HOME PAGE    VILLAGE APPRAISAL

HISTORIC BUILDINGS      CLUBS & SOCIETIES   GEOGRAPHY   HISTORY      PARISH MAP

NATURAL HISTORY:-  -  A Year in Doddington   The Churchyard    Birdlife

Trees Amphibians & Reptiles
From the 1997 Village Appraisal - Report by Nigel England, 1996

Sweet chestnut coppice, at various stages.

ALPHA MASON

For most people either living in or passing through the village, the landscape of Doddington would seem to offer a fairly typical mix of hedgerows and small woods containing native trees.

However, looking at a map of the Parish, it can be seen that the most numerous type of tree in the area is probably sweet chestnut, followed closely by apple. The chestnut is found predominantly in the south, around Lady Margaret Manor whilst the apples are mostly in the north, around Little Sharsted Farm. Modern dwarfing rootstocks and intensive orchard management produces apple trees so small that they hardly qualify as trees at all - certainly offering little habitat to wildlife. On the other hand, the chestnut coppices are much less intensively managed and are clearly home to a wide variety of plant and animal life.

View across the central-eastern section of the village.

ALPHA MASON

Scattered throughout the village there are a good number of mixed woodland areas with species typical of chalk downland: beech, ash, hornbeam, oak, hazel and field maple are all present. The Sharsted plantation provides a notable exception; with its sandy soil, it has been planted with oaks and various conifers.

The most unusual tree is probably the wild service or chequer tree which can be found near the war memorial. The square-patterned bark of this large tree gave rise to one of its common names.

Most people will be more familiar with the trees in the central part of the village. Gardens and woods feature a good mix of types. The parkland trees of Doddington Place are now beginning to recover after the ravages of the 1987 storm; subsequent plantings will soon be filling the gaps. In various woods around the village there are fine beech trees; however, many are over-mature and, since they tend to be shallow-rooted over the chalk, are vulnerable to strong winds. The tallest trees in the village must be the wellingtonias in Doddington Place. These have probably grown to their full proportions as their position, on top of the hill, is too dry in summer to allow them their full potential. The oldest tree is probably the yew in the churchyard.

The mixture of woods and trees described here is fairly normal for chalk downland; we should try to keep it that way.

This page sponsored by:
The Paddock Boarding Kennels and Cattery 01795 886243

Amphibians and reptiles

In the past, dew ponds used for watering stock were situated throughout the village and would have provided plentiful habitat for amphibians. Today, garden ponds provide the main refuge. There are probably between ten and twenty of these in the central area of the village, almost all of which are home to frogs and common newts. There is a thriving colony of toads in the gardens of Doddington Place. The toads seem to spend most of the year in Sharsted woods; on warm days in early March they can be seen squeezing through the chicken-wire fence on the boundary of the gardens. I have seen palmate newts in the same area. Great crested newts do not seem to occur in the village.

The most common reptile around here is definitely the slow-worm - which is really a lizard with no legs. Grass snakes have been seen, often near ponds where they will feed on frogs. I have neither seen, nor heard reports of, adders or lizards, but this does not mean that they are not in the area. I would be interested to know of any sightings.

Nigel England, 1996

HOME PAGE    VILLAGE APPRAISAL