Bellhurst Wood in Great Knelle
- an Ancient Woodland in the High Weald
KNELLE
WOOD
Bellhurst Wood is the 4.94 acres [2.0 ha] of woodland in the central eastern part of Knelle Wood between the sunken stream and Hobbs Lane. To the east of Hobbs Lane towards Hope Farm and the Bellhurst farms is the partially cleared Little Bellhurst Wood. Bellhurst is recorded in Domesday, 'bel' meaning a pyre or beacon and 'hurst' a wooded hill. It is of interest that Great Bellhurst Farm lies on the spur of a ridge overlooking the Wet Level which 1000 years ago was a broad tidal river. Clicking on the area of Bellhurst Wood on this map will take you to more detail : a separate tab will open in your browser.
The character of Bellhurst Wood is typical of Great Knelle Wood : mixed coppice and standards. The coppice is mainly hornbeam with some ash, grey poplar and hazel, and with willows, alders and birches near the stream. There are about 80 tall oak standards, with less sweet chestnut on the clay soil here than in the higher and sandier parts of Knelle Wood. No coppicing has been done for at least 30 years, so there are no clearings of any size and little understorey apart from patches of bramble and scattered holly and honeysuckle. However, the leaf-covered woodland floor is rich in wild flowers in April, with great carpets of bluebells, dog's mercury and wood anemones, and scattered foxgloves, celandines, primroses, lady's smock, yellow archangel and early purple orchids mainly by the stream. Many ferns grow along the stream banks, including the localised Hard Fern.