Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
Location | Oxfordshire |
---|---|
Grid reference | SP 337 170[1] |
Interest | Biological |
Area | 501.7 hectares (1,240 acres)[1] |
Notification | 1988[1] |
Location map | Magic Map |
Wychwood or Wychwood Forest is a 501.7-hectare (1,240-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north of Witney in Oxfordshire.[1][2] It is also a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade 1,[3] and an area of 263.4 hectares (651 acres) is a national nature reserve[4][5] The site contains a long barrow dating to the Neolithic period, which is a scheduled monument.[6]
In past centuries the forest covered a much larger area, since cleared in favour of agriculture, villages and towns. However, the forest's area has fluctuated. Parts cleared for agriculture during Britain's centuries under Roman rule later reverted to forest.[7] The existence of the ancient Wychwood is recognised by the authoritative Victoria County History, but the planned Volume XIX has yet to be completed.[8]