA181823 | National Trust Heritage Records. You can also navigate round the map, clicking on different polygons and lines for further information.

Information about the Heritage and Archaeology Ranger Team (HART) and monitoring work to the record condition of archaeological features is also available via Heritage Records Online here: Volunteer | National Trust Heritage Records - National Trust Heritage Records Online.

Information about archaeology generally at the National Trust is here: Archaeology at the places we care for | National Trust

The access routes for the forestry work used a Byway Open to All Traffic (BOAT) and pre-existing access tracks which were not part of the public rights of way network.

No footpaths were impacted by the extraction of timber from and through the woodland. The extraction routes used were pre-existing routes, which were widened where necessary to complete the project.

The contractor was required to reinstate paths as part of the contract, but due to exceptionally wet weather, some routes including the byway were temporarily closed to allow consolidation and recovery before re-opening.

At the bottom of MR412 (Byway Open to All Traffic) we dead-hedged across one route to prevent motorcycle access. We shall close the gap in the bund once we extract the remaining type 1 stone left over from byway repairs. We hope to reuse this material for future car park repairs. We've agreed to walk the site in the Autumn to identify locations where we might install log barriers or dragons' teeth. However, this solution would necessitate archaeological approval.

The current byway is a Byway Open to All Traffic. This is a legal definition and changes to the designation would be the decision and responsibility of KCC. Contact KCC here - Managing public rights of way - Kent County Council

We have endeavoured to ensure all Public Rights of Way have been cleared of debris. There are many informal & unofficial desire lines which have been established over the years, some of which have been obscured. Visitors can re-establish these if they wish. We will not be clearing all the smaller trails.

A lot of discussion seems to be centred around ‘desire line’ paths used locally as opposed to formal rights of way / footpaths. Several years ago we completed a project looking at the routes around the wood and installed waymarkers with Scheduled Monument Consent. It is our priority to make sure these paths are accessible. Archaeological reports for these works here: 2019413 OLD19 WB rep APPROVED.

We are about to agree a lease for a new provider and we hope that the site will be reopening soon.