Great Wood and Dodd's Grove

Great Wood and Dodd’s Grove is a 36.8-hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex. It is managed by Essex Wildlife Trust and Southend-on-Sea City Council as the Belfairs Local Nature Reserve. The site is a small surviving fragment of the ancient Hadleigh Great Wood. It consists of coppiced oak woodland growing on sands, gravels and clay. Bramble and honeysuckle cover the ground, with the rare broad-leaved helleborine also present. The woods form part of a larger group called Hadleigh Woods. Belfairs Wood covers 32.3 hectares, Coxall Wood 0.79 hectares, Dodd’s Grove 4.02 hectares, and Hadleigh Great Wood 33.3 hectares. Access is from Poors Lane, which passes between Hadleigh Great Wood and Dodd’s Grove. The site includes toilets, a café and several marked trails for visitors. A visitor finds oak stools regrowing after past coppicing, shaded paths winding through the trees, and glimpses of the rare helleborine in season. Bramble thickets and honeysuckle provide cover for wildlife along the woodland floor. The café offers refreshments near the woodland centre, while trails lead through Belfairs Wood, Coxall Wood and Dodd’s Grove. Poors Lane provides a clear entrance and separates the larger Hadleigh Great Wood from the smaller Dodd’s Grove.