Hamgreen Wood

An opportunity too good to miss

Hamgreen Wood is a very special ancient woodland, home to rare species and needing our care to protect it for future generations.

An ancient green lane running down one side of the wood, Oxford Lane, is a hotspot for black hairstreak butterflies. The colony here is nationally important and the site is often described as the ‘best’ for black hairstreak in the country.

Close-up of a rare Bechstein's bat on a tree trunk

One of our rarest bat species, Bechstein’s bat, is a woodland specialist - using them for roosting and feeding. With Hamgreen Wood in our suite of reserves, two of the three woodlands the bats use for breeding in our area will be under BBOWT protection.

The big picture - more nature everywhere

Hamgreen Wood is at the heart of our Bernwood Forest and Ray Valley Living Landscape, close to our Upper Ray Meadows and Finemere and Rushbeds Woods reserves. Adding this site to our existing network of reserves will further strengthen and protect the value of the whole area for wildlife.