Hoe Acre Covert

Wood, Forest in Berkshire

England

Hoe Acre Covert

Gallop, Lambourn, Berkshire Credit: Oswald Bertram

Hoe Acre Covert is a wood located in the county of Berkshire, England. It is part of the larger forested expanse known as Hoe Acre Forest. The covert covers an area of approximately 200 acres, making it a significant woodland in the region.

The wood is characterized by a diverse range of tree species, including oak, beech, and birch. These trees create a dense canopy, providing a habitat for a variety of wildlife. The woodland floor is covered with a rich carpet of woodland plants, such as bluebells and wild garlic, adding to its natural beauty.

Hoe Acre Covert is a popular destination for nature lovers and outdoor enthusiasts. The wood offers a network of well-maintained footpaths, allowing visitors to explore its tranquil surroundings. It is also a great spot for birdwatching, with numerous species of birds, including woodpeckers and song thrushes, calling the covert their home.

Additionally, the wood has a fascinating history, with traces of ancient human activity found within its boundaries. Archaeological evidence suggests that the area has been inhabited since prehistoric times, and there are remnants of Iron Age settlements in the vicinity.

Hoe Acre Covert is managed by the local forestry commission, ensuring its preservation and maintenance for future generations. It serves as an important green space, providing a haven for wildlife and a place for people to connect with nature.

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Hoe Acre Covert Images

Images are sourced within 2km of 51.535765/-1.5256742 or Grid Reference SU3281. Thanks to Geograph Open Source API. All images are credited.

Gallop, Lambourn, Berkshire

Oswald Bertram

Gallop, Lambourn, Berkshire

Oswald Bertram

Byway on Pit Down

Here running north-east and uphill, shaded by a plantation of beeches. Behind the camera the track leads downhill to Seven Barrows and the road to Lambourn.

Stefan Czapski

Seven Barrows: cattle sheltering from rain

One of the most prominent barrows has a beech tree growing on top of it, and these bullocks were huddling beneath it during a drizzly spell. They soon emerged when the sun came out. Walking round the enclosed area of Seven Barrows nature reserve, I soon realised that there were more than seven mounds. I've seen estimates of two dozen and more - though they may refer to an area larger than the enclosed reserve.

Stefan Czapski

The Seven Barrows nature reserve

This is the site of a Bronze Age barrow cemetery, lying in a hollow on the Lambourn Downs. Walking round the site you soon realise that there are more barrows than the name suggests. My guess would be that the name dates from the centuries when mystical significance was assigned to the number seven (hence Seven Stars, Seven Seas, Seven Deadly Sins, Seven Ages of Man). The enclosed nature reserve is managed by the Berks., Bucks. & Oxon. Wildlife Trust, chiefly to conserve a small population of the Marsh Fritillary butterfly - a scarce species whose distribution has retreated westwards in the last half-century.

Stefan Czapski

Seven Barrows

This hollow in the Lambourn Downs is the site of a Bronze Age round-barrow cemetery. There are a good many mounds (certainly more than seven) but they are crowded together, and many sit in shallow depressions. An individual barrow may appear out of the long grass only as you approach it. The mound with the beech tree is perhaps the most isolated, and certainly the easiest to pick out at a distance. The picture was taken in rapidly changing light (after rain), and the light and shade helps emphasise the uneven relief.

Stefan Czapski

View from the Lambourn-Kingston Lisle road, north of Seven Barrows

The tree marks the remains of a barrow, but the evenness of the ground suggests that the area was formerly ploughed. These days much of the area is race-horse gallops - pretty much permanent grass.

Stefan Czapski

Byway heading uphill from Seven Barrows

The byway heads NE from Seven Barrows to reach the B4001 Faringdon road. Shaun Ferguson's contribution SU3382 : Byway heading up Pit Down shows the same byway - but the photo was taken a little further up the slope. The four (puzzling) ruts were still there when I visited in June 2017, though somewhat hidden by the long grass of early summer. My own contribution SU3383 : Byway on Pit Down shows the byway a little further ahead, as it passes a beech clump. The main land-use here is as race-horse gallops.

Stefan Czapski

Beech tree on a barrow, Seven Barrows

However many barrows there may be at this site - and there are certainly more than seven - this seems to be the highest and the most prominent. Many of the others sit in their own shallow circular depressions- saucer-barrows and bowl-barrows, as they are known.

Stefan Czapski

Coprinus fungus at Seven Barrows

The name of this genus of fungus reflects the fact that it thrives on dung. Compare, for instance: SU1950 : Inkcap fungus growing from a cow-pat, Haxton Down

Stefan Czapski

Dew Pond on Ewe Hill

The Sheepdrove Estate has re created some of these traditional ponds on their organic farm.

Des Blenkinsopp

On top of Ewe Hill

A wide expanse of downland grazing with whatever this thing is in the middle of it.

Des Blenkinsopp

Gate to Sheepdrove Farm

The road to a large organic farm on the Downs above Lambourn.

Des Blenkinsopp

Farmland, Lambourn

A crop of wheat to the north of Sheepdrove Farm.

Andrew Smith

Farmland, Lambourn

Crops of spring barley and winter wheat either side of the modern county boundary.

Andrew Smith

Farmland above Lambourn

Vieve Forward

Byway near Hangman's Stone

Vieve Forward

Disc barrow at Seven Barrows Nature Reserve

This part of the wider barrow cemetery consists of ten barrows in two parallel rows. This is the only example of a disc barrow in the cemetery; they are rare in any case. Disc barrows have a small mound and a wide berm encircled by a ditch and a bank. They might contain more than one burial, and date from the Bronze Age. Link