The origin of the name Littlewood is not known and this name does not appear on any map. The 1815 Enclosure Act created the fields on Kenn Moor out of a large marshy ‘moor’. In 1840 the area including Littlewood is shown on the Yatton Tithe Map as an area of “allotments (nos. 127-131) on Kenn Moor” totalling approximately 45 acres with a single occupier.
The plantation was probably created before 1840, possibly as a windbreak or for a timber crop. Some of the veteran alder trees may be older than the Enclosure, having been part of the natural habitat. It contains shrubs and trees that are reminiscent of the old landscape – alder buckthorn, gorse and broom – and surveys have revealed a huge variety of fungi. The plantation is shown on the first Ordnance Survey dated 1884, together with a narrow linear planting along Claverham Drove. The Ordnance Survey for 1904 again shows the woodland intact but by this time it was the only substantial block of woodland remaining between Claverham, Kenn and Yatton.
In 1950, a local landowner bought Littlewood for £100. His son then sold the wood to YACWAG in January 2003. The sales particulars described it as ‘predominantly oak’ but in fact it has the largest congregation of alder trees in North Somerset with 50 veteran trees and over 200 others. The portion at the south of the wood has been retained by the family, as a memorial to their father, but YACWAG has a legal agreement to purchase it for £1, should the family ever wish to sell it.
Today, Littlewood forms an impressive landscape feature and, although there are many more maturing trees along the Kenn Moor watercourses, Littlewood is the only wood with its own eco-system. It is an important shelter for birds and mammals in the open windswept moor and 12 species of bats are known to use the wood. Wet woodland is today a very scarce habitat in the locality but sadly Littlewood has dried out considerably in the past 20 years and this is having a severe impact on both flora and fauna. In the winter, Littlewood can support large flocks of siskin feeding on the alder seeds and is one of the few places in Yatton where treecreepers can be seen.
YACWAG manages Littlewood as a refuge for wildlife so public access is not permitted. YACWAG volunteers enter the wood only to carry out management and wildlife monitoring. This is because we wish the wildlife to be undisturbed and for natural processes to take place when trees fall. Ash die-back disease and the fragility of old alder trees in drying peat mean that another key consideration is the safety of volunteers and the public.
