Speckled Wood, Hastings

Speckled Wood
Speckled Wood, Hastings is located in East Sussex
Speckled Wood, Hastings
Speckled Wood shown within East Sussex
TypeWoodland, park
Location128 Frederick Road, Ore TN35 5EU, Hastings, East Sussex United Kingdom
OS gridTQ834112
Coordinates50°52′18″N 0°36′19″E / 50.87167°N 0.60528°E / 50.87167; 0.60528
Area12.7 acres (5.1 ha)
Created1778 or earlier
Open7 days a week, dawn until dusk
StatusOpen all year

Speckled Wood is a 12.7-acre (5.1 ha) woodland and park in Ore Village in the Ore Valley, Hastings, East Sussex, United Kingdom. The woodland park consists of woodland trails and clearings. The woodland has steep sixty-degree sides and is a wet woodland.

The wood is a habitat to a wealth of mammals, birds and invertebrates. There is a stream that runs right through the wood. The name Speckled Wood is believed to have come from the butterflies of the same name that thrive here, the speckled wood (SP1861).

Speckled Wood falls within Ore's development area to the northeast of Hastings, where major housing and industrial development has been concentrated during the last two decades. Despite considerable new development in the area, the woodland has been retained since 1930.[1]

Speckled Wood, together with nearby fragments of woodland and tree belts, represents a sizeable proportion of green space within the urban area of Hastings and is a conspicuous landscape feature. It is a core area of natural habitat within the town. It is possible to enter the natural area from points within Ore Village using the long established footpaths.

  1. ^ Hastings General Development Plan 1930. Hastings Main Library Reference Section: Thomas H Mawson and sons & Adams, Thomson and Fry. 1930. p. 47.