Managing the wood

Ancient woods like Burleigh survived because the land was not useful for farming.  This was usually because the of the soil characteristics.  For example, a shallow soil would be difficult to plough and therefore would not have been good for growing crops.  Often the decision to not farm an area of woodland was taken in antiquity and the tradition of using the area as woodland simply continued because that’s what it had always been.  However, woodlands were not useless.  These were hives of industrial activity and produced many of the raw materials needed for our ancestors’ everyday life. 

Here we explore the management practices that traditionally occurred in Burleigh Wood and their effect on biodiversity.