Savernake forest lies just south of Marlborough in Wiltshire. It is the largest privately owned forest in England and has belonged to the same family for 32 generations since the Norman conquest. The first mention of a Safernoc woodland was made in 934 in the written records of King Athelstan, grandson of Alfred the great. Remarkably it has not been bought or sold in a thousand years.
The forest was used for hunting for hundreds of years. It is close to where Henry VIII met his third wife, Jane Seymour. Her father Sir John Seymour owned the nearby Wolf Hall famous from the Hillary Mantel books and the eponymous T.V. series. Jane gave Henry his long awaited son Edward but died two weeks later from complications of childbirth.
Trees and fungus
In the 18th century much of the land was planted with beech trees including Grand Avenue designed by Capability Brown. Now the forest is managed by the forestry commission and is designated as a site of special scientific interest. It has one of the largest collections of veteran oak trees in the country. Many of which have been given their own rather unflattering names such as big bellied oak or old paunchy. The one in my picture is a saddle oak. At some stage the main trunk was cut allowing the side branches to grow. This would have been ideal for boat building.
We had fun trying to identify the many types of fungus we saw and were also pleased to see a good quantity of lichen which indicates a very clean environment. Fungi like damp conditions and autumn is the ideal time to spot them.
In Autumn there is less light and trees stop producing chlorophyll which they use to convert light into energy. Chlorophyll is the pigment which gives leaves their green colour and as it fades, orange yellow and red pigments are revealed in the leaves.
Last Sunday was the first weekend after Halloween and I was pleased to see that some pumpkins had been left out for the wildlife. We were also surprised to encounter a Halloween fun run with entrants dressed as witches and other spooky creatures.
Visitor information
Postern hill car park is open from 0800-1900 every day except Christmas day. There is no charge. There is also a nearby campsite. For more details click here
Here is a link to a BBC Countryfile walk with an interactive map.
I hope you enjoyed this week’s walk and I would love to read your comments .
If like me, you enjoy walking in the woods during Autumn You might enjoy this post from last year about the national arboretum at Westonbirt
One response to “A visit to Savernake forest”
Your heading photo is gorgeous, Anne! Fungus and lichen sounds like our neck of the woods. I also love walking in our woods:)