Andrew's Wood

Ponies grazing at Andrew's Woood

Ponies at Andrew's Wood. Photo, Simon Williams

Andrew's Wood

A beautiful patchwork of woodland and meadows in the heart of the wonderful South Hams countryside.

Location

5 miles north of Kingsbridge
Nr Kingsbridge
Devon
TQ7 4EA

OS Map Reference

SX 714 519
A static map of Andrew's Wood

Know before you go

Size
45 hectares
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Entry fee

No
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Grazing animals

Yes
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Walking trails

3 routes of various length. Minimum 40 minutes.

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Access

Way marked routes, wet in places. Contact the Trust for disabled access information

Dogs

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When to visit

Opening times

Open at all times

Best time to visit

April to October

About the reserve

 Andrew's Wood is a perfect slice of the beautiful South Hams landscape. From the top of the reserve views stretch over the undulating hills as far as the eye can see.  

The nature reserve holds a secret. In the 19th century Andrew's Wood was known as Stanton Moor. In those times it looked very different with scattered farms, open fields and few trees. Today's landscape is a comparatively new one.  

 

 

Ash dieback

The disease ash dieback is now widespread in the UK and is present at many of our nature reserves, so we carry out tree felling across our sites in winter months. For your own safety please observe temporary path diversions and closures.

Where possible we will leave affected ash trees in place to decay naturally as an important habitat for wildlife. We plan to only fell diseased ash trees which pose a threat to people or infrastructure. Before trees are felled, we will check whether any rare or protected wildlife is present. If it is, we will postpone or avoid felling these trees. No felling will take place during the bird nesting season.

DWT’s Saving Devon’s Treescapes project are working with communities, landowners and businesses to help make Devon's precious treescapes more resilient in the face of ash dieback. Find out how you can get involved here.

 

NOTICE: If you are visiting our reserves, please note that there have been instances of H5N1 Avian bird flu found in birds in Devon. There is very low risk to public health, but we do ask that if you come across any unusual or unexplained bird deaths on or near our reserves, please do not touch them and avoid allowing your dog to come into contact with dead birds. Please report them to Defra here or call 03459 335577 and also report your findings to DWT by email at contactus@devonwildlifetrust.org.

Contact us

Devon Wildlife Trust
Contact number: 01392 279244

Location map

How to get to Andrew's Wood

Heath lobelia growing at Andrew's Wood nature reserve

Heath lobelia at Andrew's Wood. Photo, D Gray. 

Which way to wildlife?

A network of paths lets you choose the direction to take. Whichever way you decide to go you're bound to encounter wildlife on the way.  

Andrew's Wood mix of ponds, meadows, glades and, of course, woodland provides the backdrop to a rich mix of wildlife. This is the place to see woodland birds and wildflowers, amphibians and reptiles, fungi and lichens, moths and butterflies. The reserve seems to have it all.  

Look out!

Look out too for our herd of Exmoor ponies as they graze the meadows and woodland glades of Andrew's Wood.  

These ponies play a vital part in the lives of one of the nature reserve's most special residents - the heath lobelia.  The ponies' hooves create bare patches without which the plant could not set its seed.   

The heath lobelia is now thought to exist at just six places in England. It shows off its deep purple flower spikes in July and August each year. Like so many other wildflowers it has disappeared from our wider countryside, but at Andrew's Wood it continues to flourish.

 

Part of a bigger picture

Andrew's Wood lies in the area covered by our Avon Valley Project - a pioneering landscape initiative which is working with local communities and especially landowners to improve this wonderful part of Devon for wildlife. 

Become a member and support our work

The vital work we do for nature depends on the support of people who care about the future of Devon’s wildlife and wild places.

Become a member

Andrew's Wood nature reserve leaflet