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Monks Wood

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data), CC BY 4.0, with relief shading from Copernicus WorldDEM-30

19% trees around it and 1,173 species recorded.

38Forestyas Score

ForestFungiBirdsWildlife

  • trees within 3 km19%
  • wild within 10 km31%
  • species recorded1,173

The forest around

19% trees.

Read like the rings of a cut trunk: from the centre out, the land within 1, 3, 6 and 10 km, coloured by what covers it.

Trees 62%Grassland 5%Cropland 32%Built-up 0%Trees 13%Grassland 14%Cropland 68%Built-up 4%Trees 9%Grassland 20%Cropland 66%Built-up 5%Trees 10%Grassland 20%Water 1%Cropland 64%Built-up 4%19%trees · 3 km

Trees, ring by ring

  • 0–1 km62%
  • 1–3 km13%
  • 3–6 km9%
  • 6–10 km10%

What covers the land (1–3 km)

  • Trees13%
  • Grassland14%
  • Water0%
  • Cropland68%
  • Built-up4%

ESA WorldCover 2021 (10 m, from Sentinel satellites), sampled every 120 m. A clearing, a road or a lake counts as what it is.

Who lives here

1,173 species recorded.

The plants, fungi, birds and mammals people have recorded here most often.

AshNT
AshFraxinus excelsior231 recordsWillow · CC BY 2.5
Ground-ivy
Ground-ivyGlechoma hederacea204 recordsAnRo0002 · CC0
False broom
False broomBrachypodium sylvaticum201 recordsNo machine-readable author provided. Pere prlpz assumed (based on copyright claims). · CC BY-SA 2.5
Stickywilly
StickywillyGalium aparine194 recordsAlvesgaspar · CC BY-SA 3.0
Blackthorn
BlackthornPrunus spinosa173 recordsSphingonotus · CC BY-SA 4.0
Field Maple
Field MapleAcer campestre138 recordsWillow · CC BY-SA 2.5
Hanging sedge
Hanging sedgeCarex pendula128 recordsDidier Descouens · CC BY-SA 4.0
Common Hawthorn
Common HawthornCrataegus monogyna123 recordsUnknown author · CC BY-SA 3.0
Tufted Hair-grass
Tufted Hair-grassDeschampsia cespitosa117 recordsChristian Fischer · CC BY-SA 3.0
European woodland sedge
European woodland sedgeCarex sylvatica112 recordsFranz Xaver · CC BY-SA 3.0
Soft Rush
Soft RushJuncus effusus100 recordsThe original uploader was Meggar at English Wikipedia . · CC BY-SA 3.0
Creeping Thistle
Creeping ThistleCirsium arvense98 recordsAnRo0002 · CC0

Open records within 5 km (GBIF, licensed for any use). Busy places are better recorded than remote ones.

In numbers

The forest, measured.

38out of 100

Our own rating, from open data only: tree cover (40 points), wildness (20), species recorded (30) and protection or heritage (10).

  • 19%Treesof the land within 3 km
  • 31%Wildno towns or farmland within 10 km
  • 1,173Speciesrecorded more than once within 5 km

When to walk

Best for walking in September.

How good each month is for a walk: mild days and little rain make the bar taller.

  1. Jan7°1°55 mm
  2. Feb8°1°48 mm
  3. Mar10°2°47 mm
  4. Apr14°4°40 mm
  5. May17°7°56 mm
  6. Jun20°10°65 mm
  7. Jul22°12°66 mm
  8. Aug22°12°69 mm
  9. Sep19°10°46 mm
  10. Oct15°7°67 mm
  11. Nov10°4°62 mm
  12. Dec7°2°60 mm
  • Bar: walking comfort; the number on top is the average maximum.
  • Below: average minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
  • Rain: monthly total.

The place

Monks Wood.

Nature reserve in Sawtry, Cambridgeshire, UK

Monks Wood is a forest in United Kingdom.

Seen from space, 19% of the land within 3 km is trees, and 31% of the land within 10 km has no towns or farmland.

1,173 species have been recorded around it: 690 plants, 316 fungi, 141 birds and 26 mammals.

The most recorded plants are: Ash, Ground-ivy and False broom.

The best time to walk is in September.

Monks Wood seen from above (Sentinel-2)
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data), CC BY 4.0, with relief shading from Copernicus WorldDEM-30

Get there and walk

Plan the visit

A guided walk, a bed nearby, a car.

Car hire at LTN airport (Luton, Luton)Discover CarsSee prices 

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

From above

The forest and its surroundings.

The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the place, with the trails, notable trees, picnic sites and huts that OpenStreetMap shows.

Monks Wood seen from above (Sentinel-2)
Seen from above: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6 × 6 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around, in OpenStreetMap

  • 1marked trails within 5 kmRothschild Way
  • 2picnic sites within 4 km
  • 2shelters and huts within 6 km
  • 6viewpoints within 5 kmView of Meadow and Church, Gordon's Mere Hide, Rothschild Mere Hide and 3 more
  • 1visitor centres within 6 kmRamsey Heights Countryside Centre
  • 12car parks within 3 km
  • 17campsites within 10 kmTee Pee Campsite, Secret Garden Party, Manor Farm and 14 more
  • 27places to stay within 10 kmRedwings Lodge Sawtry, Wennington Lodge B&B, Manor House Hotel and 24 more
  • 2restaurants and cafés within 3 km
  • named and notable trees within 6 km

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.

In our other atlases

Around Monks Wood.

The mountains, lakes, rivers, waterfalls and canyons around this forest, the viewpoints above it, the birds and the night sky, in the family's atlases.

Islandyasthe island
Great Britain228,938 km²
Lakeyas1 lakes within 15 km
Grafham Water6.0 km² · 13 km
Birdyas2 birding sites within 25 km
Woodwalton Fen147 species · 6.2 kmNene Washes201 species · 22 km

Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.

Other forests nearby.

Monks Wood

United Kingdom

  • 38Forestyas Score
  • 19%Trees
  • 31%Wild
  • 1,173Species

Epping Forest

United Kingdom · 85 km

  • 66Forestyas Score
  • 67%Trees
  • 60%Wild
  • 1,515Species

See the guide

Claremont

United Kingdom · 117 km

  • 72Forestyas Score
  • 57%Trees
  • 75%Wild
  • 2,213Species

See the guide

Painshill

United Kingdom · 120 km

  • 72Forestyas Score
  • 52%Trees
  • 83%Wild
  • 2,181Species

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name and typeWikidata (Q6900954) · CC0
Land coverESA WorldCover 10 m 2021 v200 · © ESA WorldCover project / Copernicus Sentinel data · CC BY 4.0
Species31,506 open records within 5 km (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY 4.0 only)
See these recordsgbif.org
Names and photosWikidata (CC0); GBIF Backbone Taxonomy · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
AltitudeCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Temperature and rainNASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2)
What is around© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Sister atlasesIslandyas, Lakeyas, Birdyas

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Visit mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Visit islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit cavesCavernyasEvery cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.Visit dark skiesDarkskyasWhere the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Visit
viewpointsViewyasEvery viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.Coming soonVisit
birdwatchingBirdyasEvery bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.Visit
forestsForestyasEvery forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.You are here