Knolls Wood

The wood can be found one mile north of Leighton Buzzard town centre, bordered on the north by Sandy Lane, and on the west by Plantation Road (OS Ref. P922270). It is managed by the Greensand Trust with funding from the District Council who own the site. There is a keen local interest in the wood and the highly dedicated volunteers from the Knolls Wood Association help to care for it through a range of annual activities and volunteer days.

Situated on the west side of a small valley, Knolls Wood is an area of mixed ornamental woodland on Greensand (a light, well drained acid sand), and can be accessed by a near circular walk allowing many of the tree species to be seen.

In the 16th Century the whole area formed part of an extensive tract of uncultivated heathland, which stretched from Western Heath and Reach to Northern Leighton Buzzard. In 1844 the heath was divided in to plots and John Dollin Bassett, a prominent local Quaker and banker, purchased around 60 acres, including what is now known as Knolls Wood. Bassett soon began creating a woodland on his land and in 1844, with the help of Robert Harnoch (who was closely associated with Kew Gardens), he set to work on planting a selection of Scots pine, larch and a number of other native hardwoods. Pleased with the success of their first planting they began to add exotic and ornamental tree species to such an extent that by 1871 the woodland had over 250 different species. In 1875 John Bassetts son Francis built The Knolls and completed his fathers plantation by lining the impressive drive to his house with an avenue of monkey puzzle trees. In 1986 South Bedfordshire District Council purchased the woods in order to safeguard their future and to allow public access.

This peaceful site provides a good opportunity to brush up on tree identifying skills. The avenue of monkey puzzle trees can still be seen today and is probably the only one its kind in the country. A range of other specimen trees including redwoods, wellingtonias (giant redwoods), Austrian pine, Oregon grape, silver fir, golden chestnut, red oak and downy birch can be found, some planted as long as 160 years ago. The redwoods are possibly from the very first Victorian imported stock of the species to Britain and the site is also said to have one of the best examples of a golden chestnut in the whole country.

Boasting some of the largest tree specimens in the eastern counties, the wood is home to a silver fir at 126ft high, and a redwood at 105ft high and 17ft 2in circumference. Native wildflowers including bluebell, wood anemone, lords and ladies, celandine and foxglove provide wonderful colour during the spring and summer. There are a good range of mammals to look out for including the occasional badger, fox and muntjac deer during the early hours of the morning. Woodland birds such as great spotted woodpecker, jay, treecreepers and nuthatch can be found and are well worth keeping an eye out for.

Please use the link for more information www.knollswood.com.