Monument record 0678400000 - WICKEN WOOD, LECKHAMPSTEAD

Wicken Wood was included in the Woodlands of Northamptonshire Archaeological Survey in 2000. The wood was once part of the much larger Whittlewood Forest recorded as 'Whittlewuda' in about 1130. It is likely that the wood was divided into discrete blocks ranging from about 30-80 acres, with access routes and spaces designed to manage the forest for timber, grazing and deer hunting. In the 18th century , the forest was surveyed for naval timber and various other historical accounts give detailed acerages and the age of growth in each coppice. Acts of Parliament in 1824 and 1853 led to the enclosure of the forest and its division amongst local landowners. As a result large areas were grubbed up and converted to arable. As a result Wicken Wood has been truncated. It has also been felled and replanted. During the survey which was hampered by dense undergrowth, ramparts were observed in the form of a droveway against seperating Leckhampstead Wood from Wicken Wood. Internal ditches and slight banks were also observed joining the drove way. There are also ramparts and ditches to the northern edge of the wood. Nothing was seen of the mound marked on the first edition OS maps and may have been destroyed by a forestry road following the old coppice boundary/drive running NE towards Wakefield Lodge (B1).