Oldhouse Warren is a place of peace and delight, and home to rare and beautiful wildlife.
It is set in an area of ancient woodland in Worth Forest within the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (ANOB), situated between Balcombe and Crawley in West Sussex. The proposed Center Parcs development adjoins a 'Site of Special Scientific Interest' (SSSI).
Ravens and owls, Goshawks, Hobby falcons and even rarer raptors, need its wildness and spreading size for their hunting. Tiny birds like Firecrest and the endangered Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, dainty Redstart, Willow Warbler, Marsh Tit, Hawfinch and Spotted Flycatchers need its varied and ancient habitats to survive.
Its ground nesting birds, like Woodcock & Nightjar, have some of their last Sussex refuges here in these forests. They need places where we will leave them in peace.
Oldhouse Warren has one of the largest clusters of ancient trees in Worth & St Leonard's Forests, and those forests have more than anywhere else in Sussex.
The gnarled old veteran Oaks, Beeches and occasional Yew trees are survivors of the wildwood, before humans cleared and changed it so profoundly. They are scattered through the blocks of conifers. Despite their antiquity, they are untended, cramped and struggling to survive under the shade of crowding conifers planted right up to them. Many of them are dying. Many have died.
This wonderful heritage of ancient trees is unloved, unknown and ignored.
Yet Glow Worms still shine on midsummer nights on the Warren's open ground. Golden Ringed Dragonflies - the biggest in Britain - and the rare Brilliant Emerald Damselfly survive in the shady jungles of its hidden valley streams and open water.
Gorgeous spreads of pink Bog Pimpernel and blue Ivy Leaved Bellflower, purple heathers and yellow Tormentil and Marsh Buttercup, Spearwort, survive along the forest rides from the ancient vegetation of the medieval forest. Even the rare native Lily of the Valley - different from our garden variety - survives there. The tiny springtime candles of Bog Beacon fungi glow against the black of little swamps and bogs, like the flickering 'will 'o the wisp' that led travellers astray across the moors. Fierce-looking Green Tiger Beetles, iridescent Dumble Dor beetles, and Sabre Wasps as big as a child's hand survive there. All are harmless. All are beautiful.
As summer dusk falls, bats flit on all sides amongst the trees, from giant Serotines hunting low above our heads, to weeny Pipistrelles circling the glades and rides.
Get to see more - watch this video made by Landscapes of Freedom