Sherwood Forest

Sherwood Forest, in Nottinghamshire, is a National Nature Reserve declared under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 and the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Covering 424.75 hectares, the reserve comprises the ancient woodlands of Birklands and Budby South Forest, and contains more than a thousand ancient oaks, most over 500 years old, including the Major Oak. The forest's name was first recorded as Sciryuda in 958 AD, and it became a Royal hunting forest after the Norman invasion of 1066, remaining subject to special forest law for centuries afterwards. Today the reserve is managed jointly by Nottinghamshire County Council, Forestry England and the RSPB.