Vincients Wood in Chippenham closed due to tree felling

Vincients Wood, a six-hectare woodland near the A350 in Chippenham, has been shut for almost nine months.

The Wiltshire Wildlife Trust closed the area to the public while essential felling was carried out to trees infected with ash dieback.

But Andy Holyoake, a local resident who regularly visited the woods, claims the work has gone too far and “years’ worth of damage” has been caused.

He said: “It’s a disgrace, they have destroyed an ancient woodland and my jaw absolutely dropped when I saw the destruction.

“The wood was dense, dark and full of undergrowth and tree canopies. But they have shredded all the upper growth and stockpiled tree trunks.

“It is just bare now and heavy machinery has churned up the ground. It was a beautiful wildlife zone where you could watch the seasons pass but now it’s ruined… it will take years to replace that.”

Parts of the reserve have been continuously wooded since 1600, making those areas ancient woodland, while the wood is advertised by the trust as having a “deliberately untouched interior.”

But the trust says it had no choice but to fell the diseased trees, which are currently waiting to be removed, and has closed the wood during this process for safety reasons.

A spokesperson said: “Sadly, Vincients Wood contained a large number of ash trees which were infected by ash dieback and were either dead or dying. Seemingly healthy-looking trees were infected and can deteriorate rapidly, resulting in trees collapsing or shedding limbs and branches.

“Our normal procedure for dealing with hazardous trees is to remove individual dangerous limbs or monolith the trees, and only fell the whole tree if essential. However, at Vincients Wood the extent of the disease and the public hazard from the diseased trees throughout the wood meant that this approach was not possible.”

Around 30 ash trees were retained for bat roosts while the rest were removed.

The trust added that the wood remained closed while reinstatement works were carried out to entranceways, paths and the creation of a glade and pond.

This process was delayed by weather conditions, but the trust say they are now in the “final stages” of works to extract or fence off felled wood before reopening.

A spokesperson added: “We apologise for any inconvenience this extended closure period has caused. For now, people must not enter the wood, which remains closed for everyone’s safety.”