Oak-Hornbeam woodland at the southern end of the wood.

Woolley Wood is composed of a mosaic of different woodland types, varying from dense shady areas dominated by Sycamore, Beech or Hornbeam under which there is a poor ground flora; to lighter Oak-dominated areas with a rich ground flora and open, Bracken-dominated glades.

Although the vast majority of the site is wooded, small areas of more open ground can be found at its edges, including at Low Wincobank Recreation Ground in the south, and adjacent to the top edge of the wood where the mown grass of the pitch and putt and golf courses has groups of planted trees of both native and ornamental species. In this area, two small pockets of woodland are separated from the rest of the wood by a golf course fairway.

At the northern end of the site, the ancient woodland merges into an area of secondary woodland and scrub.

WOODLAND TYPES

The distribution of different woodland types in Woolley Wood can be seen on the vegetation map below. The classification of the different woodland types relates to that in the general descriptions of woodland types elsewhere on this website.