Clun Forest facts for kids
Clun Forest is a beautiful, quiet area in the southwest of Shropshire, England. It also stretches a little into Powys, Wales. This place has wide-open fields, grassy moorland, and forests with different kinds of trees. Some trees lose their leaves in autumn (deciduous), while others stay green all year (coniferous).
Long ago, Clun Forest was a special hunting ground for kings and queens. It covered a large area, including the Clun Valley. Even though it was called a "forest," it wasn't always full of trees back then. Today, you'll find many small woods, like Radnor Wood. There are also bigger areas of planted conifer trees, created by the Forestry Commission. These can be seen near the Wales–England border, for example, in Ceri Forest.
A very old earth wall called Offa's Dyke runs through Clun Forest from north to south. You can even walk along parts of it on the Offa's Dyke Path. The area is also important enough to give its name to a local church district, or deanery, of the Church of England.
What is Clun Forest Made Of?
The ground in Clun Forest is mostly made of different kinds of rocks. These rocks are called mudstones, sandstones, and siltstones. They formed a very long time ago, during the Silurian period. Imagine these layers of rock like a stack of pancakes. Over millions of years, they got pushed and folded into two big bowl-like shapes. These "bowls" are centered around the Clun valley.
The rocks usually tilt inwards towards these two points. A line of folded rock, called an anticline, separates the two bowls. This line runs through a village called Newcastle. The rocks show signs of ancient life, like tunnels made by worms in the soft mud long ago.
During the last ice age, huge sheets of ice covered much of the land. As the ice melted, it left behind patches of rocky soil called till in many valleys. Near the town of Clun, there's a large pile of rocks and dirt left by a glacier, called a moraine. Sometimes, parts of the land have slipped, like the area below Caer-din Ring. The bottom of the Clun valley is filled with alluvium, which is sand and mud carried by the river. You can also see evidence of old river levels, like steps or terraces.
Clun Forest in Poetry
A famous poet named A. E. Housman wrote about Clun Forest in his collection of poems called A Shropshire Lad. He described the area as a very peaceful and quiet place.
Here are some lines from his poem: "In valleys of springs of rivers
- By Ony and Teme and Clun,
The country for easy livers,
- The quietest under the sun...
'Tis a long way further than Knighton,
- A quieter place than Clun,
Where doomsday may thunder and lighten
- And little 'twill matter to one."
