[4] The name Hartslock is believed to derive from the Hart family, who in the 15th century owned a 'lock', probably a wooden construction used to support nets and eel traps, across the river below the woods.

In 1915, Hartslock Wood was one of the sites listed by Charles Rothschild, the founder of the Wildlife Trusts, as "worthy of preservation", although the exigencies of the First World War meant that no practical steps were taken to protect it then.

In the 1950s and 60s, local residents reacted to encroaching agriculture by helping to monitor and protect the orchids, and in 1975/76 BBOWT bought part of the site and established it as a nature reserve.

The wood has a variety of tree species including beech and yew, and there is a large colony of badgers.

Besides the monkey orchid, several other orchid species, including lady (Orchis purpurea), bee (Ophrys apifera), pyramidal (Anacamptis pyramidalis), common spotted (Dactylorhiza fuchsii), common twayblade (Neottia ovata) and white helleborine (Cephalanthera damasonium), are to be found on the steeply sloping grassland part of the site.