Each month we turn our focus upon a different county, highlighting some key ancient tree sites and identifying some other places of general interest for tree-lovers. Other than Woodland Trust properties, admission or parking charges apply for many sites, and as access may be prohibited or limited to certain dates or times, it’s always advisable to check with the site owner or with the local Tourist Information Office before making a visit.

This month we turn our attention to Staffordshire in the English Midlands. The county is famed for The Potteries, the birthplace of English ceramics. It’s also well known for its canals, literally miles of inland waterways. It’s perhaps less well associated with beautiful countryside and yet it boasts some of the best in England. Most notably, there’s the Peak District, more traditionally linked with neighbouring Derbyshire, but incorporating the Staffordshire Moorlands and the heights of the White Peak. The spectacular crags, dales and valleys here attract thousands of cavers, pot-holers, rock climbers, hang-gliders, cyclists, horse riders and walkers every year.

The Potteries are centred on Stoke-on-Trent, where famous names like Sir Henry Doulton, Josiah Wedgwood and Josiah Spode transformed local clay into objects of great artistic beauty as well as for everyday use. Across the region you’ll find many fine visitor centres and museums.

Indeed, many of the historic towns of Staffordshire are well worth a visit. Here’s five of note. Stafford is of course the county town, a bustling place with a fine collection of architectural and cultural attractions. The Shire Hall Gallery, for example, is located within historic courtrooms. Burton-upon-Trent has traditionally been the UK’s brewing capital and is home to the Coors Visitor Centre (formerly the Bass Museum), where you’ll learn about the history of beer and brewing. Tutbury is a centre for lead crystal, and you can see demonstrations of glass blowing. Lichfield is best known for its cathedral’s tower which has three spires. Here you’ll also find the Erasmus Darwin Centre, named after Charles Darwin’s grandfather, and the Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum. Newcastle under Lyme contrasts the old and the new, with a historic market dating from the 12th century and a modern Freeport factory outlet centre.
 
Attractions of general interest in the county include the Lichfield Heritage Exhibition, tracing the town’s history over some 2,000 years; the museum housed in the 16th century cottage of Izaak Walton, author of the Compleat Angler; Tutbury Castle, where Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned; the 16th century Ancient High House, reputedly the tallest town house in England and housing the museum of the Staffordshire yeomanry; and various museums and attractions connected with the Staffordshire Regiment. Popular family attractions include the theme parks at Alton Towers, housed in landscaped gardens, and Drayton Manor, which also has a zoo.

Horticulturalists will enjoy Byrkley Park, the Dorothy Clive Garden on the border with Shropshire, the Victorian gardens at the National Trust’s Biddulph Grange and Bridgemere Garden World, not to mention the tulip festival which is held in Burton. There are plenty of smaller gardens of interest too, including The Old Rectory at Mavesyn Ridware, Lilac Cottage at Gentleshaw, Barn House in Newcastle under Lyme and Silverwood at Trentham.

Staffordshire is one of three counties in the heart of England which are benefiting from the National Forest, one of England’s most exciting environmental projects. An area of more than 200 square miles, including parts of Derbyshire and Leicestershire, is covered by this initiative. The area’s remaining ancient woodland is being linked with areas of new planting, in order to create a new national forest. With just 6% woodland, the area was one of the UK’s least wooded areas. By 2002, however, more than 5 million trees had been planted, more than doubling the number of trees within the designated area. By 2020 the project should have increased the woodland cover to a staggering 33%, with something like 30 million trees planted!

So, where will we find Staffordshire’s finest ancient trees, ancient woodland and treescapes? Well, there’s no better place to start than Cannock Chase, managed by the county council. This is the smallest AONB in England but one of the largest country parks in the UK. Here you’ll find woodland, valleys and heath, not to mention the Cannock Chase Visitor Centre, with its exhibitions about nature, industry and the military. Parts of the area were used in the past for mining, charcoal production and glass-making, whilst the military took over large parts during both world wars. The Cannock Chase area also includes Birches Valley with its Forest Centre and cycling, walking and sculpture trails; The Fairoak Valley; and Brocton Coppice (SJ9819), which is especially noteworthy because of the large number of ancient and veteran trees which have survived here. As you walk across the woodland and parkland, you’ll find more than six hundred very old oaks and birch trees. Some of the trees are more than 600 years old. Look too for the Cannock Chase berry, wild fallow deer and small pearl bordered butterflies.

The county council is also responsible for another terrific location, managed in conjunction with the National Trust. Shugborough (SJ9921) is a mansion, first built in the late 17th century and enlarged and altered by successive generations of the Anson family and the Earls of Lichfield. Most recently, it was home to the royal photographer, Earl Patrick Lichfield. It’s a working estate and includes a farm, historic gardens and extensive parkland. The house includes fine collections of ceramics, silver, paintings and French furniture, plus items obtained during Admiral Anson’s round-the-world trip. The County Museum includes historic recreations and puppet displays. The gardens and grounds include a walled garden, terraces, a lake and eight nationally important monuments. Perhaps more significantly, the park includes a small number of fine, ancient oak trees. Park Farm, a Georgian farmstead designed by Samuel Wyatt, includes an agricultural museum, a working watermill, a dairy, kitchens and a rare livestock breeds' centre. Haywood Park (SJ9920) can be accessed via local public footpaths, and you may well pick out the five dozen or so ancient oaks and the small number of ancient ash trees that remain here.

Now, here are some other interesting NT locations. Kinver Edge, a high sandstone ridge, contains some remarkable rock houses and offers wonderful woodland walks. The Elizabethan house at Moseley Old Hall (SJ9304) is where the fugitive King Charles II, disguised as a woodcutter, hid after the Battle of Worcester. Look for the nut walk and 17th century styled garden. Biddulph Grange Gardens has a lime tree avenue, a pinetum and an eccentric Victorian upside-down tree! Lastly, the house at Calke Abbey (SK3722), straddling the Derbyshire border, has superb gardens and parkland, including some 600 acres of National Nature Reserve.

The remaining elements of the Needwood Forest include some of the UK’s most ancient woodland. Most notably, the Duchy of Lancaster’s Needwood Survey covers some 7,400 acres, a relic of the forest which was granted to the first Earl of Lancaster in the 13th century. This huge forest was drastically reduced in the early 19th century, with large areas of chase and deer-park cleared to make way for farmland. Today, the Duchy’s remnant comprises mainly oak and ash woodland, located within the designated National Forest area. This is a popular location for walkers and cyclists, and a significant number of veteran trees may still be seen here.

Byrkley Park (SK12) is a fine location at the heart of the Needwood Forest, just west of Burton. Here you’ll find a popular garden centre, set in a Victorian walled kitchen garden. This was once part of the estate at Byrkley Lodge, a country manor built for the brewing magnate, Hamar Bass, in the late 19th century. Prior to that, there was a medieval hunting lodge on this site, used occasionally by Thomas de Berkeley. (The name Byrkley is a reference to the de Berkeley family of Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire). In the 14th century the estate transferred to the Duchy of Lancaster and from the mid-18th century a variety of owners took over the lodge. The Bass family first occupied the lodge in the mid 19th century, and the rebuilt lodge was finally demolished after William Bass’ death in 1952. In 2001 the Football Association bought the parkland and created the FA Centre of Excellence. There are 19 ancient oaks and around 300 other mature trees in the parkland, which was formerly wood pasture.

Here are five more interesting enclosures originating from the medieval Needwood Forest: Round Hill & Hoar Cross Deer Park (SK1322) has thirteen veteran oaks and more than 350 other mature trees; Holly Bush Park (SK1426) has thirteen veteran oaks and more than 250 other mature trees; Dunstall Park (SK1920) has seven veteran oaks and around 150 other mature trees; Hanbury Park (SK1725) has eleven veteran oaks and around 20 other mature trees; and lastly, Wychnor Park (SK1616) has ten veteran oaks.

The Staffordshire Wildlife Trust manages a very large number of superb woodland locations. The pick is Oakwood Pasture (SK1621), a remnant of Yoxall Park, which was one of the seven large parks which formed the Needwood Forest. It’s a small reserve of wood pasture and plantation with a notable collection of veteran trees. Today you’ll still find a handful of ancient oaks and more than 250 mature trees, primarily oak, holly and crab apple. This is also an excellent site for beetles and for solitary bees and wasps. Burnt Wood (SJ7335) consists of almost 100 acres of semi-natural ancient woodland and is a remnant of a much larger ancient forest. This location, managed in conjunction with Forest Enterprise, includes a butterfly glade, a pond frequented by grass snakes and some terrific old oak coppice stools. The common dormouse is also known to reside here, and over 400 species of butterflies and moths have been recorded. Look too for common lizards and for slow worms. Jackson’s Coppice (SJ7830) is semi-natural ancient woodland and marsh. It’s known for having a fine display of bluebells each spring and one of the largest badger setts in the county. Look too for bird cherry trees on the roadside verge. Loynton Moss (SJ7824) is a designated SSSI because of its important wet woodland and fen vegetation. Due to the reedbed fen, this is a good location for dragonflies, and the damp areas support almost 200 species of fungus. The quaintly named Parrot’s Drumble (SJ8251) is semi-natural ancient bluebell woodland, so a spring visit is a must! The name comes from the Parrot family, whilst a drumble is the local name for a woodland valley stream. The valley brook often looks orange due to iron oxide from old mine-workings. You’ll find numerous ancient woodland indicators here, including moschatel, yellow archangel and golden saxifrage. Turkey oak is common too, having been introduced in the 19th century. Hem Heath (SJ8841) is partly owned by Wedgwood pottery and is the largest area of woodland in Stoke. This site was once part of the Newpark Estate, and a section has been designated semi-natural ancient woodland. Visit in spring for a good array of flowers including bluebells. Rod Wood (SJ9953) is mainly unimproved grassland and hay meadows but the varied habitat including woodland provides an important wildlife haven. It’s a great location for wild flowers and for butterflies.

Coombes Valley (SK0053) is a large area of ancient woodland and flower-rich grassland, managed in conjunction with the RSPB. This is a good site for redstarts, wood warblers and pied flycatchers. Harston Wood (SK0347) is a small area of ancient woodland in the Churnet Valley. Ramsons grow prolifically in this ash and alder carr wood. Look in the area near the tramway for twayblades and broadleaved helleborines. Cotton Dell (SK0545) is a 160-acre woodland site, which is located within a tranquil river valley. Some of the trees here are around 200 years old. Look for greater woodrush, an unusual plant in this county, and for dippers by the stream. Castern Wood (SK1253) is located on the slopes of the Manifold Valley and consists of ancient woodland and limestone grassland. Yellow rockrose and purple wild thyme grow in abundance, and five species of bat over-winter here. Look for both species of lime tree. Black Brook (SK0265) comprises some 300 acres of open moorland and conifer plantation. Look where the tree canopy is not so dense and you may find ragged robin, bog asphodel and orchids. A planting programme of broadleaved trees began in 2004. Swineholes Wood (SK0450) is a designated SSSI, located along the Ipstones Ridge and consisting of heath and woodland. The walks here are lovely, and you’ll get some fine views, including one across the RSPB’s Coombes Valley Reserve. Note the stunted oaks here too, a result of exposure to a harsh climate. George’s Hayes (SK0613) was once part of the Beaudesert Estate and is on the edge of the Cannock Chase AONB. It incorporates Piggot’s Bottom and Square Covert, and now belongs to the Girl Guides Association. Notably, it has the largest display of wild daffodils in the county! Look and listen too for red deer. Unfortunately when the estate was broken up, the mature timber trees were clear felled, so few trees pre-date the mid-1930s. Look though for a number of mature elms, which are in good condition and seem resistant to disease.

Finally, the SWT is based in the ancestral home of the Wolseley family, The Wolseley Centre (SK0220), set in landscape gardens. There are pleasant walks by lakes and the river, and through the woodland. Look out for some fine mature trees. Notable examples include a cedar of Lebanon from the 1770s, a hornbeam, a giant redwood, a dawn redwood and a Caucasian wing nut.

Now, let’s turn to some fine woodland locations managed by the Woodland Trust. Himley Plantation (SO8791) was once part of the Earl of Dudley’s estate. This semi-natural ancient woodland covers some 60 acres today but its size has been drastically reduced over the last century; for example in 1920 during the construction of the Kingswinford Branch Railway, in the 1960s when a large section was converted to farmland and in 1988 at the time of building the Himley bypass. Bunkers Hill (SO8782) is a great place to go to enjoy some terrific views. As you walk along the wide tracks here, look for a small number of surviving ancient oaks. Pipe Hall Farm (SK0809) is a splendid, large area of woodland within the Forest of Mercia, whilst in contrast Baileys Wood (SJ8859) is a lovely but small area of semi-natural ancient woodland, not far from Biddulph. Finally, there’s the semi-natural ancient woodland at The Wilderness (SO8183) which is also designated a SSSI.

The privately owned Weston Park, straddling the Shropshire border, is well worth a visit. This 17th century house, formerly home to the Earls of Bradford, is set in 1,000 acres of parkland, landscaped by Capability Brown. The original property was mentioned in the Domesday Book, whereas the present house was the creation of Lady Wilbraham in the 17th century. It’s known for its collections of furniture, porcelain and paintings, and for its impressive Victorian library, complete with false books and secret doors! The estate includes colourful gardens and beautiful parkland, incorporating a medieval deer-park, woodland, lakes and follies. Look here for a number of very old trees, including several ancient oaks.

Enville Hall (SO8286) is part of an estate which was once known as the Stamford Estate. Enville was a brewery village, and its name is given today to ale which is produced from a mid-19th century recipe. Back then the brew was probably called Beekeepers Ale, as it was a by-product from honey manufacturing. The hall, built in the late 18th century, was one of a number of houses in the Midlands, which belonged to the Greys of Groby, later the Earls of Stamford and Warrington. The estate, which incorporated a deer-park in the 16th century, was landscaped in the 18th century. You’ll still find some impressive parkland here today. Look in the gardens for the hornbeam tunnel which leads to an 18th century grotto and note Essex Wood, to the south-west of the house, where a number of fine veteran trees are to be found. There’s an alder and a sweet chestnut of particular note, as well as some very long-standing conifers.

The 18th century Palladian mansion at Himley Hall (SO8891) was built for the 6th Baron Dudley on the site of a medieval moated manor house. Capability Brown landscaped the 180-acre estate and included a great lake fed by a series of waterfalls. It was the Ward family home and had numerous royal visitors, including Edward VII who stayed frequently. The hall became a Red Cross hospital during World War II and eventually became the property of the local authority. You’ll find at least two dozen ancient horse chestnuts in the parkland, whilst in the woodland a number of ancient trees survive, namely 19 sweet chestnuts, 14 beeches, 12 oaks and 8 yews.

Chillington Hall (SJ8606) has been home to the Giffard family for over 800 years. The present building dates from the 18th century and incorporates extensive grounds landscaped by Capability Brown. You’ll find a huge lake here, together with a ruined gothic temple and an Ionic temple. The woodland contains some fine old oaks, as well as impressive Scots pines. Great Barr Park (50955) at Perry Beeches was once a medieval deer-park and was landscaped in the 18th and 19th century. The local council manages the site today, and the area health authority also has hospital here. Look out for the few ancient oak trees that have survived. Trentham Park (SJ8640), on the site of an Augustinian priory, has Capability Brown landscaped grounds. This 750-acre estate includes a deer-park, a mile-long lake and some 400 acres of woodland. There are waymarked walks here and superb views. Look carefully in the woodland – especially in Hargreaves Wood and Kings Wood – for a number of very old trees, mainly oaks.

Now, here’s a selection of other stately homes and mansions in the county which have estates and grounds of interest: Clifton Hall, a small country house dating back to 1705; Ford Green Hall which dates from the 17th century and has fine displays of ceramics and textiles, plus a period garden; Keele Hall (SJ8144) which has fine landscaped grounds and is now part of the university; Little Onn Hall (SJ8517) with its medieval moat and parkland; Okeover Park (SK1548), which is home to the Clowes family and has a small number of surviving ancient oaks in a former deer-park that’s visible from public paths; Maer Hall (SJ7938) which dates back to the 17th century and has impressive mature yews; Sandon Park (SJ9528) with mature trees, gardens and landscaped parkland; and finally Sinai House, with its E-shaped building located on a moated hilltop site and originating from medieval times.

Finally, here’s a round-up of some other fine treescapes and woodland locations: Baggeridge Country Park was once a colliery; Bagnall Road Wood (SJ9150) is a designated Local Nature Reserve; Blithfield Reservoir, a popular spot for fishing and sailing, incorporates 790 acres of water and some 250 acres of woodland; Branston Water Park in the National Forest area near Burton comprises a 40-acre lake plus woodland, wetland and wildflower meadow; Chasewater Country Park incorporates the Forest of Mercia Innovation Centre and provides a popular walking spot; Jackson’s Bank comprises 80 acres of mixed woodland; Ladderedge Country Park (SJ9755) is another LNR; the Royal British Legion’s 150-acre National Memorial Arboretum is a haven of peace; and Queen’s Park (SJ9042) is a public park with lakes and beech-lined drives.

If you know of other ancient trees in Staffordshire or if you wish to suggest a site for inclusion in next month’s article, Focus on Suffolk, we’d love to hear from you! Please e-mail us, providing as much information as possible and preferably including an Ordnance Survey map reference. We’re also very keen to build up a library of photographs of ancient trees and ancient tree sites. Can you help? If you’re willing to share your treescapes and tree portraits, please e-mail them to us, remembering to provide location details for each photo, with an Ordnance Survey map reference if possible. We’d love to include them in a future article!

Please email us, providing as much information as possible and preferably including an Ordnance Survey map reference. We’re also very keen to build up a library of photographs of ancient trees and ancient tree sites. Can you help? If you’re willing to share your treescapes and tree portraits, please email them to us, remembering to provide location details for each photo, with an Ordnance Survey map reference if possible. We’d love to include them in a future article!