Habitat Restoration Programme

St Thomas’ Stream

Flowing west from Lodge Road bogs North and South across the Lodge Road trackway, this Forest stream follows the contours of the ridgeline through St Thomas' Quarters before flowing north to join Cobbins Brook and from there, the Lea.

Our wood-pasture restoration aims to increase the light-levels reaching the stream, by thinning tree growth along the bankside encouraging marshy plants and bankside flora to regenerate. This will improve connectivity between the delicate bogs, with their highly specialised species mix, and the stream and stream side habitats.

Veteran trees will be haloed by removing closely growing young trees and holly, helping to extend their lifespan. Thirty-three new pollards will be created, while three maiden pollards will be re-pollarded for the second time increasing light reaching the forest floor. The continues the cycle of creating and caring for the next generation of Epping Forest pollards an approach to future veteran tree management that ensures a healthy mix of tree ages. This aims to secure the vital habitats these trees provide for centuries to come.

Epping Thicks

This area of dense woodland has extensive holly growth surrounding veteran oak and hornbeam pollards with areas of bracken, bramble and birch.

Work here aims to restore and protect the habitat associated with four key features in the west of Epping Thicks: The Four Wanz, the Victorian Ride, the Pizzle Ponds and Kemps Lawn.

Sheppard's Meadow

The 14 acres that makes up Sheppard's Meadow are botanically diverse, sloping gently from Bell Common south east towards Ivy Chimneys. Crossed by two small water courses and a trackway known as the Western Road which is bordered by a hedgerow.

This pasture was traditionally grazed by cattle and latterly horses. The grassland species present suggest an old, undisturbed grassland which are increasingly rare and important landscapes due to their biodiversity. Grassland restoration efforts will include the removal of those young oak trees that have encroached the grassland to preserve this important habitat.

Leyton Flats

Building on the work carried out here in 2024, the area west of Eagle Pond will have thick holly, some trees and scrub understory thinned to help regenerate its wood pasture. Halo-ing the veteran oak pollards will improve their condition helping them live longer while increasing light levels reaching the forest floor encouraging ground flora to return.

The ancient acid grass-heath will be restored by removing encroaching trees and scrub, creating light-filled corridors between habitats. Allowing more sunlight to reach the grassland increases warmth -essential for creating productive breeding and feeding areas for important invertebrate species.

Trueloves

Trueloves was purchased by the Forest in 1994 and the arable field there was allowed to naturally regenerate. The now diverse grassland featuring areas of scrub and dotted trees is bounded by tall wide hedges and modest woodland edges.

The grassland displays a diverse sward with 50+ species and a high percentage coverage of wildflowers including many locally uncommon species such as corky-fruited water dropwort and ragged robin.

To protect from encroachment a small group of young oak trees will be removed to restore the open grassland area back towards its former extent. This is a continuation of our management approach aimed at increasing the spread of desirable plants which resulted in its 2023 designation as a priority grassland habitat.

Lord's Bushes and Rowan Trail

Lords Bushes is one of the UK’s top 30 sites for veteran trees, home to an exceptional number of pollarded oak, hornbeam, and beech. Over time, many of these trees have become over-shaded by closely growing holly and semi-mature trees, threatening to reduce their lifespan and resilience. Targeted work will be carried out to support these ancient trees. Haloing will carefully remove holly and young tree growth around these veteran pollards to improve their condition and longevity. In addition, over fifty new pollards will be created, ensuring the next generation of veteran trees. Lords Bushes and the adjacent Knighton Wood together form a nationally significant site for wildlife. The former's ancient wood-pasture landscape is particularly notable for its unusually high concentration of wild service trees—an indicator of ancient woodland—as well as rowans, after which the  Rowan Trail  is named. To enhance habitat connectivity and strengthen wildlife corridors, glades along the trail that have been overrun by holly and young tree growth will be carefully restored. Allowing more light to reach the forest floor will benefit a range of plants and wildlife, enriching biodiversity across the site.

Barn Hoppitt

Barn Hoppitt is a historic wood-pasture landscape rich in veteran oak pollards, many over 400 years old. They are some of the oldest and most significant trees in the Forest. To help these veteran oak pollards thrive, haloing will remove encroaching young trees and holly, improving light access and encouraging healthy regrowth around these ancient trees.

A total of 76 new pollards will be created and five maiden pollards will be re-pollarded for the second time. Reinforcing the age diversity of the tree population, supporting the continued cycle of regeneration, and forming the veteran trees of the future.

Along the edge of the old cricket pitch, the removal of encroaching trees will help restore the grassland, benefiting specialist flora and preserving the distinctive ant hills created by yellow meadow ants. This keystone species engineers vital micro habitats as well as being a favourite food of the green woodpecker.

This carefully planned restoration ensures the continuity of this important habitat, supporting both the veteran trees and the rich biodiversity they sustain.

Long Running

Long Running’s heathland is a mosaic of wet and dry heath, supporting heathers, sedges, and transient ponds formed in old gravel pits. However, Long Running East, historically part of this heathland, has been largely lost to secondary infill by oak and birch.

Heathland restoration will take place to reopen this habitat, creating the conditions for heathland wildlife and flora to thrive once again—especially heather, which now persists there in only a few areas. Ten new pollards will also be established, ensuring a future generation of veteran trees within the landscape.

Regenerating this habitat will pave the way for further initiatives, including light ground scraping and seeding, propagation and transplantation of important plants for heathland biodiversity such as bell heather and creeping willow.