Hazel coppice has fallen out of favour since its peak of production several centuries ago, but there are pockets to be found in modern-day England, with interesting tales attached.

ACCORDING to the Hertfordshire and Middlesex Wildlife Trust, 10 per cent of my home county of Hertfordshire is covered with woodland, bang on the English national average. 

I am intrigued to learn about the history of Hertfordshire’s woodland, so purchased a second-hand copy of A History of Hertfordshire by Tony Rook.
According to the author, most of Hertfordshire’s woodland is still recognisably coppice from Tudor and Stuart times, in which the ‘pole wood’ was periodically felled, leaving the stumps (or stools) to regenerate into a further crop. Rook says hedgerow trees and those standing in meadows, frequently managed as pollards and still standing today, were the most important source of timber.

But what sort of coppice are we talking about? It was certainly not sweet chestnut coppice, with its traditional strongholds in Kent and East Sussex, so presumably native hazel or hornbeam. 

Hertfordshire, neighbouring Essex and the now defunct county of Middlesex still support substantial tracts of oak over hornbeam coppice and pollards. Ruislip Woods, Epping Forest and what remains of Hainault Forest are all classic examples. This makes sense in its distribution because hornbeam wood, with a calorific value approaching Welsh anthracite, was the key to firing metal furnaces when London made things.

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But I am thinking back to Rook’s reference to coppice and something I read a while ago. If you go looking into or inside a woodland with a lot of hazel in its boundary hedge then you are almost certainly standing in erstwhile hazel coppice woodland with its roots in Tudor or Stuart times.

Hazel was in demand for making hurdles, which are woven fences used for livestock enclosure, and for the structural component in wattle-and-daub house construction.

The pliability of hazel is the main reason why it was the preferred choice for making hurdles and the wattle framework in house construction, but willow is also pliable, can be coppiced and like hazel was widely available in Tudor and Stuart times. Key to the preference for hazel is the thickness of the rods. Willow is typically 1 cm in diameter whereas hazel, at around 2–3 cm diameter, is measurably thicker, giving it a distinct advantage in terms of strength and durability.

Authentic old hazel coppice is still around in Hertfordshire, but generally much more sporadic than hornbeam coppice of a similar provenance. One reason could be that hazel coppice stools have a shorter longevity than hornbeam. Maybe the traditional use of hornbeam as a woodfuel outlived the traditional construction and support applications of hazel. And perhaps hazel coppice stools were easier to dispose of when hazel coppice became rapidly redundant and a change in woodland management was required. 

Management of the hazel coppice in Bunkers Park has relied on volunteers from the Friends of Bunkers Park.Management of the hazel coppice in Bunkers Park has relied on volunteers from the Friends of Bunkers Park. (Image: FJ)

Hazel coppice was on the skids long before WWI because traditional woven hurdles, fabricated from split hazel coppice rods, were replaced wholesale with less labour-intensive and much longer-lived metal livestock fencing. 

The area of actively managed hazel coppice started to fall off of the cliff in the first few years of the 20th century, but it took a lot longer for hazel coppice to be completely removed or converted to other woodland-management systems. Even so, hazel coppice remains a fascinating woodland-management system steeped in history, brimming with culture and offering all sorts of capital and collateral benefits, yet often overlooked, especially since the golden era of hazel coppice is now centuries back in our history. 

There has been a resurgence of interest in recent years, with pockets of traditionally worked hazel across the country for a mixture of motives.

Hazel and hornbeam coppice management styles are still recognisable in woodlands throughout Hertfordshire, but from my experience they are currently not quite as frequent as the trust’s statement implies – and certainly not hazel. 

First year’s growth of hazel shoots after cutting is well underway in Furzefield Wood by 5 June, 2018.First year’s growth of hazel shoots after cutting is well underway in Furzefield Wood by 5 June, 2018. (Image: FJ)

I first became aware of hazel coppice as a young child when my father and his allotment association buddies would take off into the woods in late winter for their annual haul of bean poles and pea sticks. Hazel coppice at the end of its eight-year cycle was ideal for use as runner bean poles. Nothing was wasted, because the trimmings of twigs from the top of the rod (pole) were tied into bundles (faggots) for ease of transport and taken back home for use as garden pea sticks.

Since then, hazel coppice has been of interest to me, though I confess to not coming across an awful lot. However, I have become thoroughly familiar with two hazel coppice woods in Hertfordshire, one at each end of the county, which could not be more different in age and structure. 

One is ancient woodland comprising hazel coppice under oak and ash standards, traceable back to the 16th century, having been managed more or less continuously in the traditional way since then, which must be some kind of record. 

The other was planted some 40 years ago, but without standard tree cover. The local authority has struggled over the years to engage professional coppice workers to manage what must be one of the most recently planted hazel coppice woodlands in England. However, on a wing and prayer, the woodland has been satisfactorily managed by a team of dedicated volunteers.

The ancient woodland is Furzefield Wood at Potters Bar in South Hertfordshire, and it being on my doorstep, I have been able to carry out some detailed, long-term research.

I had known of the woodland since my childhood, but not the treasure trove of hazel coppice inside. This only became apparent on a windy day in March when I noticed the boundary hedge was full of hazel, with catkins flying like flags in the breeze.

The seven coupes (compartments) were at different stages of growth, as they should be, but it was the coupes which had been cut two winters before that were the most intriguing. Literally out of nowhere came English bluebells, wood anemones, foxgloves and rose campion, to name just a few classic woodland flowers.

Comma butterfly seen nectaring on bluebells in Furzefield Wood during late April 2018.Comma butterfly seen nectaring on bluebells in Furzefield Wood during late April 2018. (Image: FJ)

The woodland was being managed by a professional coppice worker who was putting the cut hazel rods to a range of good traditional uses. Standard tree cover was patchy in parts due to the loss of ash, not from chalara ash dieback disease, but simply for being past its sell-by date. 

The increased light has allowed the intrusion of several unwanted elements like blackthorn, bracken and bramble.

The other hazel coppice woodland is at Bunkers Park in the Dacorum Borough of North West Hertfordshire. Planted in 1997 without any standard tree cover, the coppice itself doesn’t appear to be suffering from the absence of high shade, although a dearth of woodland flowers in spring was noticeable. 

I was initially shown the woodland by Colin Chambers who, during his time at Dacorum Borough Council, was instrumental in organising a group of dedicated volunteers to manage the coppice over the last three decades. The cut coppice is not wasted, but sold as kindling wood around the district. 

The thriving hazel coppice in Furzefield Wood and Bunkers Park, tucked away in South and North West Hertfordshire respectively, shows how there are still woodland gems to be found if you care to look. Even in counties like Hertfordshire, which is being concreted over at a frightening rate.