About Us

Perivale Wood Local Nature Reserve

Perivale Wood is a 27-acre haven for wildlife in Ealing, West London. It is one of Britain’s oldest nature reserves and a rare example of ancient oak woodland, interwoven with coppiced hazel and carpeted with bluebells each spring. Beyond the woodland, the reserve also contains two wildflower meadows—around five acres in total—bursting with buttercups and yellow rattle in early summer. Other habitats include hedgerows and ponds, one of which lies beside the Bluebell Education Centre, making it an ideal spot for learning and discovery.

The reserve is owned and cared for by the Selborne Society, founded in 1885 to honour the legacy of eighteenth-century naturalist Gilbert White of Selborne, Hampshire. Originally a national organisation dedicated to continuing White’s pioneering approach to the study of nature, the Society has a long history of encouraging people to observe, understand, and value the natural world.

Today, the Selborne Society continues this mission at Perivale Wood, where volunteers and members record wildlife, conserve habitats, and manage the reserve as the Gilbert White Memorial—a living tribute to the man often regarded as England’s first ecologist.