The Woodland Discovery Walk takes a tour through historic Bragget Wood and the
adjacent orchard. The route, which takes approximately 45 minutes, provides easy
walking on a mixture of grass and gravel paths with some steps.
When Robert Vyner came to live here in the 1890s he decided it would be a nice
idea to link the gardens with the wood. The wood was already well developed and
reached down to the waterfalls in the river Ure at Westwick.
The walk is much the same today as it must have looked then - full of interest
and charm, though the wood is more mature. But there is one major alteration:
the broad walk between the gardens and Bragget Wood led through a grass field,
with a few Park Trees suffering from old age. This was an ideal site for an Orchard
but needed protection from the North winds so a shelter belt of Damson trees was
planted to protect the Apple trees in 1948.
You will see many tree species along the way including Oak, Beech, Lime, Holly
and Horse Chestnut as well as a wide variety of flowering plants and hopefully
some wildlife too! The wood is home to the chaffinch, nuthatch and water vole
amongst others.
