CANKLOW WOOD
ROTHERHAM

Click here for printable leaflet for Canklow Wood.

With an area of 83 hectares, Canklow Wood is one of the largest ancient woodlands in Rotherham. It is situated south of the centre of Rotherham, on a west-facing hillside overlooking the A630, the main road leading into the town from the M1 and Sheffield Parkway.

The woodland areas on the site are dominated by two tree species, Sessile Oak and Birch. The majority of the woodland is young, having regrown following extensive felling during the first part of the twentieth century.

As well as woodland, the site contains a mosaic of grassland, heathland, scrub and other habitats. One part of the area contains old quarries which are being colonised by vegetation. Another part of the site is currently let to a small-holder for the grazing of domestic animals.

As well as woodland, Canklow Wood has extensive areas of open grassland and heath.

The variety of habitats at Canklow Wood provides a home for a wide range of plant species, fungi, invertebrates, birds and mammals, some of which are rare or uncommon in the Rotherham area.

Canklow Wood is also of national importance for archaeology as the summit of the site is occupied by the remains of a Bronze Age settlement. As a result of its continuity of ownership by the Dukes of Norfolk and their predecessors, the Earls of Shrewsbury, the history of the site is very well recorded.

Having previously been in the ownership of the Duke of Norfolk, Canklow Wood was purchased by Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council in April 2000 as part of the Fuelling a Revolution programme, using money from the Heritage Lottery Fund. Having been neglected for much
of the past century, the site is now being managed in order to restore
the woodlands and other habitats and to protect the wildlife and archaeological features of the site, whilst at the same time encouraging
public access.