The Pound Wood Pages

• The Pound Wood Opening PageHome
• The History of Pound Wood down the agesHistory
• How the woods contributed to the local EconomyEconomy
• Birds, Butterflies, Trees, Flowers and much other WildlifeWildlife
• How the woods were managed in the past, and how they are managed todayManagement
• The Geology of the woods, and the climatic environmentPhysical
• How to get to Pound WoodAccess
• Charcoal Burning in Pound WoodCharcoal
• The areas that have been coppiced over recent yearsCoupes
• Maps of the wood: physical, cultural and vegetationMaps
• Newsletter items about the wood over the yearsNewsletters
• The Interactive Pound Wood Trail GuideTrail Guide
• About these web pagesAbout
• The Essex Wildlife Trust WebsiteEssex Wildlife Trust

Digby’s Dell

Digby’s Dell is named after a Mr Digby, who was instrumental in the negotiations between the Trust and the Vendors. In 1993, Digby’s Dell comprised an overgrown pond, with much neglected coppice shading it.

The pond in Digby’s Dell is an important feature of Pound Wood. It has remained throughout even the driest summers, providing an important habitat found nowhere else in the wood.

Even though it was thoroughly cleared in the 1993–94 season, the waterside vegetation has gradually encroached. Beginning in 1997, a programme of partial clearance began. Approximately one third of the waterside vegetation and mud is removed and dumped elsewhere. This will allow the open water to remain, without too drastic a change at any one season.