The updated Ancient Woodland Inventory for Cheshire was published by Natural England in February 2026 and is available to view here. We would like to thank everyone who has been involved in the project, from volunteers who helped with surveys and entered data, to the landowners for given permission to survey as well as the Natural England staff who supported us throughout the project.
Read on below to find out more about this project.
Ancient woodland is woodland that has been wooded since 1600 AD. These are irreplaceable habitats that are important for wildlife, soils, carbon capture and storage, as well as recreation, health and wellbeing, and cultural and historical values. There are two distinct types of ancient woodland:
Ancient woodlands can be identified through map evidence, archaeological features and the botanical community present in the woodland, and many, but not all contain veteran and ancient trees
The original Ancient Woodland Inventory (AWI) was originally published in 1988 by the Nature Conservancy Council. It identified and designated 244 sites of ancient woodland across Cheshire covering 1,681 hectares (excluding Halton). This was done prior to computer mapping but has since been digitised with amendments periodically being made.
Since the creation of the original inventory, we have access to a greater number of resources and improved technology, meaning that previously unknown, undesignated areas of ancient woodland can be identified, designated and protected.
There have also been changes to the requirements of the original inventory, one being the minimum size of a woodland. Previously this was 2 hectares however now any woodland greater than 0.25 hectares can be included, meaning that smaller fragmented, but still extremely important, woodlands can be included in the inventory.
Another difference is the addition of Wood Pasture and Parkland (AWPP) and Infilled Ancient Wood Pasture and Parkland (IAWPP) habitats. Due to the low tree density these areas were not always shown as woodland on historical maps, however with a greater understanding of these habitats and their importance, as well as the ability to identify them, these too are included on the updated AWI.
The process of updating the inventory is being completed for all counties across England, helping to protect these irreplaceable habitats.
Phase 1 involved analysing map evidence across Cheshire to identify Long Established Woodlands (LEW). These are woodlands which are present on Epoch 1 maps and recent aerials. In Phase 2 these LEW were compared against the current AWI and woodlands which are LEW but not previously designated were identified as being potential ancient woodlands.
Phase 3 of the project involved looking at a larger number of historical maps going further back in time to establish if wooded prior to the epochs. This included tithe maps and county maps by Bryant in 1831, Greenwood in 1819 and Burdett in 1777 as well as estate maps going further earlier than these. LiDAR and aerial archaeology mapping were also used to locate areas of disturbance and archaeological features including wood banks which can help to indicate the age of a woodland.
In this phase we also were able to use the vast database of species records that RECORD holds to identify woodlands where Ancient Woodland indicator species had previously been recorded. These botanical species have an association with Ancient Woodland sites, and the presence of multiple indicator species, a community, can indicate the woodland as being of potentially ancient origin. These species include native bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta), Ramsons (Allium ursium) or Wood anemone (Anemone nemorosa) as well as rarer species including Herb paris (Paris quadrifolia) and Toothwort (Lathraea squamaria). Sites where evidence was lacking were targeted for surveying with sites across the 5 local authority areas being visited by staff and volunteers and botanical surveys undertaken.
Phase 4 involved looking at all of the evidence gathered and determining whether the site is an ancient one and should be added to inventory. As well as additions, some sites changed their designation status of woodlands e.g. from ASNW to PAWS and a small number of previously designated sites were removed from the original Ancient Woodland Inventory as a result of the evidence that that been gathered as part of the update. All this information was compiled and sent to Natural England.
RECORD - Local Environmental Records Centre,
Suite 5, Parade Enterprise Centre,
14 The Parade,
Blacon,
Chester,
CH1 5HN
01244 394514
info@record-lrc.co.uk
Charity number: 1095859
Company number: 04046886
VAT number: 455 8632 62
An ALERC member
©RECORD 2026. View our privacy policy and terms of use. The information on this website has been provided as general information only and RECORD can not accept responsibility for loss occasioned after reliance placed on any of the contents of this website. RECORD makes no warranty as to the accuracy of site information or contents.
Powered by GMEU Swift© 2026
