Rook Wood

Rook Wood is mixed broadleaf ancient woodland just to the south of Hay on Wye, near the England-Wales border. A beech plantation was established on the site in 1955, but following thinning operations in the 1990s and general decline of the beech crop, the site is increasingly dominated by ash, birch, oak and other native broadleaves. Ground flora on the site is dominated by bramble, with significant areas of bluebell and wood rush and small areas of honeysuckle and wood sorrel. The southern end of the wood, higher on the slope, was less densely planted with beech and has retained a more mixed canopy and denser ground flora.