Bradfield Woods
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| Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
 | |
| Location | Suffolk |
|---|---|
| Grid reference | TL 930 576[1] |
| Interest | Biological |
| Area | 81.4 hectares[1] |
| Notification | 1986[1] |
| Location map | Magic Map |
Bradfield Woods is an 81.4-hectare (201-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket in Suffolk. The site is in three separate blocks, the adjoining Felsham Hall and Monks' Park Woods, and the much smaller separate Hedge Wood and Chen sil Grove.[1][2] Felsham Hall and Monks' Park Woods are designated a 63.3 National Nature Reserve, also called Bradfield Woods,[3][4][5] and are managed by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust.[6]
These woods have a history of coppicing with the earliest record dating from 1252.[7]
The Southern part of Monks' Park Woods was cleared for farming during the 1960's apart from a small area preserved thanks to a tree preservation order following action from the local residents. The site was subsequently designed as Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1971. In 1970, the Society for the Promotion of Nature Reserves (SPNR, now called the Wildlife Trust) bought 51 ha of the woods with a second purchase of 12 ha in 1979. Sussex Wildlife Trust leased the land in 1983 and the freehold was transferred in 1999. An additional 7ha was purchased in 2010 but the Trust 's bid to secure the land cleared in the 1960's did not succeed this same year.[7][8]
