About the reserve

Foxley Wood is a fantastic place for a peaceful, woodland walk all year round. 

Well-known for its beautiful spring bluebells, this tranquil reserve is also home to hundreds of flowering plant species and all the common woodland birds, including nuthatch, tree creeper and marsh tit. 

In May, an early morning walk will be rewarded with a truly magnificent dawn chorus, with blackcap and garden warbler joining the resident birds in song. Foxley Wood still plays host to the rapidly declining spotted flycatcher. 

A hotspot for butterflies too – with white admiral, speckled wood, purple hairstreak and silver-washed fritillary regularly found skipping along the dappled glades and woodland rides. In a good year, common species such as meadow brown and gatekeeper can appear in huge numbers. Recently, the regal purple Emperor butterfly has returned to Foxley, and continues to grow in number each year. As the summer moves into autumn, the dark bush crickets start calling and on a warm balmy afternoon their singing can reach a surprisingly loud crescendo.    

Flourishing today, this wonderful ancient woodland suffered decades of degradation under a commercial forestry regime. Large-scale restoration work has allowed surviving ancient woodland ground flora, such as dog’s mercury, greater butterfly orchid, wood anemone and herb-paris to thrive here.