The thousands of people who travel every day over Shooters Hill pass one of the last remaining ancient woodlands in London, situated only eight miles from the heart of the capital. The 8,000 year old Oxleas Wood, Shepherdleas Wood and Jackwood were designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1984 in recognition of the importance of the thousands of species of plants and animals which have lived there since the last Ice Age. Forming part of the Green Chain Walk, which runs from Thamesmead, the Thames Barrier and Erith through to Crystal Palace Park, the Shooters Hill woodlands provide a tranquil retreat from busy city life.
All long-established woods in Britain have been influenced by centuries of human activity: trees have provided fuel, building materials for homes and ships and bark for tanning leather. Wild animals, fruits and herbs have provided food and medicines, and woodland clearings were used for grazing stock - hence the names “Oxleas” and “Shepherdleas” - pastures for oxen and sheep respectively.
Coppicing was practised in Oxleas from medieval times until the 1920s. Oxleas trees were used in the nearby dockyards of Woolwich and Deptford and it is probable that some of the ships which faught at Trafalgar were built of Oxleas oak. Coppicing has recently been re-established on a small scale in Oxleas Wood, in areas where there are not too many large oaks. Where mature oaks predominate, the woodland will be left as high forest.
Shooters Hill follows the route of the ancient Watling Street, an important road into London for almost 2,000 years. The Shooters Hill woods were once a notorious haunt of highwaymen, one possible origin of the name “Shooters Hill”. The bodies of convicted highwaymen were left hanging on roadside gibbets as a deterrent to others. The famous diarist Samuel Pepys recorded a journey he made in 1661: “Mrs Anne and I rode under the man that hangs upon Shooters Hill and a filthy sight it was to see how his flesh is shrunk to the bones”. Another theory of how Shooters Hill came to be called is that it was much used for archery in the time of Henry VIII, when all men were compelled to practice archery so as to be ready if called upon to fight for King and country.
(Greenwich Borough)
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