Hack Fall Wood

There is local evidence of earlier settlements in this area. There are prehistoric earthworks at Magdalen Hill, the name Camp Hill suggests a Roman encampment, and the name Grewelthorpe implies Danish settlement. Hack Fall Wood is a Grade I listed Historic Garden. The listed follies on the site are Mowbray Point Ruin, Mowbray Castle, the Rustic Temple, and Fisher's Hall. Fisher's Hall is dated 1750, and named after William Aislabie's gardener. Follies Fisher's Hall Fisher's Hall was completed in 1750, and is grade II listed. It is built of tufa, and has an octagonal plan and a single storey. It is without a roof, it has a plain eaves band, and is in Gothic style. The building contains a doorway with a pointed moulded arch and pilasters, above which is a dated and initialled tablet. On the other sides are window openings with pointed arches. Mowbray Castle Mowbray Castle was also built in about 1750, and is grade II listed. It is in the form of a ruined stone Gothic tower. There are two storeys, an oval plan, and a front of three bays. In the centre is a large opening with a pointed arch, and the flanking wings contain smaller pointed arches with imposts. Above is a floor band, a cross-shaped opening in the middle bay and pointed arches in the outer bays. At the top are the remains of an eaves band and a parapet. Hack Fall Wood geograph-2415365-by-C-P-Smith.jpg|Grotto Hackfall Gothic Kitchen - geograph.org.uk - 1525478.jpg|Gothic Kitchen Landscaping In previous centuries the area which is now designated an SSSI was called Hackfall. John Aislabie (1670–1742) of Studley Royal Park, who had been responsible for the formal-style landscaping of Studley Royal and Fountains Abbey, purchased this land in 1731. He bought it for its timber, and perhaps also for its lime kiln, the coal pits near Limehouse Hill, sandstone quarries for repairing Ripon Cathedral, and the sawmill. His son William Aislabie (1700–1781), with an eye to the sublime aesthetic, landscaped the site in a natural, picturesque style with follies, an artificial waterfall, temples and grottoes among the trees, and the kinds of views and glades which were fashionable at the time. "Nineteenth century writers hailed [Hackfall] as one of the most beautiful woodlands in the country;" J. M. W. Turner and William Sawrey Gilpin painted here. Restoration When the property was offered for sale in 1987 and a threat of commercial development was noted, the Hackfall Trust was formed to raise funds for restoration of the landscaping. The three organisations responsible for organising the restoration and maintenance of the site are the Hackfall Trust, the Woodland Trust and the Landmark Trust. The Landscape Agency carried out the work, and received the Landscape Award in 2008 from RIBA White Rose Awards. A warden was provided for the wood in 2009. The Hackfall and Woodland Trusts were under contract to maintain the woodland until around 2034. Hack Fall Wood after regeneration Hack Fall Wood geograph-1910169-by-Paul-Buckingham.jpg|View from above, 2010 Hack Fall Wood geograph-4016743-by-Paul-Buckingham.jpg|River Ure view, 2014 Hack Fall Wood Flickr E 01.jpg|Fisher's Hall, 2016 Hack Fall Wood Flickr E 08.jpg|River Ure view, 2016 Hack Fall Wood.jpg|River Ure view, 2019 Hack Fall Wood 12 July 2019 (2).jpg|Fountain pond, 2019 ==Site location and designation==

Hack Fall Wood is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), designated because "it is important as a largely undisturbed example of ancient semi-natural broadleaved woodland." This "ancient woodland" with its large variety of flora over a mixed geology holds a valued resource of plant life. it is included in the United Kingdom Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP); it is listed as Ancient Semi-Natural Woodland (ASNW), and it is on the Invertebrate Site Register (ISR). the site being adjacent to the north-east side of Grewelthorpe, and south of Masham. There are four separate entrances to the site. Although there are no facilities apart from a comparatively recent car park, the site has been popular with tourists since the 19th century. There are no toilets, the nearest being at Grewelthorpe or Masham, and there is no wheelchair access, due to rough terrain and steep paths. ==Significant biological content==

Flora This ancient woodland was mostly felled in the 1930s, and the present tree cover has naturally regenerated since then, featuring a diversity of localised species, and also many common species such as sycamore, beech, scots pine, foxglove, dog rose and red campion. Hack Fall Wood is known for its spring carpet of bluebells. 20150421Paris quadrifolia12.jpg|Herb Paris Lathraea squamaria kz23.jpg|Toothwort 20190401Anemone nemorosa1.jpg|Wood anemone Circaea lutetiana01.jpg|Enchanter's nightshade Galium odoratum 7zz.jpg|Woodruff Mercurialis perennis (s. str.) sl5.jpg|Dog's mercury This site has many pools and streams, resulting from "a series of calcareous springs," which "give rise to ... extensive flushing." On the wettest ground is tufted hair-grass, pendulous sedge, great horsetail and meadowsweet, below spindle, bird cherry and alder. Beside the streams, on steep sides and rocks, are many bryophytes, and ferns such as male fern, polypody and hart's tongue. 1024 Schmetterling-3365.jpg|Speckled wood Anthocharis cardamines (Orange Tip), Arnhem, the Netherlands.JPG|Orange tip Tagpfauenauge (Inachis io) d1 1.jpg|Peacock Platycis minutus4.JPG|Beetle (Platycis minutus) Malacolimax tenellus.jpg|Lemon slug ==Maintenance==

The main principles of maintenance in this case are to make sure that the woodland is appropriate for the site's history, geology and geography, that it can continue to regenerate following the clearcutting of the 1930s, and that the protected habitat and biota can be supported. This means that there should be old and young trees, and some mature trees with a thick understorey. Around the calcareous tufa springs, there is specialised plant life. This plant life depends on the minerals from the springs, and the springs depend on protection of the aquifer below. Therefore, the site should be protected against commercial and agricultural water extraction or ground pollution by waste, fertiliser, herbicide and insecticide. ==Development and risk assessment==

The whole site is covered by upland "broadleaved, mixed and yew woodland," which Natural England has measured out in two large units and one smaller unit. When the site was assessed on 28 May 2012, the first two larger units were judged to be in favourable condition. Unit One, in the north, had mature woodland with old and young trees, fallen deadwood and some sycamore but not too much. Its ground flora met with approval. Unit Two, in the centre of the site, had been in less favourable condition but was now acceptable, with varied woodland, diverse flora and sycamore whose expansion had been cut back sufficiently but still required monitoring. The report mentions issues with previous "scrubbing up of the tufa," which had now been addressed. The third unit, in the east, was judged "unfavourable, recovering." It was considered mostly acceptable, with "diverse ground flora," and especially wood fescue (Festuca altissima). There was plenty of bilberry above Raven Scar, which was given approval. The unfavourable assessment was due to the overwhelming amount of sycamore. There was too little regeration of plant life other than sycamore. Harrogate Borough Council's conservation document of 2011 provides full information on the quality of the site and public consultation obligations. ==See also==