Discover the countryside: Essex

PLACE TO EXPLORE: Wander Norsey Wood (Essex)

Lola Kapf, CPRE’s Campaign and Content Officer, recommends Norsey Wood, an ancient woodland on the edge of Billericay that she and her partner visit often.

Norsey Wood is oak woodland converted long ago to sweet chestnut coppice, and beneath the trees lies one of the most remarkable collections of archaeological features found anywhere in the region: prehistoric and Roman occupation sites, an ancient burial mound, and earthworks including First World War practice trenches;, all threaded through by paths cared for by the volunteer-run Norsey Wood Society since 1977.