Access to this reserve is RESTRICTED. Most of this reserve lies on a very steep broken slope running down to a cliff face with a sheer drop of 20-30 metres. There is no access path and movement around the wood is difficult. Tough walking boots/shoes are definitely advised, and it would be prudent to avoid the vicinity of the cliff-top.

The majority of the reserve consists of ancient semi-natural woodland, with some Beech, Oak, Ash and Cherry, growing on thin, stony soils derived from the underlying Lower Dolomitic Limestone rock, which breaks the surface all over the reserve. The impossibility of cultivation on the slope here means that the woodland is almost certainly ancient. This is borne out by 1847 Tithe map evidence; this records woodland over the whole site, apart from a small area below the cliff which had been levelled into an arable field, now overgrown and scrubby. The Beech has evidently been coppiced in the past but, probably in the 20th century, has been allowed to grow on into tall, multi-stemmed trees. There is a thin understorey, mainly of Yew, with some Holly, Hazel and Bramble. The deep litter of Beech leaves together with the dense shade cast in summer by the canopy means that there is little ground flora, other than Bluebells which flower before the trees break leaf and a rich growth of ferns and mosses. With pockets of deep leaf litter and much dead and dying timber present, this wood is good site for fungi in autumn.

Management aims to maintain the wood as high forest with minimum intervention. There are currently no plans to re-establish a coppice regime.

A gift to the Trust in 1983 by Miss F.H.C. Crampton.

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