Warndon Woodlands Local Nature Reserve
Warndon Wood Local Nature Reserve is an ancient semi-natural (meaning it has been shaped by human activity) woodland. Warndon was thought to have been part of Feckenham Forest, an ancient royal forest that spanned Worcestershire and Warwickshire. Warndon was historically large farmland and the ancient ridge and furrow undulations used in traditional farmland management can still be seen today in Hillwood Meadow.
St Nicholas’s Church can be found along the route, a rare example of a church unaltered by Victorian restoration. On the church grounds, two of the oldest yew trees in Worcestershire can be found. The yew tree is thought to be the longest-lived tree in Northern Europe - they live so long they are not considered ancient until they reach 900 years old, compared to 400 years for an oak tree. It’s no wonder that yew trees have historically been used as symbols of immortality!
Unsurprisingly, trees are a key feature of Warndon Woodlands and they have many stories to tell. A key feature of a biodiverse woodland is deadwood and when turning into Hillwood Meadow off St Nicholas Lane you will find the rarest kind: standing deadwood. As well as recycling nutrients back into the soil, deadwood provides food and shelter for wildlife that can live nowhere else.
