Amongst the larger woodland species of deer and mammals, the cardinal beetle is an equally common resident of the woods and although often a little harder to spot can often be found in the dead wood of decaying trees and leaf litter on the woodland floor. Adults can grow up to two centimetres varying from reddish tan colour to a very dark brown. As with all insects they provide an important part of the woodland ecosystem.

The land here was owned for many years by the nearby Nuneham estate at the northern boundary of Clifton Heath. At Cardinal Wood the ancient hedge and ditch features are still visible that historically marked a change in ownership and provided essential drainage of the land. Features of this type are still lovingly maintained by neighbouring landowners as part of the tradition of rural land stewardship that is such a characteristic of this area.

An extremely well made track, having been upgraded as part of a wartime defence effort to provide operational access to this tract of land, runs all the way to the entrance of Cardinal Wood. A bridleway runs through the western section of the wood. This woodland forms part of an area of registered common land which has a general right of access as open access land. There are no commoners’ rights registered on the land for any other purpose and Cardinal Wood therefore enjoys all the rights of ownership of freehold title.

Cardinal Wood is sited on heathland close to the the village of Clifton Hampden. This land would originally have provided livestock grazing and was also believed to be the location of a brick kiln for local construction projects including the construction of the bridge crossing the Thames in the village in 1864. The village developed centuries earlier as a crossing on the river, standing at a point where it was fordable in the summer months and also a suitable for a ferry crossing.