Decoy Pit, Pools and Woods

Decoy Pit, Pools and Woods is a 20.27 hectares (50.1 acres) Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) at Aldermaston Wharf in the civil parish of Aldermaston in the English county of Berkshire, notified in 1993.

Located at grid reference SU612632, the site comprises several habitats including woodland, heathland, grassland and small waterbodies, and includes alder woodland types which are becomong a declining habitat in England. The site also supports the greatest known number of breeding dragonfly and damselfly species in Berkshire, whilst the presence of many other common, and some rare, insect and bird species also adds to the diversity and value of the site.

In the southern part of the site the land slopes gently eastwards within a draining gully system; the head of the stream West End Brook flows through here. On the northern part of the site a former gravel pit, now partially infilled after it was abandoned in the early 1980s, has developed into a mosaic of shallow pools, also supporting a large pond, some heathland and scrub. The area supports many wetland plants including bulrush Typha latifolia, common spike-rush Eleocharis palustris, as well as a locally scarce species marsh speedwell Veronica scutellata. The heathland and scrub areas are predominantly populated by heather Calluna vulgaris and are slowly being colonised by birch. Surrounding land comprises typically of secondary birch woodland with some heathland. There is also a small valley bog where purple moor-grass Molinia caerulea is particularly abundant.

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