Lady's Wood

Bluebells at Lady's Wood

Lady's Wood

This small reserve acts as a gateway to the wild landscape of Dartmoor. Bluebells and dormice are the stars of our oldest nature reserve.

Location

Southern edge of Dartmoor. Follow a minor road from South Brent towards Cheston/Wrangaton. A track to the reserve leads on the right from this road after Glazebrook Court.


South Brent
Devon
TQ10 9JE
A static map of Lady's Wood

Know before you go

Size
3 hectares
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Entry fee

No
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Grazing animals

No
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Walking trails

A short circular walk take 30-40 minutes. Benches along the way.

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Access

Paths can be muddy in parts.

Dogs

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When to visit

Opening times

Open at all times

Best time to visit

March to October

About the reserve

A wonderful woodland lying on a gentle north facing slope above the Glaze Brook. The nature reserve holds a wonderful bluebell display each spring and is a stronghold for the hazel dormouse.

This was Devon Wildlife Trust's first nature reserve and remains one of its loveliest.

 

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

Gifted to the Trust in 1961 by the eminent naturalist HG Hurrell Lady's Wood is a small mixed woodland bordered by the Glaze Brook on one side and open pastures on the other. It is approached under a grand viaduct which carries Brunel's Great Western Railway high above.  

Dormouse curled up in a nest

Dormouse. Photo, Danny Green 

Two treasures

Lady's Wood is best-known for two things. First is its display of bluebells which light up the path which circuits the nature reserve each spring. Second is its dormice. Today specially trained and licensed volunteers volunteers continue to monitor the good local population in the UK's longest running study of these wonderful little rodents.  

 

Make your visit into a bigger adventure

Lady's Wood is only small and at 4 hectres will only take you 40 mins to walk around. However it does sit close to the open landscape of Dartmoor and makes a great place to begin a longer stroll.

 

What a gift

Lady's Wood was one person's (HG Hurrell) gift to Devon Wildlife Trust. Nearly 60 years on and this act of generosity continues to make a difference for people and 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