Grafton, Worcestershire

Grafton is a village in Worcestershire, England. Historically it was in the parish of Bromsgrove.[1]

Grafton
Grafton
Location within Worcestershire
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
PoliceWest Mercia
FireHereford and Worcester
AmbulanceWest Midlands

Grafton Wood

Grafton Wood is an ancient wood, originally part of the Forest of Feckenham, and is now jointly owned by the Worcestershire Wildlife Trust and Butterfly Conservation. In October 2014 the two organisations bought Laight Rough, a seven-acre of ancient woodland, adjoining Grafton Wood.[2]

Grafton Wood is the centre of the only colony of the brown hairstreak butterflies in the Midlands.[3] Laight Rough is also important for other butterflies such as white admiral, white-letter hairstreak and the silver-washed fritillary. In 2009 the Bat Conservation Trust launched a detail study of 10 counties in England to determine the range of the Bechstein's bat and in 2010 a lactating female Bechstein's was discovered in Grafton Wood suggesting that there was a breeding colony in the wood or close by. The People's Trust for Endangered Species are funding further research work.[4] In October 2014 it was reported that the scarce Brandt's bat has also been found at the 300-year-old woodland.[5]

References
  1. 'Parishes: Grafton Manor', in A History of the County of Worcester: Volume 3 (London, 1913), pp. 123-127
  2. BBC Hereford & Worcester News Future of Laight Rough butterfly woodland secured 1 November 2014 Accessed 3.11.14
  3. Worcestershire Wildlife Trust Grafton Wood
  4. Bats about Bechstein’s James Hitchcock Worcestershire Life August 2012 p99
  5. BBC Hereford & Worcester News Future of Laight Rough butterfly woodland secured 1 November 2014 Accessed 3.11.14



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