Whittlewood Forest
| Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
Say's Copse
|
|
| Area of Search | Northamptonshire |
|---|---|
| Grid reference | SP 721 430 |
| Interest | Biological |
| Area | 400.1 hectares |
| Notification | 1985 |
| Location map | Magic Map |
Whittlewood Forest is a former medieval hunting forest east of Silverstone in Northamptonshire in England. It is managed by the Woodland Trust.There are tracts of ancient woodland within the forest, and old ditch boundaries can be found at the edges of several of the individual woods. The area has been the subject of extensive academic historical research. An area of 400 hectares in seven different patches has been designated a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade 2.
The core of the forest is between the villages of Silverstone, Syresham, Abthorpe, Wicken and Potterspury extending south to the Northamptonshire-Buckinghamshire county boundary. Interconnecting woods, made up in part by Hazelborough Wood, make up the main section. Isolated woods such as Bucknell Wood and a scattered collection east of the village of Whittlebury, stretching east to Potterspury make up the majority of the rest. Remnants exist all around the villages and over the county boundary into Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes. Outliers include Whistley wood to the west of Syresham.
It is managed by the Forestry Commission, who also manage neighbouring woods such as Salcey Forest and Yardley Chase. Parts of the wood are protected as an SSSI, especially a number of separate copses which represent the remnants of the old Royal Forest. .
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