Wytham Woods

WildCRU has been studying in Wytham Woods since the early work of David Macdonald in the 1970s and it remains the home of our long term research project on badgers.

For more information on our long term research in Wytham please read about The Badger Project. For more information on Wytham Woods and for visitor information, please visit the Wytham Woods website or call the Wytham Woods conservator on 01865 726832.

Wytham Woods (also known as the Woods of Hazel) cover some 415 ha within the Wytham Estate, which is c.980 ha in extent.

Apart from the Woods, most of the land is farmland. The Estate was sold to the University of Oxford by Raymond ffennell who also gave the woodland to the University in 1943.

The donor stipulated that:

"every care should be taken to preserve the woods in their present state of natural beauty.... the University will take all reasonable steps to preserve and maintain the woodlands and will use them for the instruction of suitable students and will provide facilities for research it is in the hope and expectation of the grantor that the character of the lands included in this agreement and the buildings thereon will remain as far as possible as at present..."