Hockley Woods cover an area of 280 acres and forms the largest woodland in Essex.. The woodland is owned by Rochford District Council and is a site of Special Scientific Interest (SSI).

Traditionally, the woods have been managed in coppice. In coppicing most of the trees in a selected area are felled, new shoots grow rapidly from the stumps and thrive in the clearings. After 18 - 20 years the trees have regrown and are cut down again. The cycle is repeated to give a continuous supply of wood.

There are various pathways through the woods and some very long walks. For the bird watcher the best place to see birds in the woods is the area surrounding the public car park. most of our woodland birds prefer some open spaces and the habitat in this area attracts most of the species to be seen in the woods. 

Species to look out for:

Blue Tit
Brambling
Chiffchaff
Cuckoo
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Great Tit
Greenfinch
Green Woodpecker
Hawfinch (at least one pair were observed last year)
Jay
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
Mistle Thrush
Nuthatch
Redpoll
Siskin
Song thrush
Treecreeper
Willow Tit

Directions

From Rochford take the B1013 Hall Road, follow this road through Hockley Town Centre. After the town centre look for The Bull Public House on the left. The entrance to the woods is immediately before the pub.

Copyright 19882000 Microsoft Corp. and/or its suppliers. All rights reserved. http://www.microsoft.com/autoroute 1999 Navigation Technologies B.V. and its suppliers. All rights reserved. Selected Road Maps Copyright 1999 by AND International Publishers N.V. All rights reserved. Crown Copyright 1999. All rights reserved.