User:SouthwestTrudger/sandbox

Primrose Hill Community Wood, Bath

PHCW occupies a 24 acre site of the north-west slopes of the UNESCO World Heritage[1] city of Bath[2], lying east of the suburb of Lansdown [3] and overlooking Weston village [4]. A public footpath running north from the Cotswold Way [5] towards Beckford's Tower [6] passes through the wood, and access is also possible from Fonthill Road, adjacent to Kingswood School [7]. The wood is at map reference ST739668 [8].

The wood was conceived by Richard Cox on behalf of the Bath Chamber of Commerce and the Keep Bath Tidy Group, to celebrate the Millenium [9]. It occupies two former fields of pasture land that belonged to Primrose Hill farm, the underlying geology comprising of oolitic limestone and Fuller’s Earth [10]  The wood is owned and managed by Primrose Hill Community Trust, whose activities include maintaining the wood for the public, local wildlife and nature conservation, and for providing educational opportunities [11]. The hillside has been known as Primrose Hill since at least 1815 [12].

The wood was planted with 45 species of tree and bush, including ash, oak, cherry, rowan and sweet chestnut, nectar bearing shrubs and wildflowers [9].There are several benches and picnic tables, and bat and bird boxes have been installed to encourage wildlife. 19 species of bird were identified during two “bioblitz” visits by Bath Natural History Society in 2012 [13]. A regular survey of butterflies has recorded X species in the wood [14]. The woodland trust was awarded the Sutton Seed Cup for Outstanding Area of Nature Conservation in the 2012 [15].