Micheldever Wood
Micheldever Wood is a wood near the village of Micheldever, in Hampshire, about five miles north-east of Winchester. The wood is managed by Forestry England.
Prehistoric remains from the Bronze Age and other periods have been found in the wood, and a Roman villa too.
Description
The wood coverd 621 acres, and the M3 motorway runs through its western side. The wood consists mostly of beech trees, interspersed with some conifers. There is a car park; there are picnic places and two walking trails. There is a range of wildlife species, and muntjac deer can be found. Bluebells burst forth across the floor of the wood in the spring.[1][2][3]
History
The area was part of the Royal Forest of Pamber in the Middle Ages. Part of the present Micheldever Wood was later held by Hyde Abbey. The abbey was dissolved in the 16th century, and Micheldever Wood was purchased by Thomas Wriothesley; it later descended by marriage to the Dukes of Bedford, and was acquired in 1801 by Francis Baring, 1st Baronet. The wood was described in the 1820s by William Cobbett in Rural Rides as "one of the finest oak woods in England". It has been in the care of the Forestry Commission since 1919.[4][5]
Archaeological features
Archaeological features survive from the Bronze Age to the Romano-British period, preserved for many centuries by the woodland. The remains are a scheduled monument. Information boards are provided for some of the features.[3][4]
There is a Bronze Age cross dyke in the south-east of the wood, extending into Itchen Wood to the south; it is thought to mark a territorial boundary. It is a bank ten feet wide, with a ditch either side; the part of the dyke in Micheldever Wood is about 100 yards long.[4]
There is a linear earthwork running west–east across the wood. Nearby is a bowl barrow, 82 feet in diameter and 6 feet high, with a hollow left by antiquarian excavation; and a bell barrow, 75 feet in diameter and 6 feet high.[4]
There are two 'banjo enclosures' regarded as dwelling places or stock enclosures of the middle Iron Age. These are of area half an acre and three-quarters of an acre, with entrance ways to the east in both cases.[4]
There is much evidence of a Romano-British settlement. In the 1840s a hoard of more than 1400 Roman coins of the late fourth century were found; other artifacts and foundations of walls were also found. A field survey in 1992 recorded the remains of an L-shaped villa and associated buildings. Around these are traces of garden terraces and trackways, and there are two trackways linking the settlement to the Roman road between Winchester and Calleva Atrebatum (Silchester).[4]
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Micheldever Wood) |
- Micheldever Wood: Forestry England
- Location map: 51°8’2"N, 1°14’36"W
References
- ↑ "Micheldever Wood" Forestry England. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
- ↑ "Micheldever Wood" Woodland Trust. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Micheldever Woods, Hampshire" Meandering Wild. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 National Heritage List 1021320: Multi-period site in Micheldever Wood (Scheduled ancient monument entry)
- ↑ A History of the County of Hampshire - Volume 3 pp 390-394: Parishes: Micheldever (Victoria County History)