WOODLAND
Woodland can occur as many
different types, according to the different tree species present,
the history and age of the wood.
After the last Ice Age, as the
ice sheets retreated and the climate improved, most of lowland
Britain was covered by a blanket of forest,
the Wildwood. By about 3,000 BC this had developed into a deciduous
mixed forest of oak, elm, alder and lime. On acidic, sandy areas,
a birch and oak heath woodland dominated, and alder and willow
grew on
wet ground.
Small scale forest clearance was begun by Neolithic
man, but it was not until the Iron Age (c700 BC - 47 AD), that
large scale
removal
of tree cover began to make way for agriculture.
Forest clearance and the expansion of mixed agriculture continued
throughout the Roman period and accelerated in the early historic
period. Wood
pasture developed where clearings were maintained by grazing
domesticated animals.
Woodland now covers only 4% of the Cheshire
region, this includes both ancient and secondary woodland (woodland
planted after 1600).
Cheshire
is comparatively poor in woodland, having less than half the
national average.
Ancient Woodland
Ancient woodland is our link to prehistoric times, they hold
a great variety of plants and animals.
Secondary Woodlands
Cheshire has a variety
of different woodland types.
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