Aubrey Buxton nature reserve
Map Ref: TL 521 264
Public Transport – hourly bus service along the B1383; get off at the Alsa Lodge turning.
Dogs allowed if under effective control and preferably kept on a lead. Please clean up after your dog.
Directions – Just north of Stansted. Turn east off the B1383 on to Alsa Street. The entrance is 200m up a private road at the right angle bend (in effect straight on), and then look for the parking area on the right.
A beautiful nature reserve which was originally the pleasure park to Norman House. This 23 acre reserve is high woodland with grassland on a sandy/gravel soil. It has three man-made ponds and three further ponds dug in the 1950s when it was a wildlife park. It was donated to Essex Wildlife Trust by the late Lord and Lady Buxton in 1976.
What to look for:
Cowslip, Wild Strawberry and Common Spotted Orchid grow in the meadows along with the uncommon Adderstongue Fern, Imperforate St.John’s Wort and Pignut. The many bird species include Nuthatch, Green and Greater Spotted Woodpecker and a number of summer visitors. A large number of butterfly species have been recorded and in good years numbers can be impressive. Autumn brings a good display of fungi.Black Poplars, our rarest Essex tree, have been planted to replace storm damaged trees.
Access
Accessible at all times but paths unsurfaced and muddy in wet weather.