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Originally the pleasure park to Norman House, this reserve is high woodland interspersed with grassland, on a sandy/gravel soil. It has three man-made ponds, probably about 200 years old, and three further ponds dug in the 1950s when it was a wildlife park. It was donated to Essex Wildlife Trust by Lord and the late Lady Buxton in 1976.
Cowslip, wild strawberry and common spotted orchid grow in the meadows, along with the uncommon lesser lady's mantle and adderstongue fern.
The many bird species include nuthatch, all three species of woodpecker and a number of summer visitors. There is a rookery.
22 species of butterfly have been recorded and in good years numbers can be impressive.
Visiting
Just north of Stansted: turn east off the B1383 (Bishop's Stortford–Stansted–Cambridge) on to Alsa Street. The entrance is 200m up a private road (with white gateposts at its end) on the right.
Hourly bus service along B1383: get off at Alsa Lodge turning.
Accessible at all times.
Spring or summer.
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