Heartwood Forest

At Heartwood Forest near Sandridge, St Albans, the creation of England’s largest new native forest is well underway. We have ambitious plans to create an 858 acre woodland with a total of 600,000 newly planted trees, all planted by volunteers. There will also be a community orchard, new wildflower meadows, open spaces and miles of footpaths and bridleways created over a 10 year period. The project is involving the local community through a range of engagement projects. During the winter of 2011-12 over 8,000 people came along to Heartwood to help us achieve our ambitious plans, will you join us too? The site, in the heart of London’s Green Belt, already boasts four remnants (covering 45 acres) of precious ancient woodland, and is home to an abundant bird of prey population including barn owls, English bluebells and a selection of veteran lime trees, yet is just 25 miles from Marble Arch. Visitors can currently explore hundreds of acres of newly accessible land, including the four pockets of ancient woodland. The remaining areas are still being farmed, but as new areas are taken under the care of the Trust, they will be opened up to visitors to explore. The landscape character is typically Hertfordshire; gently undulating lying over a ridge between two dry valleys, with a fairly flat top to the ridge and in places steeper slopes. The landscape is divided by hedges with scattered trees throughout. The agriculture is arable cropping on the clay, with flint soils overlying chalk. Patches of mixed broadleaved woodland, containing old coppice of hornbeam as well as ash, beech, oak and other native broadleaves are also a feature, generally averaging 5-10 ha in size. Check out the Heartwood Forest blog at heartwoodforest.wordpress.com for up to date news on the forest and how it’s progressing.