Orienteering at Shotover Hill and Brasenose Wood SSSI

(please send us your comments by contacting SW)

The purpose of this page is for organisers of orienteering and cross-country events to plan routes that are least likely to damage the important ecological areas of the SSSI. The enjoyment of running events in the SSSI is entirely compatible with the sensitivity of the site as long as routes are planned with care using the information given here. All of the fixed orienteering posts are within the SSSI, the boundary of which is effectively the same as that of Shotover Country Park.

Brasenose Wood and Shotover Hill were designated by English Nature as a Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1986. This designation is based on the rich plant and insect diversity of the area and the quality of ancient woodland in Brasenose Wood. The sensitive areas marked on these maps are:

Easily damaged marshes
Areas of developing habitat restoration.
Areas containing one or more scarce plant species
Easily damaged remnants of scrub woodland where there are scarce plants on the ground and fragile communities of moss and fungi at all levels from the ground.

(Click on either map to view a scrollable enlargement, use your browser's "Back" button to return.)

Important note

Consulting this page is NOT a substitute for asking permission to run an orienteering event on Shotover. Please contact Oxford City Council Events Office on 01865 467284.

Please ensure that all cross-country marker tape is collected in soon after each event. Members of the public commonly complain about pieces of marker tape left tied to trees and bushes.

Please do not refer to old versions of this page that you may have printed off. This is because these guidelines may change as wildlife research continues.

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