America Wood
Encyclopedia
America Wood is a 21.4 hectare
biological Site of Special Scientific Interest on the Isle of Wight
, notified in 1986. Legend is that It derives its name due to oak trees grown here to build ships in the American War of Independence However, the name Americas Wood appears on Andrews Map of the Island in 1769, 6 years before the outbreak of the War of Independence.
There has been some storm damage in 1987 and 1990 creating lots of open sections in the wood, some of which are now gradually reverting back to woodland. Much of the wood is thought to be part of ancient woodland, however the northern section features a mixture of conifers and broadleaves. Most of the wood today is high oak forest with downy birch. The woodland floor supports large quantities of holly but little else in the way of ground cover. Red squirrels are often reported, together with a badger set.
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...
biological Site of Special Scientific Interest on the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
, notified in 1986. Legend is that It derives its name due to oak trees grown here to build ships in the American War of Independence However, the name Americas Wood appears on Andrews Map of the Island in 1769, 6 years before the outbreak of the War of Independence.
There has been some storm damage in 1987 and 1990 creating lots of open sections in the wood, some of which are now gradually reverting back to woodland. Much of the wood is thought to be part of ancient woodland, however the northern section features a mixture of conifers and broadleaves. Most of the wood today is high oak forest with downy birch. The woodland floor supports large quantities of holly but little else in the way of ground cover. Red squirrels are often reported, together with a badger set.