This wood was planted by David Polglase in 1999 with community encouragement to provide a space for quiet recreation.Ownership has now passed to Jo FitzGerald and Terry Faull of Lower Chipmans who are managing the woodland to enhance its long-term wildlife value.

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The site was formerly farmland on the heavy acidic clays and sedimentary beds of the Culm Measures; the natural habitat of the Culm is poorly drained, wet grasslands which can support a rich array of plants and insects. One of the spring lines arising locally crosses the site and is tapped, close to its source, by a 'Holy Well'. Such wells formed a network of holy sites across the region: this particualr well which may, date back to the 6th century, takes its dedication from the nearby church of St Paternus and can be found along the public footpath and just outside the northern western corner of the wood.  

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