Bisham Woods

{{Short description|Woodland in Berkshire, England}}

{{Infobox SSSI

|image=Bluebells (34146232732).jpg

|image_caption=

|name=Bisham Woods

|aos=Berkshire

|interest=Biological

|gridref={{gbmappingsmall|SU 857 849}}

|coordinates={{coord|51.5574|-0.7666|type:landmark_region:GB|display=inline,title}}

|area={{convert|86.0|ha|acre|abbr=off}}

|notifydate=1984

|map=[https://magic.defra.gov.uk/MagicMap.aspx?startTopic=Designations&activelayer=sssiIndex&query=HYPERLINK%3D%271002835%27 Magic Map]

}}

Bisham Woods is an {{convert|86|ha|acre|abbr=off|adj=on}} biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) west of Cookham in Berkshire.{{cite web|url= https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/SiteLNRDetail.aspx?SiteCode=L1009364&SiteName=&countyCode=2&responsiblePerson=&SeaArea=&IFCAArea= |title=Designated Sites View: Bisham Woods | series= Sites of Special Scientific Interest|publisher=Natural England|access-date = 16 October 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://magic.defra.gov.uk/MagicMap.aspx?startTopic=Designations&activelayer=sssiIndex&query=HYPERLINK%3D%271002835%27 |title=Map of Bisham Woods|series= Sites of Special Scientific Interest|publisher=Natural England|access-date= 16 October 2019}} The site is also a Local Nature Reserve{{cite web|url=http://www.lnr.naturalengland.org.uk/Special/lnr/lnr_details.asp?C=0&N=Bisham%20Woods&ID=678 |title=Bisham Woods |series=Local Nature Reserves |publisher=Natural England |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304055449/http://www.lnr.naturalengland.org.uk/Special/lnr/lnr_details.asp?C=0&N=Bisham%20Woods&ID=678 |archive-date=2016-03-04 }}{{cite web|url= http://magic.defra.gov.uk/MagicMap.aspx?startTopic=Designations&activelayer=lnrIndex&query=REF_CODE%3D%271009364%27|title=Map of Bisham Woods|series=Local Nature Reserves|publisher=Natural England}} and part of Chilterns Beechwoods Special Area of Conservation.{{cite web|url= https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/SiteGeneralDetail.aspx?SiteCode=UK0012724&SiteName=&countyCode=2&responsiblePerson=&unitId=&SeaArea=&IFCAArea= |title=Designated Sites View: Chilterns Beechwoods | series= Special Areas of Conservation|publisher=Natural England|access-date = 16 October 2019}} The SSSI is part of a {{convert|153.2|ha|acre|adj=on}} site, also called Bisham Woods, which has been owned and managed by the Woodland Trust since 1990.[https://www.webarchive.org.uk/wayback/archive/20090507134940/http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/en/our-woods/ourwoodsmanagementplans/bisham-woods-management-plan.pdf Woodland Trust Management Plan 2009-2014]

The woods'Welcome to Bisham Woods.' Information board within the woods consist of several sections. The northern part is the ancient woodland SSSI, with compartments known as Quarry Wood, Fultness Wood, High Wood and Inkydown Wood. With the River Thames just to the north, and views across the Chiltern Hills, they include beechwoods, with rare woodland orchids.[http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/?q=bisham-woods Wild About Britain] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101202205845/http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/?q=bisham-woods |date=December 2, 2010 }} The remaining compartments, including Park Wood, High Wood, Goulding's Wood, Carpenters Wood and Dungrovehill Wood, are areas of 19th- and 20th-century planting noted for bluebells.{{cite web|url=http://magic.defra.gov.uk/MagicMap.aspx?startTopic=Designations&activelayer=lnrIndex&query=REF_CODE%3D%271009626%27 |title=Magic Map Application |publisher=Magic.defra.gov.uk |access-date=2017-05-01}}{{cite web|url=http://www.lnr.naturalengland.org.uk/Special/lnr/lnr_details.asp?C=3&N=&ID=800 |title=Natural England - Special Sites |publisher=Lnr.naturalengland.org.uk |access-date=2017-05-01}} These are nearer Maidenhead, near the A308 and A404. The woods are open to the public, and are well served with paths and bridleways, with parking nearby.[https://archive.today/20121225142959/http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/en/our-woods/Pages/about-this-wood.aspx?wood=4424%23.TptkrZtKN1Q#.TptkrZtKN1Q Woodland Trust, 'About this wood']

Quarry Wood is the site of Bisham Quarry, an important medieval source of stone, much of which was used to build Windsor Castle. From medieval times the woods were part of the extensive Bisham Estates of the Earls of Salisbury.[http://www.berkshirehistory.com/villages/bisham.html David Nash Ford's Royal Berkshire History - Bisham] accessed 16 October 2011 An ice house, built in the 1760s to provide ice for Bisham Abbey, is within the woods, and opened to the public four times a year. The woods are the original 'Wild Wood' in Kenneth Grahame's 1908 children's book The Wind in the Willows, which he wrote in the nearby village of Cookham Dean.{{cite web |last1=The National Trust |title=The Short Wind in the Willows Walk |url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/maidenhead-and-cookham-commons/trails/the-short-wind-in-the-willows-walk |website=The Short Wind in the Willows Walk |access-date=16 July 2020}} Percy Bysshe Shelley composed The Revolt of Islam in the area of Bisham Woods in 1817 when he was living at Marlow.[http://www.online-literature.com/shelley_percy/2779/ The Literature Network The Revolt of Islam]

A memorial in Carpenters Wood commemorates the crash site of a Halifax Bomber from the Royal Air Force 578 Squadron, on 18 July 1944. The memorial was dedicated on 18 July 1998.[http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?1914-WW2-Crash-Bisham-Woods-(Berkshire) RAF Commands Forum]