Cotswold Commons & Beechwoods National Nature Reserve

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Overview

Cotswold Commons and Beechwoods NNR includes some of Britain’s finest beech woods and limestone grasslands. The grasslands of the commons feature a rich limestone flora including yellow rattle, knapweed, harebell and wild thyme. Early summer sees an impressive display of orchids, among them early purple, pyramidal, greater butterfly, common spotted and fragrant. All these plants support an abundance of insects, most notably butterflies including chalk hill blue, small blue, dingy skipper, green hairstreak and the rare Duke of Burgundy fritillary. Skylarks and tree pipits breed and kestrels and buzzards are often seen overhead. The beech woodlands are host to plants including green hellebore, common wintergreen, bird’s-nest orchid and broad-leaved helleborine. A number of nationally rare plants also occur, including fingered sedge, stinking hellebore and yellow star of Bethlehem. Woodland animals include rare spiders and snails – all restricted to ancient woodland sites. Butterflies include silver-washed fritillary and white-letter hairstreak, and breeding birds include tawny owl, buzzard and wood warbler. Buckholt Wood is especially noted for being home to over 780 species of fungi.

Location

The Camp

About the area

Gloucestershire is home to a variety of landscapes, including the Cotswolds, a region of gentle hills, valleys and gem-like villages that roll through the county. To their west is the Severn Plain, watered by Britain’s longest river and characterised by orchards and farms marked out by hedgerows that blaze with mayflower in the spring; beyond the Severn are the Forest of Dean and the Wye Valley.