About

Mildenhall Forest, which is part of Thetford Forest covers an area of 592 hectares and lies within the Brecks, in the heart of East Anglia.  The plan area is positioned to the east of Mildenhall town, within the county of Suffolk and within the administrative boundary of West Suffolk Council. 

The woodland is divided into segments by a number of busy public roads. The most significant of these being the A11 and A1065 (Mildenhall to Brandon) road. A man-made drainage channel known as the ‘cut off channel’ runs south to north, physically separating the eastern and western sections of the woods. This is an artificial flood alleviation and drinking water conveyancing waterway, built in the 1950’s. There is no running water in the wood however, the River Lark forms the very southern boundary.

Mildenhall Forest is predominantly commercial conifer plantations but differs from other areas of Thetford Forest in that it contains more mixed woodland with large broadleaf belts and open rides running through all segments of the woods. Prior to woodland establishment by the Forestry Commission, Mildenhall was an open grassland and dunes supporting grazing animals, followed by attempts at agricultural improvement during the early C19th. Consequently, no ancient woodland survives in the forest plan area. However, some large veteran oaks survive on the edge of the glideslope and there are a few areas of wet woodland with several large alder coppice stools. The agricultural improvement involved the establishment of pine lines as wind breaks; a characteristic of the Breckland landscape. Some of these pine lines and post- 1840 broadleaf belts have been incorporated into the modern forestry planting.

Public access is permitted on foot across the whole plan area, which is held under freehold. The main forest user group is walkers, particularly dog walkers around the glideslope area, close to Mildenhall town. There are two official car parks including Barton Mills—Walkers Snack bar along the A1065 close to the Barton Mills roundabout, and another at Warren Lodge. Although not encouraged, several gateways around the area are also used for parking.  The waymarked Mildenhall Warren Lodge Walk starts from the Warren Lodge car park. 

The majority of the plan area (576ha) is designated under the Breckland Forest SSSI. Mildenhall Woods is an important plant site with 12 plant species that are part of the vascular plant assemblage recorded. The invertebrate assemblages are associated with the early successional open habitats, such as short-turf grass heaths, bare ground and the forest roads and rides. 

Breckland Forest SSSI forms part of the Breckland SPA* designated under the European Birds Directive. The SPA designation supports populations of Woodlark, Nightjar and Stone curlew.  Woodlark and Nightjar are associated with rotational clear fell restocks but Woodlark are further associated with open habitats such as short-turf grass heaths and rides.

Rex Graham Reserve SSSI and SAC (2.76ha) is a long disused chalk pit supporting populations of the nationally rare plant, Military orchid. The dualling of the A11 between the Barton Mills roundabout and Thetford in 2014 prompted a project to create an extension and corridor to link Rex Graham through to Warren Hills to protect the Military orchid population.

There are two scheduled monuments in the plan including Warren lodge and the recently scheduled warren banks. Management plans for these have been agreed with Historic England and their condition is regularly monitored.  

Objectives

The objectives are framed via Forestry England district priorities and include:

For wildlife

• to protect, maintain and enhance designated sites.
• to protect, maintain and enhance priority habitats.
• to protect, maintain and enhance priority species. 

For people 

• create a pleasant natural environment for the public to enjoy outdoor recreation in a rural woodland setting.
• work in partnership with stakeholders to maintain conservation and heritage features to a high standard.
• maintain and improve cultural and heritage value of the land by protecting sensitive  heritage features highlighted through the operational site assessment (OSA)* process. 
• agree Scheduled Monument (SM) management plans for Mildenhall Warren Lodge and  Warren Boundary Banks, with Historic England (appendix 1). 

For climate

• maintain the land within our stewardship under Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®)/Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) by meeting standards detailed in UKWAS fourth edition.
• increase forest resilience to threats posed by climate change, pests, diseases and fire.

 Our sustainable approach

• improve economic resilience of our forests by increasing species diversity through restock programmes and mixed silvicultural practices, to protect future timber supplies and biomass. 
• the felling plan should aim to smooth production from crops in cyclic clearfell but also meet market commitments.

What we'll do

The Mildenhall plan outlines management proposals including felling and restocking for a period of almost 70 years, with felling licence approval for operations up until December 2034. 

The areas of clear felling, selective felling and restocking planned for the plan approval period are summarised below: