Is Sherwood forest a real forest?

Answer 1

In the very heart of Nottinghamshire lies the ancient forest of Birklands, an extensive area of old pasture woodlands and heath on the nutrient-poor soils of the Sherwood sandstone. It represents a wonderful fragment of the great forest of Sherwood, one of the most famous forests in the world, and its celebrated old oak trees have inspired visitors and writers for centuries. Today, over 200 hectares of this internationally important woodland is now managed as a National Nature Reserve (NNR).

Birklands, which is an old Viking word meaning 'birch land', was first mentioned in documents in 1251 and is likely to be at least one thousand years old. It was part of the vast Royal Forest of Sherwood that covered over 100,000 acres of the county. The wood remained the property of the Crown for nearly 600 years and was used as a source of timber, grazing land and an exclusive hunting ground rich with wild deer for successive kings and queens of England. By the 19th Century, the wood had passed to the Pierrepont family at Thoresby, who have ensured its survival as a unique part of England's natural heritage. Nottinghamshire County Council and Forest Enterprise now manage the woodland as a NNR in partnership with English Nature and the Thoresby Estate. The NNR was declared in the presence of His Royal Highness The Duke of Gloucester in 2002 to mark Her Majesty The Queen's Golden Jubilee.