Situated in a steep sided, branched valley, half a mile west of Colyford, the woodland extends to over 80 acres. The woodland is mainly semi-natural having an oak and ash canopy with an under-storey of hazel, holly and hawthorn, the ground flora is rich and diverse. In addition to the indigenous trees, a 14 acre conifer plantation of Douglas firs was established in the 1960's.

There are many plants which are ancient woodland indicators, including wood anemone and remote sedge with bluebell's carpeting the valley in May.

A public footpath runs through the woods following an old track and links the parishes of Colyton to the North with Seaton to the South. Hedge banks divide the woodland into 6 to 8 acre areas and there is evidence, from the well spaced hazel stools, that the woods were once coppiced. A Saxon Land Charter of 1005 in the reign of Ethelred 2nd runs through the woods. This still follows the present parish boundary along the stream continuing down the valley and crossing the bridleway at the ford beside Horriford Farm.

Written records show that the woodland was once owned by the Trevelyan family of Seaton until 1780 and then passed to the Pole family of Shute. Timber was taken from the woods and probably sawn and seasoned nearby in a field close to Holyford Lane known as Sawpit Close - now the site of Holyford Close.

Overgrown tracks are evidence of how timber was hauled from the woods. There are also traces of quarry pits along the top edges of the woods where chert flint was extracted. This was much used as building material in the locality - note the lime and stone walls of Colyford and Colyton.

In 1930 the Seaton Urban Council acquired the woodland and surrounding farmland from the owner of Horriford Farm as a water catchment area and established the higher reservoir in the woods with a filter and pumping station. Between 1933 and 1983, Seaton's water was supplied from Holyford Valley.

The geology of the valley is Red Marl (Mercia Mudstone) from the base of the valley overlaid by upper greensand topped with clay and flint. Springlines along the junction of these layers give a constant good quality water supply which feeds into Holyford brook and drains out of the valley.

The water undertaking passed to the East Devon Water Board in the 1950's and the lower reservoir was built in 1961 to enlarge the catchment area. In 1974 the South West Water Board took over the water supply and ran it until 1998 when the pumping station was 'mothballed', and in 2001 the decision was taken to sell the whole valley. Planning permission was obtained to develop the filter house into a dwelling with the woodland being offered as a separate Lot.

During the 1960's when East Devon Water Board started planting conifers on the South side of the valley, a campaign was launched to protect the ancient Bluebell Woods. The late Brigadier Nott-Bower organised a petition and raised public awareness of the threat to this local beauty spot.

In the 1980's a further threat to the woodland came when South West Water proposed the Holyford valley as the site of a possible holding reservoir to supply the lower Axe Valley. The Holyford Woodland Preservation Society was formed to resist this proposal, and a large public response showed how people valued this woodland as a local amenity. Luckily the proposal was abandoned thanks to the geology of the valley and a change of policy.

The Woodland Preservation Society continued to be active with Mrs. Doris Barker as secretary and it acted as a watchdog for the valley, liaising with South West Waters estates department.

In 2001 the decision to sell the woodland resulted in the Preservation Society starting a fund raising campaign to raise money to buy the woodland. Between September 2001 and February 2002, £37,000 had been pledged by the public. East Devon District Council agreed to donate a further £30,000 and a successful bid was made for the woodland.