Botanical Survey 2025 - Buxted

For 2025, I decided to continue "square bashing" - finding all the wild plant species I can in two "tetrads", which are 2km squares on the ordnance survey map. My squares are

• TQ42W, which covers Buxted Park
• TQ52B, which includes Buxted Village

I did my surveys on 36 runs, covering 257 km (159 miles). I ran through Buxted Park, which is a Site of Scientific Interest, and explored the village, farmland and woodland.

Optimistically searching for plants in the frost.

I compared the species I found to the BSBI lists for the tetrads so I could see if/when they had been recorded and verified previously. Below, I will mention some of those that were not previously listed and those that had an old listing (1966). I think this represents a range of recording from 1966 to 1999. Either way, it is at least a quarter of a century since the species has been recorded in the tetrad.

Manor Park Estate

As always, the twittens and roadside paths of the Manor Park estate could be relied on to yield some unexpected treasure:

• Malva sylvestris (Common Mallow) - 1966 listing
• Verbena officinalis (Vervain) - Not previously listed

Malva sylvestris (Common Mallow)

Views wood

The wood lies between the Manor Park estate and Buxted Park. I found:

• Lysimachia nemorum (Yellow Pimpernel) - 1966 listing

Stream between Views Wood and Buxted Park (TQ42W)

There is a stream and damp area between the Wood and the Park. The banks of the stream contain various treasures such as Common Valerian as well as:

• Blechnum spicant (Hard Fern) - 1966 listing
• Dryopteris affinis (Scaly Male Fern) - not previously listed

Dryopteris affinis (Scaly Male Fern) 

Buxted park

Buxted Park has many splendid trees including some non-natives that are new to the list.

• Pinus nigra (Corsican Pine) - not previously listed 
• Quercus rubra (Red Oak) - not previously listed

Pinus nigra (Corsican Pine) 

I also found:

• Barbarea vulgaris (Wintercress) - 1966 listing
• Nymphaea alba  (White Waterlily) - not previously listed 

Hurstwood Road and surroundings

The Hurstwood Road opposite the Buxted Park entrance leads to farmland. One field had many wild flowers as well as nesting Yellowhammers.

• Fumaria officinalis (Common Fumitory) -  1966 listing
• Sinapis arvensis (Charlock) - not previously listed

Fumaria officinalis (Common Fumitory)

Church Road and surroundings

Nearer to the village, Church Road has many interesting buildings including an Oast house. At the roadside I found:

• Viola reichenbachiana (Early dog violet) - not previously listed
• Erophila verna (Common Whitlowgrass) - not previously listed 

Erophila verna (Common Whitlowgrass)

Buxted Road/Station/High Street

The road that bounds the North side of Buxted Park and leads into the village gave me a number of firsts.

• Barbarea vulgaris (Wintercress) - 1966 listing
• Malva sylvestris (Common Mallow) - 1966 listing
• Fallopia baldschuanica (Russian Vine) - not previously listed 
• Avena satvia (Oat) - not previously listed
• Viola odorata (Sweet Violet) - not previously listed
• Medicago arabica (Spotted Medick) - not previously listed

Viola odorata (Sweet Violet) 

Pound Green area 

For some reason Comm Orache is missing from many local lists but I managed to find it in a few sites in and around Buxted including one at the furthest edge of one of my tetrads.

• Atriplex patula (Common orache) - not previously listed

Atriplex patula (Common orache) 

Lanes

The lanes to the South of Buxted included my most exciting find.

• Gnaphalium lutoalbum (Jersey Cudweed) - Neville Hutchinson noted that this is a "new tetrad record and 18th this century for East Sussex!"

Gnaphalium lutoalbum (Jersey Cudweed) 

Tickerage Stream and Woodland

There is a lovely little area of woodland, with the Tickerage Stream running through. It contains all sorts of wild flowers such as Wood Anemones, Bluebells and Red Campions. 

• Lysimachia nemorum (Yellow Pimpernel) - 1966 listing
• Ranunculus auricomus (Goldilocks Buttercup) - 1966 listing

Ranunculus auricomus (Goldilocks Buttercup) 

Finally

The impact of Monad recording

This time, the Sussex Botanical Recording Society asked us to record the species in each 1km square (monads). To be honest, the change caught me on the hop so rather than planning to do monads from the start, I crudely adapted my tetrad (2km square) plans so that I recorded in 8 small squares rather than 2 big ones.

I can't directly compare numbers of species ticked off per square with last year because of the change from tetrads to monads but:

• In 2025, I ticked off an average of 83 species per square (8 monads), total = 667, average per km = 2.5
• In 2024, I ticked off an average of 225 species per square (2 tetrads), total = 451, average per km = 3.8

The "efficiency" in terms of average per km is easily explained by me needing to go further to get into all four quarters of a tetrad rather than just cherry-picking the parts closest to home. To be honest, I bit off more than I could chew with 8 monads. The effect was that I focussed on the most easily found and identified plants. So the promises that I made to myself about learning more about identification of grasses, docks and willowherbs fell by the wayside. I also found it difficult to recall what I had seen where even with the help of my trusty spreadsheet.

In 2026, I intend to give myself space to learn more about my awkward squad by reducing the number of monads to about 5.

Finding "new" species

These tables show the number of species I found in each monad, how many were new to the square and how many were recorded for the first time since "1966"

Buxted Park TQ42W

Buxted village TQ52B 

This year, I have fewer species new to the tetrad or not recorded since 1966. 

Boothland Wood

It's the early part of May, which means it's time to go and see some bluebells.  We have a bluebell wood, Views (Williams) Wood, just a few hundred yards from where I live. I looked round my old friends: the bluebells, the strange stumps and the kingcups on the May Day bank holiday weekend. Today, I visited Boothland Wood, owned by Uckfield Town Council.


Tall trees in Boothland wood.

Although I had never visited this wood before, it has been much in my thoughts recently. Within the next few years it will be engulfed by vast new housing estates.  There is also a Facebook group discussing the situation here. At a Neighbourhood Planning event that we held on the 7th of March, several people mentioned the lovely bluebells in Boothland Wood and their concerns that the wood would be spoilt by too many pairs of feet or the addition of inappropriate pathways.

The wood itself is charming. Although, like Views (Williams) Wood it is an ancient woodland carpeted with bluebells, the atmosphere is very different.  The wood is much smaller but it has a light, airy feel. Partly this is because the trees are different. Views (Williams) Wood is full coppiced sweet chestnut with some sturdy oaks.  Because it was once part of a grand house's park and adjoins a housing estate, a mixture of odd species such as sycamores and rhododendrons have been planted or have found their own way in. To my inexpert eye, Boothland seems to be full of hornbeam and elegant beeches soaring skywards.  It appears to have far fewer 'interlopers'.

Light slanting into the wood.

Because Boothland is surrounded by fields, light seems to bounce in from the slides, playing beautifully with the textures of bark and greenery.

Looking outside of the wood, you can see a farm. Seeing wool caught on the wire seems especially poignant, knowing that the sheep that once grazed there will soon be replaced by houses.

Wool caught on a fence and farm equipment in the background.

On a brighter note, the plans suggest that the farm and oast houses will be kept.

Farm and oast house.

At the moment, the woodland floor is thick with bluebells. A myriad of small paths thread through allowing a curious animal or photographer to get right into the flowers without doing any damage.  As I found my way through the wood a small group of great tits squabbled amongst themselves with little concern about the lumbering human watching them.  Butterflies flitted between the sunlit fields and flower rich woods.

Female holly blue butterfly.

The spring succession of flowers is well under way. I came too late for the wood anemones but there are bluebells, cow parsley, red camion, lesser celandine, herb robert and so many more. The delightfully named, goldilocks buttercup was a particular treat.

Goldilocks buttercup and lesser celandine with the bluebells.

I fear that the paths and the flowers surrounding them will be trampled into dust and the birds will find nesting much harder once the wood is surrounded by thousands of people and their cats and dogs. So it was a lovely but rather troubling visit. The wood seems quite delicate and will need considerable care if it is to survive the new estates.

Note: The outline planning application is here - you need to scroll down the page and hit accept to see it.  It is too late to make comments on this stage of the application.