Managing Cannock Chase

Introduction 

Cannock Chase is the largest lowland heathland in the Midlands. Its wide areas of berry-rich heath and oak wood pasture provide habitats for many birds, reptiles, and insects. Many of these species have disappeared from the rest of Staffordshire and now survive only on Cannock Chase.

Cannock Chase has long been valued for its wildlife. In 1951, a large part of the area was officially designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), recognising it as one of England’s most important places for nature.

Cannock Chase consists of:

• Heathland
• Wetlands
• Alderwood
• Oakwood, and
• Associated fauna; wood decay beetles and sandy ground bees and wasps.

All of the constituent parts that make up the Cannock Chase SSSI are protected from harm and neglect under UK law. Natural England assesses the condition of these habitats and species to make sure they are healthy and will thrive into the future.

Research shows that healthy heathlands need a mix of plants of different heights and ages. This variety creates habitats for birds, insects, reptiles, and rare plants. Good heathland includes open, sunny ground, wooded areas, and plants like bilberry and heather in dry spots, plus mosses and sedges in wet areas.

The aim of heathland management is to create a patchwork of vegetation that provides warm microclimates for species that depend on them.

SSSI condition and recommendations

The last condition assessment that Natural England carried out indicated that the SSSI overall is currently unfavourable but getting better due to the management taking place (unfavourable recovering condition). Some individual features are static or declining in condition; however, some features are in favourable condition. This assessment has been based on the following:

Heathland condition

From the ongoing assessment at Cannock Chase the dry heathland meets 9 out of the 11 assessment criteria that would indicate favourable condition of the habitat, such as the diversity and abundance of heathland plants and overall low cover of bracken and scrub across the site as a whole.

Two key criteria are not met across most of the site:

• Bare ground
• A diverse age structure in vegetation, especially in heather communities

Bare ground is essential for rare ground-nesting birds like nightjar, and for heathland insects such as the tawny mining bee and green tiger beetle. It also provides areas for new heathland plants to grow.

A mix of ages in heather is important because it shows the heathland is regenerating and creates varied structure. Different wildlife species use heather at different stages of its growth cycle.

Heathland recommendations

Future site management should include actions to create bare ground and a wider range of heather ages. This can be done through varied cutting, turf removal, scraping, and grazing.

Historic features should not prevent turf removal or scraping. Their locations are well documented thanks to surveys over the past 10 years. Work continues with the County Archaeologist and Historic England to ensure these nationally important features at Cannock Chase are protected and enhanced.

Introducing conservation grazing with cattle would help create small areas of bare ground and keep them open for longer. Their grazing and browsing behaviour supports this process.

Cattle can reach places that machines and people cannot, such as steep areas with thick bracken and old heather on Cannock Chase. Their natural activities, grazing, browsing, walking, and lying down, gradually create beneficial changes in the heathland’s structure that would be hard to achieve with tools or machinery.

Wetland condition

Lowland heathlands often include wetlands like streams and valley bogs. Unlike many in the wider countryside, these wetlands remain largely unchanged and still support rare habitats and species. The surrounding heathland helps protect them by keeping water clean and allowing it to flow naturally.

Where wetlands have been altered and vegetation has suffered, there are major opportunities to restore them to a naturally functioning ecosystem. This would benefit plants and wildlife and make the habitat more resilient to climate change.

Many such restoration projects have been completed and are underway on other sites such as the New Forest and the Forest of Dean.

Most of Cannock Chase’s wetland vegetation is in the Oldacre and Sher Brook Valleys. However, the wet heathland, valley mire mosaics in both valleys are in poor condition because they fail to meet most of the assessment criteria.

We believe this is mainly due to changes in water flow, which have reduced vegetation quality, and a lack of conservation grazing to manage what remains. In the Sherbrook Valley, there is far less water than in the past, but the cause is still unclear despite extensive investigation.

In the Oldacre Valley, the issue seems linked to the WW1 camp drainage and sewerage system. Investigating and restoring this system would offer a great chance to conserve this unique historic feature in place while reducing its impact on water flow.

Wetland recommendations

At Cannock Chase, conservation grazing would help wetland vegetation in the Oldacre and Sherbrook Valleys. It would reduce tall, dominant plants like purple moor-grass and rushes, allowing smaller species such as sundews and sedges to thrive. Grazing would also limit scrub growth in these stream basins.

Cannock Chase’s wetlands also support rare species such as the small pearl-bordered fritillary butterfly and bog bush cricket, making the area a county stronghold for them. Grazing would help keep habitats open so the butterfly’s food plant, marsh violet, can thrive.

Bog bush crickets live in dense purple-moor grass, so overgrazing could harm their habitat. A carefully managed grazing regime is needed, with monitoring and adjustments to avoid negative impacts. Staffordshire County Council and Butterfly Conservation already monitor these rare species and will carry out further surveys before introducing grazing.

Indeed, a detailed grazing and monitoring strategy would be required as part of any future grazing regime to avoid adverse impacts on all rare species at Cannock Chase.

Alderwood conditions

At Cannock Chase, wet alder woodland mainly grows in the Sherbrook Valley, with a smaller area at Penkridge Bank. The woodland meets 7 of the 9 criteria for being in good condition. However, changes in water flow caused by drains in parts of the Sherbrook Valley are thought to be affecting the ground flora.

Alderwood recommendations

Encouraging natural collapse and regrowth, along with maintaining a clean, natural water supply, will help the alder woodland recover over time. This will create a diverse wet woodland ecosystem that supports many birds and insects.

Marsh violet, the food plant for the small pearl-bordered fritillary butterfly, grows throughout the alder woods in the central Sherbrook Valley. Cutting back older trees near these plants will let in more light and keep butterfly populations connected across the landscape.

Conservation grazing would also help by keeping marsh violet areas open as cattle browse and move through the woodland.

The alder trees along the lower Sher Brook are all the same age. To make the woodland more varied, some areas could be managed by coppicing, which means cutting trees to encourage new growth.

Another key recommendation is to reduce the impact of drainage systems by blocking them at intervals, ideally filling in the entire ditch network. However, if any World War I features are affected, this will need further consultation with the County’s main archaeologist.

Oakwood conditions

The main oak woodland at Cannock Chase is Brocton Coppice. It’s an excellent example of a heathy oak-birch wood-pasture, an area with open-grown veteran trees in a natural setting.

Among these old trees are younger birch and oak stands, which make parts of the site feel like closed-canopy woodland. However, the main interest at Brocton is the veteran trees and their history. Since the 1500s, they have been managed as grazed wood pasture, allowing them to grow openly.

The beetle species living in these veteran trees are especially important. They include wood-decay species that indicate ancient woodland with a long history of old timber trees.

Monitoring shows the veteran trees are in good condition for wood-decay invertebrates. Brocton Coppice is nationally important for its wood-decay species, with 27 beetle species currently listed for conservation.

The wood pasture vegetation mostly meets the criteria for favourable condition, except for the lack of saplings and young trees, the next generation of veterans. This is likely due to limited light on the woodland floor and, more importantly, heavy grazing by deer.

Oakwood recommendations

Managing wood-decay invertebrates means keeping a steady supply of decaying wood; on living trees, standing dead wood, and fallen logs. The most valuable resource is on living trees because it provides stable and varied decay.

The main goal is to keep veteran trees alive as long as possible. As they age into ancient trees, they support more species and create new types of decay, boosting biodiversity. To help them live longer, they need space to grow. Where veterans are crowded and shaded by younger trees, often birch, these should be gradually removed over several years. This slow process lets veterans adjust to more light, warmth, and lower humidity.

Conservation cattle can help maintain open areas around veterans. Their grazing also creates varied vegetation and regeneration patches, improving ground flora diversity over time.

Alongside caring for existing veteran trees, another key goal is to secure the next generation. This means identifying and managing young trees for conservation, including choosing trees to pollard or coppice and planting new ones using acorns from Brocton Coppice.

It’s also important to understand why regeneration is currently poor. If these issues are addressed, conservation grazing with cattle could help by creating light-filled patches in the wood pasture. This would allow acorns to root and grow into future veteran trees.