Linder’s Field Local Nature Reserve

Linders Field aerial Photo 2007

Size: 3.6 Hectares

Owners: Linder's Field is managed as a charitable trust by the District Council. Known as Roebuck Lane Playing Field Charity No: 301270

Grid Reference: TQ 415 945

LNR Declaration: 17 August 2000

Access: The is no formal car park for the nature reserve. Please park considerably in local street. The main entrance is from Roebuck Lane and is marked by a special gateway .The site has a 200m hardened pathway to a viewing platform.

Site Description: Linder's Field is in fact more than just a field. It is a mixture of ancient woodland (50%), scrub, grassland and ponds. In the spring, the reserve comes alive to the sound of birdsong and bluebells and wood anemone emerged in the sunnier spots of the woodland. In the small ponds frogs, toads and newts appear to breed. Come the summer, the meadow is a buzz with insects and wildflowers give a splash of colour.

So why is Linder’s Field so special? Since the 1940s there have been massive changes in the British countryside.

We know from looking at old maps that the small wood at Linder’s Field is a remnant of a once much larger “ancient woodland” called Pluckett’s Wood.

Clues to the wood's great age also exist with several uncommon flowers and trees that can be found in Linder’s Field. There are two special trees, normally only found in old woods - the Wild Service Tree and Midland Hawthorn. Of the wildflowers Wood Anemone and Bluebell are both indicators of ancient woodlands in Essex.

History: On 8th February 1952, Mr Charles Linder signed a conveyance with the then Chigwell Urban District Council to allow the Council to manage Linder's Field as public open space. This initial declaration was for 35 years, but on 18 June 1963 the Linder family signed a second covenant giving the land over on a permanent basis to Chigwell Urban District Council. From this date the land was managed as a registered charity "Roebuck Lane Playing Field". In 1974 with the reorganisation of Local Government Epping Forest Districil Council was formed and took over the site.

Since 1990, Linder’s Field has been managed by Epping Forest Countrycare, the District Council’s Countryside Management Service. Working closely with local volunteers, Countrycare has undertaken a whole range of habitat management and access improvement works for the benefit of both local people and wildlife.

In May 1996 Linder's Field was declared a County Wildlife Site (now know as a Local Wildlife Site) by the Essex Wildlife Trust and in August 2000 Epping Forest District Council declared the site a statutory Local Nature Reserve.

Recent Management. Since 1990, Countrycare with the help of local volunteers has been managing Linder’s Field. In April 2000 (revised 2004), a new management plan was produced for Linder’s Field, which set out a programme of work not only aimed at creating an open space that all the people of Buckhurst Hill can visit and enjoy, but also one in which the sites special wildlife can thrive. Countrycare’s ultimate vision is a site that can be enjoyed by all, with an open mosaic of ponds, scrub and grassland rich in wildflowers. This coupled with a multi-layered woodland rich in Bluebell and Wood Anemone will provide the perfect habitat for all the sites varied plants and animals. Since 1990, over 4,500 hours of Countrycare staff and volunteer time has been spent on trying to achieve the plans 2 key management aims:

Maintain Linder’s Field as an area of public open space for the enjoyment of all the residents of Buckhurst Hill – In May 2001, improvements were made to the main entrance on Roebuck Lane with a new gateway and the laying of a 90m hardened pathway and viewing platform by one of the sites small ponds.
Maintain and enhance the nature conservation value of Linder's Field – The main aim of the recent management work has been to halt the spread of trees onto the grassland areas, to convert areas of scrub back to grassland and to encourage the spread of the woodlands flowers.

Links to information about Linder's Field LNR

Linder’s Field Local Nature Reserve

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