Friends of Brandy Hole Copse
Find information on Working Parties, and how to volunteer to help,
on our Volunteer at Brandy Hole Copse page.
If you're new to Chichester, or just visiting, map and access point information can be found here.
Contacts, including in an Emergency
If you encounter something happening in the Copse which you consider likely to cause serious injury to a person or serious risk of damage to the Copse, always dial 999.
Please also make Chichester District Council aware: ‘phone 01243 785166 between 9-4 Monday-Friday (excluding Bank Holidays). Outside these hours the Emergency ‘phone number for CDC is 01243 785339 (see Useful contacts for emergencies - Chichester District Council ).
To report something else needing attention but not urgent, please email parks@chichester.gov.uk and cc environmentalstrategy@chichester,gov.uk . (If you wish to make the Friends aware, also cc fobhc@treesinchi.org .)
The free Chichester District Council mobile app is effective for reporting fly tipping, dead animals or a problem with a litter bin.
*** News Flash ***
Sunday 24th May 2026
It's hot! Late May Bank Holiday weekend is threatening record-breaking temperatures for this time of year and the Copse has dried out quickly this Spring. We've recently had "April showers" (and some downpours) in May, but March and April itself were exceptionally dry. The huge-looking ponds celebrated in this News Flash in March have receded accordingly.
West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service are "Calling all walkers and dog owners!" to help safeguard our countryside from the increasing risk of wildfires. We would love visitors to Brandy Hole Copse and our wider countryside to get involved: contact
frs.cptt@westsussex.gov.uk / 0330 222 8655 to find out how to get involved.
We're looking forward to our AGM on the evening of Thursday 28th May 2026 (Agenda can be found here).
Membership renewals are due 1st April. If you're not yet a member, but would like to support us,
you can find Friends of Brandy Hole Copse membership information below.
There continues to be no news from developers of their progress in working up their plans for turning the two adjoining fields into a "Northern Country Park" as part of Phase 2 development at Whitehouse Farm. (You can catch up with their preliminary ideas, April 2025 here ; full details of their outline planning permission here.)
Monthly email updates and Chichester District Council-led Working Parties continue
(links include to our email archive and how to volunteer). To sign up to our e-mailing list, please use this link.
(If you've been in contact via email, but not heard back from us, please call or text Paula on 07788 140698 - emails may get missed in a crowded Inbox.)
Since June 2025, we also have a Facebook page and make occasional posts there.
We need your help!
To volunteer for Working Parties, please visit our Volunteer at Brandy Hole Copse webpage
and complete the form.
(Knowing how many people to expect really helps us plan for a safe, happy and effective morning.)
Wildlife to see at the Copse
Help us populate this
new webpage by sending your observations to
fobhc@treesinchi.org.
We also encourage anyone with a smartphone visiting the Copse to contribute public records using the
iNaturalist app. Please join our
Project page on iNaturalist to help us understand what you're noticing where. (Please let us know, if you need a hand getting to grips with how it works.)
Email Update ...
... explore our email archive here.
News Archive
If you remember seeing something here, you should still be able to find it in the News Archive section, now on its own page.
Click on the links (in green) to download a file:
- Constitution of the Friends of Brandy Hole Copse (pdf)
- Membership Form (Microsoft Word version that can be filled in using Word - it opens correctly after a MS pop-up warning about "unreadable content" which we have not yet worked out how to address)
- Membership Form (pdf version)
The 2025 Management Plan (Interim), together with a brief introduction to the Copse can be found on CDC's website here.
Next Friends' AGM: due May 2027
(last AGM held on Thursday 28th May 2026)
Brandy Hole Copse is a designated Local Nature Reserve. The Management Agreement under which Chichester District Council (CDC) manages that part of the Copse which it does not own was put in place in 2002.
The Friends of Brandy Hole Copse ("the Friends") exists to promote conservation and biodiversity in Brandy Hole Copse and its immediate surroundings. Its work is intended to support the Management Board for the Copse to implement the Management Plan, including through encouraging volunteers to help care for the Copse.
The Friends faced a positive storm of disruptions in recent years, from the implications of development at Whitehouse Farm, through covid-19 controls, the uncertainties of CDC resourcing and Committee members who have struggled through illness, died or resigned. As at June 2026, we have attained more stability and the Committee members re-elected at our recent AGM are looking forward to inspiring continued interest in, and support for, the Copse. We would love to do so much more - find details of how you can help by volunteering for the Friends here.
Chichester Tree Wardens created this webpage in December 2022 to support the Friends whilst it has no dedicated website of its own. Pages have since been added:
- Volunteer at Brandy Hole Copse;
- Wildlife at Brandy Hole Copse (with various linked sub-pages);
- The Story of Brandy Hole Copse (reproduction of a 2001 publication narrating the history and then context of the Local Nature Reserve);
- BHC News Archive (a record of previous "News Flash" entries from this page);
- BHC E-mailers (archive of our email updates to those who've subscribed to our e-mailing list); and
- Day of Discovery at Brandy Hole Copse (event held on 25th June 2025 to raise awareness of the Copse and the Friends).
Whilst we try to keep these pages up-to-date, volunteer time is limited and we don't always manage it. Please do let us know, if you spot something that needs updating.
Friends' Privacy Policy
This may be downloaded to read (see right).
Please note that interactions through this website are subject to Chichester Tree Wardens' Privacy Policy. Communications intended for the Friends of Brandy Hole Copse will be passed on to the Friends by Chichester Tree Wardens.
To email the Friends, please use fobhc@treesinchi.org .
More about Brandy Hole Copse ...
The importance of Brandy Hole Copse is recognised by multiple designations:
- Ancient woodland (west of Centurion Way; find this under Habitats - Woodland on Magic Map)
- Local Nature Reserve (find this under Land-based Designations - Statutory on Magic Map)
- part of the Copse is included in Chichester District Council's Strategic Wildlife Corridor (Submission Draft Local Plan - scroll down to Background Papers - Review of Strategic Wildlife Corridors for evidence base) Local Plan adopted August 2025 - link here
- parts are Scheduled Monument:
- Chichester Dyke, Broyle earthwork, section extending 430yds (393m) through East Broyle Copse, to railway, and earthwork extending 400yds (365m) from Brandy Hole Lane, New Fishbourne (List Entry 1005853)
- Chichester Dyke, Broyle earthwork, section at Brandy Hole, extending E 230yds (210m) from railway, New Fishbourne (List Entry 1005854)
Early records of the Friends of Brandy Hole Copse (starting with its conception as the Brandy Hole Copse Conservation Group) have been lodged with West Sussex Record Office. You can check what is available to view
here. The period covered is 1989 to 2013. To help bring the early years of support for the Copse alive, we have transcribed the 2001 booklet: "Chichester's green secret - The story of Brandy Hole Copse" so that its contents are more readily accessible.
How to find Brandy Hole Copse
Access the Copse on foot from Brandy Hole Lane, Centurion Way (cycle and footway), Bristol Gardens or from Old Broyle Road.
There is limited on-road parking on Brandy Hole Lane just off Old Broyle Road (no space for on-road parking along Brandy Hole Lane north of the Copse) - approximate What3Words location resides.sensitive.swing and an off-road car park nearby with entrance roughly at ruler.fairly.perplexed that has been provided as part of the major housing development to the south (Minerva Heights).