ness wood country park

Ness Wood is a remnant of extensive natural oakwoods, now commemorated by over 1,000 place names in Ireland containing the word 'Derry'. This is an anglicized form of the irish for 'Oakwood'. The earliest evidence of local human settlements are the Bronze-Age remains at Slaughtmanus, Ballygroll and Mullaboy. The steep-sided nature of Ness restricts the removal of timber and this, combined with vigorous natural regeneration, has ensured the continued survival and predominance of native species. These are mainly the oak, birch, rowan and holy, along the ash, hazel, alder, willow and elm. It comprises of 50 hectares of mixed woodland known as Ness, Ervey and Tamnymore, in the sheltered Burntollet Valley. The main feature of the Park is a spectacular waterfall (the highest in the province), from which the Park derives its name, based on the Irish 'an Ias' or Ness meaning waterfall. After the last ice age, ten thousand years ago, the old Burntollet River course was choked by glacial boulder clay deposits.