Bewsey Farm Wood

Bewsey Farm Wood is located in north-west Warrington New Town off Old Hall Road and directly to the west of Bewsey Old Hall. It is mixed broadleaved, secondary woodland, predominantly of mature English oak, sycamore, horse chestnut, crack willow and beech, with ash, lime, wild cherry, field maple and birch. It has some structural variety with small areas of elder scrub, semi-mature canopy, and patches of natural regeneration. The herb layer is sparse with areas of bare ground, various grasses, bramble, bluebells, nettles, dock, and a variety of Umbeliferae. Previously a farm woodland, the site was purchased and managed by the Commission for the New Towns (CNT) in the early1980's and then donated to the Woodland Trust in 1992 The site is at approximately 15m above sea level. It is mostly flat, the southern third is in a slight hollow with a high water table that drains to the south-east. The surrounding landscape is flat with Sankey Valley Park and further Woodland Trust sites to the north and east, and the Old Hall housing estate to the west and south. Soils, where undisturbed, are brown earth with sandy loam in the higher horizons leading to sand rich lower horizons with some areas of gleying. The wood has in the past suffered from fly tipping and vandalism.