The ancient woodlands in and around Daws Heath have much in common. They are all 'working woods', coppiced for centuries to supply wood for a range of purposes, and they all occupy land that was unattractive for agriculture – gravelly slopes or plateaux of infertile soil, running down into damp stream valleys. Yet they are also very different from one another, showing what effect man's treatment of a wood can have on its wildlife and character, even many decades after.
Belfairs Park
Little Haven
Pound Wood
Tile Wood
West Wood (Daws Heath)
Visiting
Turn south off the A127 at Rayleigh Weir on to Rayleigh Road (A129) and turn left on to Daws Heath Road at the Woodmans PH mini-roundabout. Or join the A129 from the A13, and turn right on to Daws Heath Road. Park on local streets with consideration for residents.
Bus services run along Rayleigh Road. For Pound Wood and Little Haven, half-hourly daytime service exc. Sundays from Rayleigh, Leigh, Chalkwell and Westcliff stations, and Southend bus station; get off at Rivers Corner for Pound Wood or Ann's Mini-market for Little Haven. Evenings and Sundays use the service serving Rayleigh station and Southend bus station via the A13 and get off at Woodman's Arms.