Bernwood Forest

Bernwood Forest stands in Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire where the ancient Royal hunting ground once stretched. The original forest covered 400 square kilometres and was set aside in the 10th century for Anglo-Saxon kings. Edward the Confessor hunted here, and King Henry II drew a map of its boundaries in the 12th century. By the 17th century the forest had been divided and sold off, losing its Royal status. Today the name marks a much smaller area, but the modern Bernwood Forest is still recognised as an important wildlife site. The small Bernwood Forest in Buckinghamshire is about one square kilometre and joins other woods such as Hell Coppice and York’s Wood. Shabbington Woods Complex within it is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and one of the United Kingdom’s top butterfly sites. Forestry England once sprayed pesticides here until the late 1960s to protect pine stands. Holly Wood, Holton Wood and Waterperry Wood in Oxfordshire are also surviving fragments of the old forest. Visitors walk through mixed woodland paths where butterflies and other wildlife can be seen. The forest edges meet rivers like the Great Ouse and streams such as Padbury Brook. Remnants like Rushbeds Wood are managed by wildlife trusts to protect their special habitats. The Bernwood Jubilee Way offers a guided route through some of these historic woods.