On the Real Watership Down
Nutley Copse
The site of a warren overrun and liquidated by General Woundwort’s Efrafans.
Woundwort was no mere bully. He knew how to encourage other rabbits and to fill them with a spirit of emulation. It was not long before his officers were asking to be allowed to lead patrols. Woundwort would give them tasks—to search for hlessil in a certain direction or to find out whether a particular ditch or barn contained rats which could later be attacked in force and driven out. Only from farms and gardens were they ordered to keep clear.
One of these patrols, led by a certain Captain Orchis, discovered a small warren two miles to the east, beyond the Kingsclere-Overton road, on the outskirts of Nutley Copse. The General led an expedition against it and broke it up, the prisoners being brought back to Efrafa, where a few of them later rose to be Owsla members themselves.
Chapter Thirty Four—General Woundwort
Nutley Copse is a peripheral location in the novel, mentioned in Chapter Thirty Four, General Woundwort, as a neighbouring warren liquidated by the Efrafans. These events are mentioned in the backstory of Blackavar, the disgraced Efrafan Owsla member freed by Bigwig, when it is stated his mother was a captive from the assault on Nutley Copse (Chapter Forty, The Way Back).
The final resting place of Richard Adams and his wife Elizabeth: Whitchurch Cemetery, Hampshire.
Travelling the road between Kingsclere and Overton one Saturday afternoon in June 2025, I seized the opportunity to make slight detour and grab a photo of Nutley Copse from the roadside.
Of all the copses, woods and hangers mentioned in the novel, it is the most out of way. It can be found by heading south from Kingsclere on the B0351. Turn left towards Overton to stay on the B3051. Continue straight on, ignoring the Hannington turn (the treeline here is part of Caesar’s Belt). About 1km further on, take the unsigned narrow lane to your left. Follow this for 2km; Nutley Copse will be visible on your left.