The Norsey Wood Society works closely with Basildon Borough Council, the owners of Norsey Wood Nature Reserve, an ancient woodland which is also a Site of Special Scientific Interest on the edge of Billericay in Essex, UK
Managing the Wood

Managing the Wood

Norsey Wood is a mixed ancient woodland covering an area of 65ha (165 acres) and consists of a variety of habitats because of the different underlying geology. An Ancient Woodland is defined as one which has been in existence since AD1600 in England, Wales & Northern Ireland (AD 1750 in Scotland) or before. So with a history of at least 400 years, this, together with the richness of its wildlife makes the site unique. 

Many of the ancient trees have clearly been removed and much of the area has been replanted with Sweet Chestnut and Hornbeam.  These species are quick-growing and allow regular harvesting of timber without killing the trees – a process known as Coppicing. Please read the Coppice Woodland section below for a brief explanation and a map showing how the system has been applied in the Wood over the last 20 years. Coppicing has been taking place since circa 1250. The rotation re-established in the 1970's affects less than 50% of the woodland. There are extensive Limited Intervention areas including the spring-fed valleys where nature is left to its own devices unless tree safety work is required to protect visitors.

More detailed information is available in this leaflet. 'Why are we felling the trees' written by a former Warden of the Wood and published by Basildon Council.

Coppice Woodland


The term 'coppice' derives from the French word couper - to cut. Coppice woodlands are cut on rotation, normally from between 6 to 25 years (about 21 years for Norsey) and usually one part of the wood, called a coupe, is harvested each year. The coppice trees produce material called underwood. Underwood species, all deciduous, respond to cutting by sending up multiple stems from the cut stump, which is called a stool. Periodic cutting often extend the life of these trees and many ancient stools can be seen in Norsey. In many coppices, some trees are left uncut to grow as standards (often Oaks) - tall and single-stemmed. Deadwood is also left standing wherever possible for nesting birds and bats, fungi which are natures recyclers and invertebrates.


Coppicing can be traced back to Neolithic times (c4000 BCE) and through the Bronze, Roman, Saxon and Medieval periods. It was the most common form of woodland management in Britain until the mid 1800s. Because of this long history, ancient coppice woodlands are often considered to be direct descendants of the original forest that covered most of Britain after the last Ice Age. The system of 'coppice with standards' is also ancient. As a sustainable woodland management technique, coppicing is still relevant today. A crop of wood is obtained annually, yet no trees are removed, only cut and allowed to regrow. In ancient coppices, such as Norsey, much of the wildlife has come to rely on the periodic cutting and regrowth of the stools. In addition, continued cutting ensures that a woodland with a healthy coppice structure is passed on to the next generation, as it has been by countless woodcutters through history.

The map at the bottom of the page shows areas of Norsey Wood that have been coppiced since 1992 and has been produced to accompany the reprinted booklet, available free from the Ranger’s office, 'Why are we felling our trees’, originally written by a former Warden, Kevin Cook and reprinted by the Norsey Wood Society in 2019. For those who are interested to see how coppiced areas develop over time and how the vegetation changes, the various areas are marked in green and the date of the winter coppicing is given. The areas are not drawn to scale, but their locations are shown relative to easily recognised features on the ground, such as path junctions, Norsey Trail numbered markers and the surfaced Easy Access Trail.


Coppicing in Norsey has been carried out for about a thousand years (the earliest record is 1250) and there is evidence for this to be seen to the left of the path leading to the Butterfly Ride. What appears to be a large circle of Hornbeams (Carpinus Betulus) is, in fact, one formerly coppiced tree (or stool) with multiple trunks ! It is thought to be between 600 and 1,000 years old. The practice of coppicing is still carried out in Norsey although the objective is now to enhance the Nature Reserve by woodland renewal rather than producing woodland products.

Coppicing produces a mosaic of coupes at different stages of regrowth. It is this mosaic which attracted the Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) designation. Different plants and animals prefer different stages of coppice growth resulting in increased biodiversity in the wood. The picture gallery immediately above illustrates how quickly the understory regenerates providing food, shelter and homes for small mammals and low-nesting birds. Once the canopy closes and shades-out the woodland floor the understory largely dies out and the coupe becomes barren at ground level. The exception, of course, is the Bluebell and the less appreciated Wood Anemone which both flower before the tree leaves develop. When a coupe is first coppiced the sunlight germinates seeds which have laid dormant since the previous cycle.


Coppicing is controversial because active management is unattractive until the coupe regenerates remarkable quickly. In recent years the Society has vetted the methods used by the forestry contractor. Modern machinery is used to process the felled timber economically. However, the initial felling cut by chain saw is manual to ensure the cut is clean and angled appropriately. This is best practice. Equally we consulted a local Horse Logging contractor. Horse Logging is used in conditions where vehicles cannot operate. Horse Logging is expensive, uneconomic, and not required in the 40% of Norsey Wood managed by coppicing.

Coppicing map of Norsey Wood
Dead hedge in Norsey Wood

The ‘fences’ you may notice bordering coppiced areas are called ‘dead hedges’. Dead hedging involves using the smaller material obtained from the coppicing operation. A double row of vertical stakes is driven in at roughly 1 metre intervals around the area and brashings (thin branches) are laid between the stakes to form the hedge. 


They are built after coppicing has been completed, in order to protect the area from dogs and humans so that the soil and undergrowth can recover and, in particular, so that the seeds that will benefit from the increased light and warmth now that the canopy has been removed, can germinate in due course.
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