About Colerne
The Parish of Colerne
Colerne is a village and civil parish in the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in north Wiltshire, England, UK. The village is about 3.5 miles (6 km) west of the town of Corsham and 6 miles (10 km) northeast of the city of Bath. It has an elevated and exposed position, 545 feet (166 m) above sea level, and overlooks the Box valley (home of Isambard Kingdom Brunel‘s Box Tunnel) to the south.
The parish includes the hamlets of Eastrip and Thickwood. It is bounded to the west by a stretch of the Fosse Way Roman road, which forms the county boundary with Gloucestershire, and to the east by the Bybrook River. Part of the northern boundary is the Doncombe Brook, a tributary of the Bybrook, and part of the southern boundary is the Lid Brook, another tributary. The “Three Shires Stones” sit on the parish boundary where Wiltshire borders with Gloucestershire and Somerset to the west side of the parish.
Locally know as ‘The Village on the Hill’, it's elevated position with views out into the surrounding Cotswolds countryside gives the parish its distinctive and valued character. The parish's steep hills and valleys are ideally suited for livestock farming, leading to relatively small fields enclosed by hedgerows and trees used for shelter and shade. Much of the parish lies on limestone and its Great Oolitic limestone in the north has been used for much of the local building. The southside, where the land falls away below the village, is an area of sands, rubbly limestone and some clay.
Colerne Nature -
Key Sites of Interest
Colerne Park and Monk's Wood
Colerne Park and Monk's Wood is a 53.7 hectare biological 'Site of Special Scientific Interest' in Wiltshire, notified in 1951. It consists of a significant tract of ancient woodland with a river running alongside. It is situated at the southern tip of the Cotswolds Area Of Outstanding National Beauty (AONB) a few miles to the north east of the village of Colerne.
The wood forms an important landscape feature, characteristic of the area. It provides habitats for many species of fauna and avifauna as well as rich ground flora. The limestone grassland on the site has a rich variety of nature; it is an important part of the nationally significant proportion of the UKs total 'Jurassic unimproved limestone grassland' which is found in the AONB.
Particular plants of note are: the herb paris (Paris quadrifolia), spiked star of Bethlehem (Bath asparagus) (Ornithogalum pyrenaicum) and green hellebore (Helleborus viridus). The Park and Wood are managed by the The Woodland Trust who are focusing on improving the woodland's biodiversity and increasing peoplesunderstanding and enjoyment of woodland.
Frank's Wood
Frank's Wood is a small community woodland of 4.8 acres, accessible from Eastrip Lane, planted in 2000 as part of the ‘Woods on Your Doorstep’ millennium project Previously arable land, it was grassed over and is now flourishing with a mixture of native trees - mainly ash, field maple, oak and birch - along with some woody shrubs. Frank’s Wood will develop into a mature, native, broadleaved woodland with a healthy tree canopy and understory composed of woodland shrubs and flora.
The wood provides an excellent place for people to walk, particularly for those based in the village; opportunities for educations/outdoor opportunities and the appreciation of the countryside; and adds to the local rights of way network. Dry stone walls run along three sides of the site forming part of a network of dry stone walls in the village and beyond which provide an important habitat niche and are a valuable part of the cultural heritage of the area. The wood is now also managed by The Woodland Trust.
Places of interest around the village
Click on the images below to enlarge,
see more detail or scroll through the photos:
See the range of plants and wildlife in Colerne which have been so far been recorded and added to the NBN Atlas online database (lists with maps).