Longleat Woods is a 249.9 hectare

Hectare

The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...

 (617.4 acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south of Frome

Frome

Frome is a town and civil parish in northeast Somerset, England. Located at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills, the town is built on uneven high ground, and centres around the River Frome. The town is approximately south of Bath, east of the county town, Taunton and west of London. In the 2001...

 in Somerset

Somerset

The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...

, notified in 1972.

This site includes the Ashen Copse Nature Conservation Review site. This site is a large, ancient, semi-natural, broadleaved woodland with a predominantly high forest structure which is unusual in South West Britain. Over the majority of the site, where soils are poorly drained but not waterlogged, the major canopy-forming tree is Pedunculate Oak

Oak

An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...

 (Quercus robur), with Ash

Ash tree

Fraxinus is a genus flowering plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae. It contains 45-65 species of usually medium to large trees, mostly deciduous though a few subtropical species are evergreen. The tree's common English name, ash, goes back to the Old English æsc, while the generic name...

 (Fraxinus excelsior) being locally common and distributed throughout. Hazel

Hazel

The hazels are a genus of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate northern hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family Betulaceae, though some botanists split the hazels into a separate family Corylaceae.They have simple, rounded leaves with double-serrate margins...

 (Corylus avellana) is the commonest shrub and occurs throughout. A large number of plant species normally found only in ancient woodland

Ancient woodland

Ancient woodland is a term used in the United Kingdom to refer specifically to woodland that has existed continuously since 1600 or before in England and Wales . Before those dates, planting of new woodland was uncommon, so a wood present in 1600 was likely to have developed naturally...

s occur, including Broad-leaved Helleborine

Epipactis

Epipactis, or Helleborine, is a genus of terrestrial orchids consisting of approximately 70 species. This genus is abbreviated as Epcts in horticultural trade.They occur in temperate and subtropical climates of America, Asia, and Europe...

 (Epipactis helleborine) and Wood Small-reed

Wood Small-reed

Wood Small-reed is a grass in the Poaceae family.It is found in Europe, Africa, and Asia....

 (Calamagrostis epigejos). The breeding bird community
includes Woodcock

Woodcock

The woodcocks are a group of seven or eight very similar living species of wading birds in the genus Scolopax. Only two woodcocks are widespread, the others being localized island endemics. Most are found in the Northern Hemisphere but a few range into Wallacea...

 (Scolopax rusticola), Tree Pipit

Tree Pipit

Tree Pipit, Anthus trivialis, is a small passerine bird which breeds across most of Europe and temperate western and central Asia. It is a long-distance migrant moving in winter to Africa and southern Asia....

 (Anthus trivialis), Wood Warbler

Wood Warbler

The Wood Warbler is a common and widespread leaf warbler which breeds throughout northern and temperate Europe, and just into the extreme west of Asia in the southern Ural Mountains...

 (Phylloscopus sibilatrix), Redstart

Redstart

Redstarts are a group of small Old World birds. They were formerly classified in the thrush family , but are now known to be part of the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae...

 (Phoenicurus phoenicurus), Buzzard

Buzzard

A buzzard is one of several large birds, but there are a number of meanings as detailed below.-Old World:In the Old World Buzzard can mean:* One of several medium-sized, wide-ranging raptors with a robust body and broad wings....

 (Buteo buteo), Tawny Owl

Tawny Owl

The Tawny Owl or Brown Owl is a stocky, medium-sized owl commonly found in woodlands across much of Eurasia. Its underparts are pale with dark streaks, and the upperparts are either brown or grey. Several of the eleven recognised subspecies have both variants...

 (Strix aluco), Greater Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major), Lesser Spotted Woodpecker

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker

The Lesser Spotted Woodpecker is a member of the woodpecker family Picidae. It is assigned to the genus Dendrocopos ....

 (Dendrocopos minor) and European Green Woodpecker (Picus viridis). The breeding invertebrates include White Admiral

Limenitis camilla

The White Admiral, Limenitis camilla, is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family. They are found in woodland throughout southern Britain and much of Europe and Asia, extending as far east as Japan....

 (Ladoga camilla), Silver-washed Fritillary

Silver-washed Fritillary

Argynnis paphia is a common and variable butterfly found over much of the Palaearctic ecozone – Algeria, Europe, temperate Asia and Japan.-Subspecies:*A. p. butleri Krulikovsky, 1909 Northern Europe, Central Europe...

 (Argynnis paphia) and Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

The Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary , called the Silver-bordered Fritillary in North America, is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family...

 (Boloria selene) butterflies and Hornets (Vespa crabro).