Speckled Wood, Hastings

Speckled Wood
Speckled Wood shown within East Sussex
Type	Woodland, park
Location	128 Frederick Road, Ore TN35 5EU, Hastings, East Sussex United Kingdom
OS grid	TQ834112
Coordinates	50°52′18″N 0°36′19″E / 50.87167°N 0.60528°E / 50.87167; 0.60528Coordinates: 50°52′18″N 0°36′19″E / 50.87167°N 0.60528°E / 50.87167; 0.60528
Area	12.7 acres (5.1 ha)
Created	1778 or earlier
Open	7 days a week, dawn until dusk
Status	Open all year

Speckled Wood is a 12.7-acre (5.1 ha) woodland and park in Ore Village in the Ore Valley, Hastings, East Sussex, United Kingdom. The woodland park consists of woodland trails and clearings. The woodland has steep sixty-degree sides and is a wet woodland.

The wood is a habitat to a wealth of mammals, birds and invertebrates. There is a stream that runs right through the wood. The name Speckled Wood is believed to have come from the butterflies of the same name that thrive here, the speckled wood (SP1861).

Speckled Wood falls within Ore's development area to the northeast of Hastings, where major housing and industrial development has been concentrated during the last two decades. Despite considerable new development in the area, the woodland has been retained since 1930.

Speckled Wood, together with nearby fragments of woodland and tree belts, represents a sizeable proportion of green space within the urban area of Hastings and is a conspicuous landscape feature. It is a core area of natural habitat within the town. It is possible to enter the natural area from points within Ore Village using the long established footpaths.

The Yeakell and Gardners 1778 Sussex map shows the area to be a historic woodland.

Maps from 1873–1875 show the Ore Stream running under Cackle Street (now Frederick Road) and further into the valley. It also mentions the stream and narrow band of woodland surrounded by farm land which was part of the Vine Farm Estate. This was eventually sold by Messrs Woodhams & Son by Auction in Havelock Road June 5, 1889.

At around 1897, it is believed that the area 50°55′46.42″N 0°36′35.56″E / 50.9295611°N 0.6098778°E / 50.9295611; 0.6098778 (TQ835177) which is part of Speckled Wood may have been used as a brick field, run by a Mr W. Rodgers. This site was described as 7 acres (2.8 ha); although the record of this is documented in a book, it is believed to come from a piece of paperwork detailing a rate payment, which does not actually prove bricks were produced from the site. It is clear that Mr W Rodgers had other brick fields in the surrounding area of Ore Village.