Rockingham Forest facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Rockingham Forest |
|
|---|---|
A track through Fineshade Wood, part of Rockingham Forest.
|
|
| Map | |
 Location in Northamptonshire
|
|
| Geography | |
| Location | Northamptonshire, United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 52°27′N 0°35′W / 52.45°N 0.59°W |
| Area | 200 sq mi |
Rockingham Forest is a special area in Northamptonshire, England. It used to be a huge royal hunting ground for kings and queens. This area covers about 200 square miles (520 km²) between the River Welland and River Nene. It stretches between the towns of Stamford and Kettering. The landscape here is very diverse. You can find farmland, open fields, small woodlands, and villages built from local stone.
Contents
Discover the Forest's Past
Rockingham Forest gets its name from the village of Rockingham. The castle there was a favorite place for kings to stay. When King William I took over England, he made this area a royal hunting ground. A "forest" back then meant a special area with its own laws, not just a place with lots of trees. These laws protected animals for royal hunts.
How the Forest Shrank Over Time
The original forest was much larger. It stretched from Stamford all the way down to Northampton. Over many years, the forest boundaries changed. Land was sold or turned into farms. By the 1800s, the royal family no longer owned much of the forest. Today, only parts of the north-eastern forest remain. The main parts you can still see are near Corby, Kettering, Thrapston, and Oundle. In 1923, the Forestry Commission started looking after the remaining public woodlands.
Explore the Forest's Rocks
Rockingham Forest sits on top of ancient sedimentary rocks. These rocks formed during the Jurassic period, millions of years ago. Imagine layers of mud and sand that slowly turned into rock over time! These layers gently slope towards the east.
One important rock found here is ironstone. This rock contains iron, which was very useful. In the past, the ironstone from the Northampton Sands helped create a big iron and steel industry in Corby.
Caring for the Forest Today
The Forestry Commission manages several important areas within Rockingham Forest. These include:
- Southey Wood, near Peterborough
- Wakerley Great Wood
- Bedford Purlieus National Nature Reserve
- Fineshade Wood
- Fermyn Woods
Amazing Red Kites
Rockingham Forest is famous for its large number of red kites. These beautiful birds of prey have a reddish-brown body and a distinctive V-shaped tail. There are now about 300 red kites living in the forest!
Bringing Back the Chequered Skipper Butterfly
In 2018, something exciting happened in Rockingham Forest. Chequered skipper butterflies (Carterocephalus palaemon) were released here! These butterflies had disappeared from England over 40 years ago. This reintroduction was part of a project called Back from the Brink.
More butterflies from Belgium were released in 2019. This helps the new butterflies born in England have more friends! To help them, conservation groups cleared overgrown bushes from over 8 km of woodland paths. If this project keeps working, these will be the first native-born chequered skippers to fly in England in a very long time!
