Thorn Wood

Thorn Wood is a 16.8ha (41.5 acre) woodland creation site located in Cheshire on the south side of the Northwich Road between the villages of Weaverham and Hartford. The whole site is a Community Woodland with compartment 2 (8ha) planted as part of the Woodland Trusts Millennium project "Woods on Your Doorstep" (WOYD). The land was purchased in March 1998 with the help of The Mersey Forest, The Countryside Agency, the Forestry Commission, the Millennium Commission, the County / District and two Local Parish Councils, the Sainsbury Family Charitable Trust and numerous local business and private donations. Formerly pasture the site was opened to the public during the winter of 1998-99 and planted as new native woodland comprising a mixture of approximately twenty six thousand (11.5 ha) oak, ash, silver birch, rowan, and wild cherry with hawthorn, hazel, blackthorn, holly, and dog rose. The establishment phase has been highly successful with very few losses. Public and management access are gained off Northwich Road and open onto approximately 2km of informal paths and rides. The site is bounded to the north by a roadside hedgerow (Northwich Road), to the east by The Grange School playing fields and pasture (Post and rail fence), to the west by the disused ICI mineral railway (post and wire fence) and to the south by the main west coast railway line (2m galvanised metal palisade fence). The site is reasonably flat with mainly clay soils. There is evidence of subsidence and the remains of old marl pits. There is also a large pond to the east of the site (Sub-compartment 2A) which is surrounded by hedgerows and some mature trees. The site is divided into four sections by remnant hedgerows that contain a small number of mature ash and oak. The site has a 1ha area of wildflower meadow planted in 2006 close to the entrance.