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Speckled Wood is a woodland and park in Ore Village in the Ore Valley, Hastings, East Sussex, United Kingdom. The woodland park consists of woodland trails and clearings. The woodland has steep sixty-degree sides and is a wet woodland. The wood is a habitat to a wealth of mammals, birds and invertebrates. There is a stream that runs right through the wood. The name Speckled Wood is believed to have come from the butterflies of the same name that thrive here, the Speckled Wood (SP1861). Speckled Wood falls within Ore's development area to the northeast of Hastings, where major housing and industrial development has been concentrated during the last two decades. Despite considerable new development in the area, the woodland has been retained since 1930. Speckled Wood, together with nearby fragments of woodland and tree belts, represents a sizeable proportion of green space within the urban area of Hastings and is a conspicuous landscape feature. It is a core area of natural habitat within the town. It is possible to enter the natural area from points within Ore Village using the long established footpaths. == History == The Yeakell and Gardners 1778 Sussex map shows the area to be a historic woodland. Maps from 1873–1875 show the Ore Stream running under Cackle Street (now Frederick Road) and further into the valley. It also mentions the stream and narrow band of woodland surrounded by farm land which was part of the Vine Farm Estate. This was eventually sold by Messrs Woodhams & Son by Auction in Havelock Road June 5, 1889. At around 1897, it is believed that the area (TQ835177) which is part of Speckled Wood may have been used as a brick field, run by a Mr W. Rodgers. This site was described as ; although the record of this is documented in a book, it is believed to come from a piece of paperwork detailing a rate payment, which does not actually prove bricks were produced from the site. It is clear that Mr W Rodgers had other brick fields in the surrounding area of Ore Village. In 1916 and up until 1921, at least 20 plots of land in the Woodland known at that time as the Oller' were sold by a generous land owner, Mrs Elisabeth Peddlesden and her husband Joeseph, for use by the Soldiers' and Sailors' Families' Association and Small Holdings Committee as part of the Land Settlement (Facilities) Act 1919 to give small holdings to returning World War I soldiers settling in the South East. This was originally organized by the National Freehold Land Company. Many of these records have been transferred to the Keep in Brighton. The small holdings were used to keep pigs and chickens mainly, and thought to provide a working living for the soldiers, many of which had returned from the war with injuries from mustard gas. As early as 1927 the ''Hastings Observer'' reported that Town Planning was working with councillors to produce a comprehensive report towards housing and leisure facilities. The town was to be re mapped and designated housing and recreational areas were to be created.〔Hastings Observer 29th January 1927〕 In 1930 the area was subject to the Hastings General Development Plan 1930. A large proportion of the Woodland we know to day was declared as green-space. The map in the rear pocket of this Management Plan shows the area as a public-open-space In 1934 the Town and Planning Committee reported that during their meeting of the Hastings Council they had prepared and estimate for the cost of purchasing the land and public-open-space Speckled Wood as shown in the General Development Plan.〔Hastings Observer Saturday 10th November 1934〕 Friends of Speckled Wood Management Trust petitioned to keep the entire woodland undeveloped. Friends of Speckled Wood (FOSWMT) presented this public response to the Hastings Borough Council Cabinet. On 12 November 2012, the Hastings Cabinet Councillors were unable to name the entire area as a Nature Reserve, but did keep "a substantial area of land...as woodland instead of potential housing". The Cabinet Meeting held 5th Nov 2012 also decided that Speckled Wood should become a Local Nature Reserve.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Speckled Wood, Hastings」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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