Hoe Wood
21.4ac/9ha
Grid ref: TL 904 263
Updated 31/12/2023.
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This is a little gem of a wood a few miles west of Colchester. It is an ancient coppice wood, and coppicing has been resumed by the Woodland Trust.
The trees are mainly hornbeam coppice with oak standards, but there are also ash, field maple, hazel, sweet chestnut, wild cherry and aspen, with a few small-leaved lime and wild service thrown in for good measure. In early spring violets, primroses and wood anemones are all over the place, and it also has a couple of ponds fringed with aquatic plants.
From the northern edge of the wood there are fine views across the Colne valley, with the Chappel railway viaduct in the centre of the scene.
Visiting
Turn off the A12 at Marks Tey on to the road towards Aldham. In Aldham turn left into Tey Road by the big oak. The wood is reached via a footpath on the right about 400m down Tey Road, opposite a left turn to Hoe Farm.
The nearest railway station is Marks Tey, 2 miles south-east of the wood. Colchester–Halstead buses pass: get off at Ford Street.
Accessible at all times.
Late March–May for woodland flowers and birdsong.
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