 Cheddar Wood and the smaller <unk> 's Wood form a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest from what remains of the wood of the Bishops of Bath and Wells in the 13th century and of King Edmund the Magnificent 's wood in the 10th . During the 19th century , its lower fringes were grubbed out to make strawberry fields . Most of these have been allowed to revert to woodland . The wood was coppiced until 1917 . This site compromises a wide range of habitats which include ancient and secondary semi @-@ natural broadleaved woodland , unimproved neutral grassland , and a complex mosaic of calcareous grassland and acidic dry dwarf @-@ shrub heath . Cheddar Wood is one of only a few English stations for Starved Wood @-@ sedge ( Carex depauperata ) . Purple <unk> ( Lithospermum purpurocaeruleum ) , a nationally rare plant , also grows in the wood . Butterflies include Silver @-@ washed Fritillary ( Argynnis <unk> ) , Dark Green Fritillary ( Argynnis <unk> ) , Pearl @-@ bordered Fritillary ( Boloria euphrosyne ) , Holby Blue ( <unk> <unk> ) and Brown Argus ( Aricia <unk> ) . The slug ( Arion fasciatus ) , which has a restricted distribution in the south of England , and the Soldier beetle ( <unk> fusca ) also occur . 
