Natural history

Great Bromley Nature Sites

These are the sites around the Parish that are listed as village assets with TDC.

• Manning Grove : Ancient Woodland
• Mill Woods :  Ancient Woodland  & County Wildlife Site
• Boudge Hill Wood :  Ancient Woodland & County Wildlife Site
• Little Bromley Road  :  Protected Lane
• Mary Lane  :   Protected Lane
• Ravens Green  :  Protected Lane

The following locations are unlisted but deserve investigation, with a view to putting them forward to TDC for listing in the future.

Bromley Brook

This runs down between Great Bromley and Elmstead, to the A120, it then runs towards the East on the North side of the 120, until it reaches Boudge Hill, where it passes under the road, where it becomes Tenpenny Brook, running down to Alresford Creek. 

North of the A120 it is bounded by a small copses and trees and is fed by a number of ponds, which are rich in wildlife.  This attracts a variety of birds including Buzzards, Kingfishers and even Egrets have been seen. 

Various deer, badgers, and foxes are also present. A village footpath runs down most of its length, until  the A120.
At Boudge Hill Wood, a TDC and Essex listed site, it is joined by the outflow of the stream that runs down from the Ponds in Long Cover and Seven Rivers, passing under the B1029 by the old Spreadeagle.

Long Cover

This is a large area of woodland around a stream, with a couple of large ponds. It is owned and looked after by ECC.  It was largely replanted after the gales of 1987, when it almost flattened. One of the Village footpaths runs through the wood.

Village Pond

The Pond is at Bromley Cross, opposite Pond Farm, on B1029. It is sited next to Forge Cottage.
In the past the Pond was used as a cooling pond for the village forge.  It is home to ducks and moorhens as well as frogs, toads and newts.

The frogs and toads migrate to the village pond from nearby ponds during the season and can be seen in abundance, after rain, traveling down Carrington Road from the pond at the corner of Brier Road and the one at Hazels Farm.

The Pond has also been registered with Froglife, a registered wildlife charity, for a number of years. 

Carrington Road

Due to the migration habits of the frogs and toads to the Village Pond, the hedgerows along this stretch of road are home to a number of nests of grass snakes. The Parish Council has asked the highway verge cutting contractors to limit their cutting to one metre from the edge of the road so that the grass snakes remain undisturbed.