Coldfall Wood is an ancient wood in Muswell Hill, North London. Muswell Hill is a suburb of north London, mostly in the London Borough of Haringey. North London is the northern part of London, England. The area it covers is defined differently for a range of purposes It covers an area of approximately 14 hectares and is presently surrounded by the St. Pancras and Islington Cemetery, the East Finchley public allotments, and the residential roads Creighton Avenue and Barrenger Road. Explanation The hectare is commonly used in most countries around the world especially in domains concerned with land planning and management such as Agriculture, The Islington and St Pancras Cemetery in East Finchley, North London while situated in the London Borough of Barnet is actually two cemeteries owned by East Finchley is a suburb of north London, built from the 1890s onwards situated north-west of Charing Cross. It is the site of the discoveries which first led to the recognition that glaciation had once reached southern England.

History and Municipal Ownership

Southern Entrance to Coldfall Wood

The Haringey district of London contains no less than five distinct ancient woods. The London Borough of Haringey (ˈhærɪŋgeɪ) is a Borough of North London, classified by some definitions as part of Inner London, and by These are Highgate Wood, Queen's Wood, Coldfall Wood, Bluebell Wood and North Wood. Highgate Wood is a 70 acre (28 hectare area of ancient woodland in North London, lying between East Finchley, Highgate Village and Muswell Hill Queen's Wood is a 21 hectare area of ancient woodland in North London, abutting Highgate Wood and lying between East Finchley, Highgate Village Bluebell Wood in the London Borough of Haringey is a small remnant of one of the ancient woodlands of London All are shown on John Rocque's 1754 Map of Middlesex. John Rocque (originally Jean born not later than 1709 died 1762 was a surveyor and Cartographer. Middlesex is one of the 39 historic counties of England and the second smallest by area.

Until the early 20th century Coldfall Wood covered more than twice its current extent, reaching south to the properties bordering Fortis Green. ^[1] The southern section was felled and partially excavated for gravel, before being used for residential development and the sites of Tollington and William Grimshaw schools (later Fortismere School). Fortismere School is a mixed community Foundation School Secondary school in Muswell Hill, London, United Kingdom. Tollington first rented and felled part of the wood for a sports field in the 1920s ^[2] and subsequently moved to a new building on the site. William Grimshaw was built later to the north.

Coldfall Wood was purchased in 1930 by Hornsey Council and the remaining section is now owned and managed by the London Borough of Haringey. Hornsey was a local government district in east Middlesex from 1867 to 1965 The London Borough of Haringey (ˈhærɪŋgeɪ) is a Borough of North London, classified by some definitions as part of Inner London, and by It is bounded to the North by the St. Pancras and Islington Cemetery and the Muswell Hill Sports Ground (formerly Finchley Common). The Islington and St Pancras Cemetery in East Finchley, North London while situated in the London Borough of Barnet is actually two cemeteries owned by Finchley Common was an area of land in Middlesex, and until 1816 the boundary between the parishes of Finchley, Friern Barnet and Hornsey. Its western boundary is the boundary line between the London Boroughs of Barnet and Haringey. The London Borough of Barnet ( is a London borough in North London and forms part of Outer London. The London Borough of Haringey (ˈhærɪŋgeɪ) is a Borough of North London, classified by some definitions as part of Inner London, and by This western boundary and its northern boundaries are demarcated by the remains of an ancient woodbank with a ditch on the outer side. This would have prevented grazing animals from the surrounding Finchley Common and Horseshoe Farm (as they then were) from entering the wood and destroying the young coppice. Finchley Common was an area of land in Middlesex, and until 1816 the boundary between the parishes of Finchley, Friern Barnet and Hornsey.

Coldfall Wood has been examined in some detail by Silvertown (1978), who used historical sources to show that the woodlands are likely to be of primary origin (i. e. continuously present since prehistoric times).

Flora

The absence of foliage on this blasted oak lets light through to the woodland floor

Like the other local ancient woodlands in the area, the Wood is dominated by oak standards, but the understorey is much less diverse and consists of almost pure stands of multi-stemmed, overgrown hornbeam coppice. ‘ Ancient Woodland ’ is a term used in the United Kingdom to refer specifically to Woodland dating back to 1600 or before in England and Wales The term oak can be used as part of the common name of any of about 400 species of Trees and Shrubs in the Genus Quercus (from Latin Plants in the genus Carpinus ( Cár-pi-nus) are commonly called Hornbeams. Coppicing is a traditional method of Woodland management in which young tree stems are cut down to near ground level Beech, hazel, mountain ash and Wild Service Tree are all rare, though there are some fine specimens of the last species. For the babyfood see Beech-Nut. Beech ( Fagus) is a genus of ten Species of Deciduous Trees in the The hazels ( Corylus) are a genus of Deciduous Trees and large Shrubs native to the temperate northern hemisphere Sorbus torminalis ( Wild Service Tree) sometimes known as the Chequer(s Tree or Checker(s Tree, is a species of Sorbus

Hornbeam Understorey

Little light penetrates to the woodland floor and large areas of the Wood are devoid of either shrub, field or ground layers of vegetation. Consequently the Wood presents a dark and gloomy appearance in the summer months. Nevertheless, in the few natural glade areas caused by the collapse of an occasional canopy tree, the flora is of considerable interest. Pill sedge hangs on in its only known Haringey site and tiny populations of cow-wheat, slender St. John's wort, wood anemone, and Heath Speedwell manage to survive though they seldom flower. St John's wort (pronounced) used alone refers to the species Hypericum perforatum, also known as Tipton's Weed or Klamath weed, but with qualifiers is Veronica officinalis ( Heath Speedwell, Common Speedwell, Common Gypsyweed, Paul's Betony) is a species of Veronica

An area of approximately one acre was cut in the north western corner of the Wood in December 1990 with the assistance of the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers, the Friends of Coldfall Wood and the Haringey Branch of the London Wildlife Trust. The acre is a unit of Area in a number of different systems including the imperial and U BTCV – formerly known as British Trust for Conservation Volunteers – is the biggest practical conservation charity in Britain. London Wildlife Trust is one of 47 UK Wildlife Trusts which form a nationwide network of local nature conservation charities. The felled hornbeam poles were cut, stacked on site and allowed to decay in situ to provide deadwood habitat for the benefit of invertebrates and fungi. An invertebrate is an Animal lacking a Vertebral column. The group includes 98% of all animal Species — all animals except those in the Chordate A fungus (ˈfʌŋgəs is a eukaryotic Organism that is a member of the kingdom Fungi (ˈfʌndʒaɪ Brushwood was used to construct a dead hedge around the coppice. This has protected the area from trampling, both by dogs and humans, and will hopefully provide a nesting habitat for wrens and other woodland birds. The wrens are Passerine birds in the mainly New World family Troglodytidae. Regrowth from the cut hornbeam stools has been encouraging with a maximum growth of 2 metres being recorded by the end of 1991.

The vegetational succession following the coppice is being carefully monitored by means of permanent quadrats. In the first year after coppicing, more than seventy species of flowering plant have been recorded here - a gratifying increase from the original flora of a mere six species. The newcomers include heath groundsel which is unknown elsewhere in the Borough, suggesting the possibility that its seed may have lain dormant in the soil since the last coppice was cut before the last World War. Ring counts of the coppice poles suggest that this was done about sixty years ago. The majority of new plants, however, will have colonised from outside and many of the arrivals are widespread ruderal species typical of disturbed open habitats, such as mugwort, sow-thistles and willowherbs. Artemisia vulgaris ( mugwort or common wormwood) is one of several species in the genus Artemisia with names containing mugwort Sow thistles (less commonly hare thistles or hare lettuces) are annual herbs in the genus Sonchus, after their Ancient Greece Epilobium is a genus of about 160-200 species of Flowering plants in the family Onagraceae, native to temperate and subarctic regions of both hemispheres Rosebay willowherb dominates much of the area. Fireweed or (mainly in Britain) Rosebay Willowherb ( Epilobium angustifolium) is a perennial Herbaceous Plant in the willowherb A hundred years ago this was a rare plant in southern England and it is noteworthy that it was recorded from Coldfall Wood as early as 1901 (Kent 1975). England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The appearance of Sumatran fleabane was not entirely unexpected, for it has spread rapidly throughout Haringey since first being recorded from the Borough in 1985 (Wurzell 1988). Conyza sumatrensis is an annual Herb native to North America but Naturalised worldwide It is also present in North Wood. There can be few other ancient woods in Britain which include this subtropical species in their flora.

Geology

Shadows in Coldfall wood

The wood lies on the northern margin of the glacial ridge that forms Muswell Hill. The surviving section of the wood lies on London Clay overlain by head. The London Clay is a Marine geological formation of Ypresian (Lower Eocene Epoch c The term head has been used by British geologists since the middle of the 19th century To the immediate west and south this is overlain by gravels of a former course of the Thames, capped by glacial till of Anglian age. Till is unsorted glacial sediment Glacial drift is a general term for the coarsely graded and extremely heterogeneous Sediments of glacial origin The Kansan Glaciation (known in the UK as the Anglian glaciation, Elster glaciation in northern Europe and the Mindel glaciation in the ^[3] It was here in 1835 that N.T.Wetherell discovered a strange mixture of rocks and fossils normally found in the north of England that led to the subsequent recognition of glacial deposits in southern England. Dr Nathaniel Thomas Wetherell MRCS FGS ( September 6, 1800 - December 22, 1875) was a British geologist ^[4]

Future Projects

Coldfall Wood has been selected as one of six "Flagship Woods" in the whole of London, to be included as part of the "Capital Woodlands Project" application to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) which has been prepared by a range of partners, including the Greater London Authority, the Forestry Commission, and several London Boroughs including Haringey. The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF is a fund established in the United Kingdom under the National Lottery etc The Greater London Authority ( GLA) is the city-wide governing body for London, England. The Forestry Commission (established in 1919 is a Non-ministerial government department responsible for Forestry in Great Britain. The bid is being taken forward by Trees for Cities.

The improvement programme consists of the following projects over a 3-year timeframe. 1. Coppicing – to commence in November 2006 2. Building two new bridges across the brook and installing 6 new benches and a picnic bench 3. Reed bed—works to start around Christmas 2006. There will be 5 dams constructed with wood from the coppicing. 4. Improved access through the various entry gates.

References

1. ^ Ordnance Survey 1:2500 map of 1894, Republished as London Sheet 11: Muswell Hill 1894, The Godfrey Edition, Gateshead: Alan Godfrey Maps, 1985, ISBN 0-85054-006-2
2. ^ A Short History of Tollington School Part One 1879-1928. Old Tollingtonians Society. Retrieved on 2008-03-07. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 161 - Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius dies and is succeeded by co-Emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus
3. ^ Sheet 256 North London, 1:50,000 Geology Series, Keyworth: British Geological Survey, 2006, ISBN 075183427-0
4. ^ Walker, H. (1874),The Glacial Drifts of Muswell Hill & Finchley, reprinted 1993, London: Jack Whitehead