Ancient Woodland in England: Historical Perspectives on a 'Natural' Habitat

Ancient woodland in England is commonly perceived as a largely natural resource which is under threat. In reality, ancient woods represent highly unnatural systems which have undergone rapid change over the last century or so: they were factories for the production of wood and timber which have now become redundant and derelict. This chapter explores some of the implications of this perspective, especially with regard to the assumed superiority of ‘ancient’ woods over recent ones, the question of how ancient woods are currently developing, and issues of ‘rewilding.’ Ancient woods are revered, almost sacrosanct spaces but examined from an historical perspective their ‘natural’ character, and the ‘threats’ they face, are perhaps more complex than natural scientists sometimes assume.