Bird's Marsh
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bird's Marsh is a large woodland, approximately 24 hectares in size, outside the town of Chippenham, Wiltshire in England. The forest is home to many kinds of wildlife, and is located just to the north of the town. It is a very popular place for walkers, especially due to its fairly large size and surrounding countryside. One entrance into Bird's Marsh can be found through a field close to the Morrisons supermarket, just south of the roundabout on Malmesbury Road (the A350).
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[edit] Origin of Name
The wood is presumably called "Bird's" because of its origin as a game-bird reserve (see below), and "Marsh" because it is prone to becoming very boggy after rain.
[edit] History
Birds Marsh is not natural; it was planted sometime in the 19th Century to provide cover for game birds - presumably those belonging to the nearby Langley House estate. The wood was originally smaller than it is today; the original north edge of the wood was originally 100 meters or so further south than it is today. This edge of the wood was extended northwards down the hillside, into the valley of Jacksom's Lane, probably sometime in the mid-to-late 19th Century. More recently, the trees on the far south east side of the wood were largely demolished in the 1980s UK 'hurricane'. This area has since been replanted with a mixture of beech, birch, and pine, and the trees here are noticeably smaller than those in the rest of the wood.
As a game wood, Bird's Marsh originally had a game keepers cottage, the ruins of which can still be found in the laurel trees just off the paths at the north-west corner or the main body of the wood. Behind the ruins of the cottage is the old garden, now populated with trees, which runs down to a small pond with views over Jacksom's Farm and towards the nearby village of Kington Langley. Until recently there was a gas oven in the ruins of the cottage, which suggests it was in use comparatively recently. The House was occupied from the 1930s to the late 1950s by a district nurse. the house was derelict in the early 1960s, and destroyed by fire in the mid 1960s. in the grounds of the house when the undergrowth has died back relics of the house can still be seen, including remains of a horse drawn carriage chassis.
[edit] Wildlife
Bird's Marsh is home to at least one buzzard, and it is likely that a pair of the birds live in the wood. Roe deer also live in the wood and roam quite freely over the countryside to the north, occasionally venturing into the nearby villages, which are boarded by open countryside.
[edit] Preservation
It has occasionally been a concern of the local residents that the wood and surrounding countryside will be swallowed up by housing development (this happened to nearby Vincients Wood). This has not happened yet and it may be that the presence of birds of prey in the wood would be a reason for the local council to curtail development.
[edit] Walking in the wood
The main footpaths through the wood can be read from an Ordnance Survey map, although it should be noted that, of the footpaths marked on the latest map, only the path from the east side of the wood to the west, and the path down the west side of the wood, are easily walkable on the ground. There are several other paths in the wood that can be found if the walker is willing to explore.
The wood is privately owned, and because of this, walkers are asked to keep to footpaths.
