Briddlesford Nature Reserve

Briddlesford Nature Reserve spreads across 158 hectares on the Isle of Wight near Wootton Bridge. It brings together woodland, farmland, meadows, parkland, ponds, hedgerows and grazing marsh. The reserve protects most of the Briddlesford Copses Site of Special Scientific Interest and Special Area of Conservation. About 50 hectares of farmland sit within its boundaries. People’s Trust for Endangered Species owns the land and manages it to protect wildlife. The reserve holds one of England’s richest collections of ancient woodland plants. A 2007 survey found 65 ancient woodland indicator species, including rare narrow-leaved lungwort. Green hellebore, greater butterfly orchid and thin spiked wood sedge grow here as well. The woods shelter Bechstein’s bats, barbastelle bats and eight other bat species. Hazel dormice and red squirrels also live in the trees, making this mammal mix unique in the UK. Visitors follow a bridleway that crosses the reserve and may walk the parkland and Hurst Copse under permissive access. Woodpecker holes and crevices in mature ash trees provide roosts for bats. Dead wood supports rare saproxylic invertebrates such as the fungus weevil Pseudeuparius sepicola. Woodland butterflies like silver-washed fritillary and white admiral fly along the rides and railway cuttings. The ash-black slug, the world’s largest terrestrial slug, was recently found here too.