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Ebernoe Common

Ebernoe Common and Butcherlands is a nature reserve owned by Sussex Wildlife Trust. About half the reserve is made up of ancient woodland, and is a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Although all woodland in Britain now shows the influence of management, Ebernoe is one of the very few sites in the UK where the woodland may date back to the Wild Wood, or Milk Wood, which once covered virtually the entire country. Orchids and other woodland and meadow flowers grow amongst the trees. Paths run through the forest.

 

 

 

 

 

Today we feel that the woodland is beautiful, and that's certainly the impression I had walking through it. But the people who lived beside and within the ancient Wild Wood did not think it was beautiful. In fact there is every indication that they were terrified of it. Certainly folk tales have a long history of portraying the woods as a scary place. Even today there's a kind of folk memory of the woods as being dangerous. I still remember reading Wind In The Willows as a little boy, and looking at an illustration of the Wild Wood, ominous birds flying up from the tree tops. In the Harry Potter books, the woods near Hogwarts are out of bounds and full of giant spiders and unknown horrors. In patches the woodland at Ebernoe is very dense, and you get an idea of where these feelings came from.

Directions: The best starting place for walks is from the car park next to the church off Streels Lane. Take the A283 from Petworth. Turn right into Streels Lane, and then turn right again just after the village of Ebernoe to reach the car park. Click here for an interactive road and satellite map centred on Ebernoe Common.

 

Access: the ground is flat but can be muddy. The paths are sometimes narrow and overgrown. There are stiles in the boundary fences.

Contact: Sussex Wildlife Trust can be contacted on 01273 494777 or via the web site www.sussexwt.org.uk