A one time forest, Hen Barc forms an area of partly enclosed land to the west of Clyne Wood. This area was once a post-medieval encroachment, used for preserving and hunting game such as deer, possibly dating from the mid-sixteenth century or before.

Clyne Wood was exploited for a variety of uses ranging from the production of wood products, rabbit farming in the eighteenth century (pillow mounds evident) and arsenic production at the Clyne Wood Arsenic and Copper Works up until 1860 when Clyne Wood and Clyne Farm were incorporated into the Woodlands (Clyne) Estate of William Graham Vivian.

The Clyne Wood Colliery operated from around the turn of the 20th century working the shallow coal deposits here. An old twin cylinder horizontal steam-winding engine remains as a reminder of Clyne's industrial past. Growing in the upper part of Clyne wood are oak, birch, hazel, alder, buckthorn, crab apple with wood horsetail and lemon-scented fern.

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Published on: 2007-09-02 15:28:53 (3888 reads)