One of those places that is easy to forget exists until you actually go there.
What to know
Crabtree was once part of the Hackwood Estate, and you still go in through the estate’s Bolton Arch. It is now a Local Nature Reserve with Black Dam Ponds: mainly oak, horse chestnut, sycamore and ash woodland, with grassland managed for wildflowers. It is a good spot for butterflies, including the rare white-letter hairstreak on its elms.
Paths are a mix of gravel and informal tracks, with a climb up the hill and mud in the woodland, so wear proper shoes outside high summer.
The car park gate locks in the evening (8pm from April to October, 6pm from November to March), and getting a car released costs £50. Check the time before you wander off.
The Hackwood connection
The Bolton Arch is the clue to Crabtree’s past. After Basing House was destroyed in the Civil War, the Paulet family, later Dukes of Bolton, built Hackwood House nearby instead, and Crabtree was part of that estate. The arch and the Bolton Arms pub in Old Basing both carry the family’s later title.
Combining it
- Black Dam Ponds is through the underpass, for a flatter, wetter contrast.
- War Memorial Park is the start of the council’s 3.5-mile walk out here and back, if you would rather leave the car in town and avoid the locking gate altogether.
- The Lime Pits and Old Basing are further east along connecting paths, if you want a longer day out.
Location
