NORTHUMBERLAND WILDLIFE TRUST
Nearest Town: Prudhoe
OS Map: NZ107627 (OS 50 000 Sheet 88)
This 15ha LNR and SSSI is an ancient woodland with oak, birch and rowan predominating.
Location and access: The site is on the eastern edge of Prudhoe and has many access paths. Please use only those paths marked on the map. Limited car parking spaces are available at the northern entrance to the reserve to the rear of Priestclose Cottages, just off the main Prudhoe to Ryton road. There is a pond-dipping platform with wheelchair access on the site.
Priestclose Wood is an ancient woodland close to the centre of Prudhoe. The site is managed to conserve and diversify the woodland habitats and to encourage visitor usage. The reserve is a varied deciduous woodland where oak, birch and rowan are common. Ash, holly and elder also occur. Management is ongoing to control non-native sycamore, Norway maple and beech. There are patches of wood anemone and lesser celandine in early spring, followed by greater and wood stitchwort, wood sorrel and bluebells. A variety of birds is found in the reserve including jay, treecreeper, great-spotted woodpecker and redpoll. Foxes and deer also frequent the wood. The small pond is home to a variety of amphibians and is used by local schools and groups for pond dipping.