Ridge Wood Local Nature Reserve

Ridge Wood is a local nature reserve between Yate and Chipping Sodbury, a small strip (4.8 hectares) of high ground woodland with a rich history.

To get to Ridge Wood Local Nature Reserve, there is a public footpath that runs the entire length of the woodland, with access points at Jubilee Gardens, Greenways Road (opposite Wiltshire Avenue, near Dorest Way) and Melrose Close.

Owned by Hanson Aggregates, Ridge Wood is cared for by South Gloucestershire Council in partnership with Friends of Ridge Wood who actively help look after the nature reserve for the community. It is a great place for everyone to explore the beauty of nature. The wood has a fascinating history and some mysterious old features. There is even evidence of an Iron Age camp established at the highest point and Roman coins were also found here.

The history

‘The Tudor historian Leland described the Sodburys in his famous topography of 1540:

‘There is a park of the king’s by the town (Chipping Sodbury), sometimes the Warwicks. Little wood is full right to the south parts of the country [of] Sodbyri.’

It is just possible that this ‘little wood’ may refer to woodland growing on the Ridge. Woods associated with parish boundaries do tend to be very old – it is reasoned that they must have existed during the era when the parish system was being established and were therefore chosen as boundary markers because they were so conspicuous. However, it could be that the Ridge was adopted as the border between the Sodburys and Yate because its height made it an easily-recognised part of the landscape.’

– Friends of Ridge Wood 

 

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