Pepperboxes Wood

Pepperboxes Wood is a quiet wood close to the village of Great Missenden in the Buckinghamshire Chilterns. The wood gets its name from the two round gatehouse buildings to the northeast of the site. There are large mature beech trees dotting the site mixed with younger oak birch rowan and hazel. The wood is a planted ancient woodland site (PAWS) because it was planted with conifers in the 1970's. The wood is in the process of being restored to native broadleaved species but you can still see blocks of larch and spruce trees. There are also large sweet chestnut and lime trees and if you look carefully you may see an (uncommon) wild service tree. Pepperboxes wood has a good network of pedestrian-only paths some of which are rights of way and link to the surrounding woods and countryside. The wood is most easily accessed from the north via a right of way off Rignall Road but it is possible to walk to the wood from Prestwood village via the local rights of way network.