Description
It is a Local Nature Reserve and a Site of Special Scientific Interest, covering 72 hectares with oak, silver birch, hornbeam, coppice hazel, and a great number of fine samples of the Wild Service Tree.
It covers most of the top of Shooters Hill (in the Royal Borough of Greenwich), and contains a folly called Severndroog Castle.
There is an underground water reservoir in the grassed area called Oxleas Meadow. This serves the local area with water. This is associated with 'the hut' which is a building containing the equipment that Thames Water uses to control the reservoir.
Within Oxleas Meadow is a cafe. The café building is of brick construction and is owned by the Borough of Greenwich. Public male and female toilets are also located in this building and are available for use during the café opening hours. The café part of the building is leased to the café operator.
There have been plans to build roads through Oxleas leading to a Thames Gateway Bridge over the River Thames as part of the Thames Gateway redevelopment plans. These plans were abandoned in 1993 after strong local protests. The proposals for the Thames Gateway bridge have recently been revived and there is concern that, if built, this would lead to pressure to link it to the A2, crossing Oxleas.
Read more about this topic: Oxleas Wood
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