Kingley Vale 2 - 8 ancient yews 450-500cm

Nearest town: Chichester

Site type: woodland

Access: Public

Church name:

Diocese:

County: Sussex - West

Country: England

Grid ref: SU8226010410

Lost yew site: No

Date visited: 25-Feb-12

Recorded by: Peter Norton

Protection & responsibility: Natural England

Yews recorded at this site: Ancient 4m-5m

Notes: A National Nature Reserve (NNR) near Chichester, lying within the new South Downs National Park. It covers an area of 160 hectares and is part of the wider Kingley Vale SSSI.The site is managed by Natural England and has an information centre and a nature trail. The reserve is a steep sided dry valley, the top of which offers stunning views of the surrounding area, including Chichester harbour and the Isle of Wight. The yews that now cover the escarpment (a hanger woodland) are much younger. It is in the lowest areas of the valley that are to be found this ancient yew forest. Their shapes are contorted by time and storms and from some of the huge limbs, new root systems have developed. The trees here are all classified as Veteran - Wild. For more information about classification go to Toby Hindson's article 'Protocols 2' found at http://www.ancient-yew.org/userfiles/file/Protocol2fc.pdf