Barton Millennium Woods

Barton Millennium Woods is a woodland to provide a space for quiet recreation

This wood was planted by David Polglase in 1999 with community encouragement to provide a space for quiet recreation. Ownership has now passed to Jo FitzGerald and Terry Faull of Lower Chipmans who are managing the woodland to enhance its long-term wildlife value.

The site was formerly farmland in the heavy acidic clays and sedimentary beds of the Culm Measures; the natural habitat of the Culm is poorly drained, wet grasslands which can support a rich array of plants and insects. One of the spring lines arising locally crosses the site and is tapped, close to its source, by the 'Holy Well'. Such wells formed a network of holy sites across the region: this particular well which may, date back to the 6th century , takes its dedication from the nearby church of St Paternus and can be found along the public footpath and just outside the north western corner of the wood.