Oxfordshire has been picked as one of 27 locations across Britain where new woodlands will be planted to mark the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar.

The site at Little Wittenham The Woodland Trust will create an 11-acre woodland in Little Wittenham, near Didcot, as part of the Trafalgar Woods initiative which aims to commemorate the 27 ships in Admiral Lord Nelson's fleet.

The wood, built on land owned by educational charity the Northmoor Trust, will be named Neptune Wood after one of the fleet's ships.

Ben Earl, the Woodland Trust's development officer for Oxfordshire, said the site was chosen because the Neptune's captain, Sir Thomas Fremantle, had lived near by. The first trees will be planted on October 21, 200 years after Nelson sailed to victory.

Oxfordshire pupils will also help plant trees at the site in November.

English, French and Spanish oak trees will be planted at the centre of the woodland to represent the countries which took part in the battle.

Mr Earl said oak trees would feature prominently at all 27 sites, since it was the wood which was used to create the "backbone" of ships in Nelson's fleet. In total, a quarter of a million trees will be planted.

Mr Earl said: "Trafalgar Woods marks the important link between maritime history and our native woodland.

"We want to get people thinking about just how pivotal timber was -- not only to the Navy, but in everyday life."

The woodland will complement the Northmoor Trust's educational programme.

It will be planted a few months before the opening of a new Landscape Evolution Centre, which will take people on a journey through past, present and future landscapes.

Mr Earl said the Woodland Trust's flagship woodland would be planted on 335 acres of land near Whitstable, in Kent.

It will be named Victory Wood after HMS Victory, which was built at Chatham Dockyard in Kent.