The History of Rough Wood Chase
The wood is now owned by Walsall Council, but it was privately owned until the 1950s. It became Walsall's first Local Nature Reserve in 1989 to ensure its protection and enjoyment for future generations.
The first recorded mention of Rough Wood Chase Local Nature Reserve is in the 12 th century when it was part of the Bentley Hay district of the Cannock Forest. This royal hunting forest stretched over an enormous area of countryside, covering much of what is know Walsall, Sutton Park and Cannock Chase. The forest provided a ready source of food of food for the local peasants with wild deer and game being plentiful. Unfortunately, legend states that the monarchs and forest keepers disapproved of this. A decree was, therefore, sent out that either the poaching had to stop or the wood was to be felled. Presumably, the poaching did not stop as the wood was indeed felled during the 16 th Century on the orders of the King.
The Industrial Revolution produced an enormous demand for coal throughout the Midlands. Rough Wood Chase Local Nature Reserve is sited on the Bentley Fault where the coal seems rise almost to the surface of the soil. Coals mines existed throughout the Willenhall area and at Rough Wood Chase Local Nature Reserve the Rough Wood Chase Local Nature Reserve Colliery was in production for many years. Along with the coal industry the Wyrley and Essington Canal was also built to take the coal to the factories and furnaces of the Black Country.
The decline of the coal mining and the use of the canal only for pleasure craft mean that Rough Wood Chase Local Nature Reserve is once more an oasis of countryside within Walsall.
Rough Wood Chase is made up of six separate nature reserves, which lie on the western edge of Walsall Borough. It comprises Rough Wood (the largest oak woodland in Walsall), Bentley Haye, Wood Farm, the Piggeries, Sneyd Reservoir and Oily Goughs.
Rough Wood Chase also includes Beechdale Park, despite it not being a formally designated Local Nature Reserve,
Rough Wood
Rough wood is made up of a series of pools in the middle of the oldest and largest woodland in Walsall Rough wood represents about 10% of the oak woodland within the West Midlands.
The Piggeries
The Piggeries is the smallest site of Rough Wood Chase, and links Rough Wood to Wood Farm. It was once part of a farm which was built up to make way for the M6.
Wood Farm
As its name suggests, Wood Farm used to be a farm, lost with the building of the M6. During the motorway's construction, the area was used as a storage yard for materials
Bentley Haye
Bentley Haye is a large area of wet grassland that was originally planned to be a golf course (it even has the two 'balancing ponds' remaining).
Oily Goughs
Was named after a man named Gough who used to sell scrap oil on the site many years ago.
Beechdale Park
Beechdale Park is located opposite Rough and Bentley Haye, on the other side of the M6 and the canal. It's linked to Oily Goughs and Bentley Haye,
Sneyd Reservoir
Sneyd Reservoir is the largest body of open water within Rough Wood Chase. Originally the water level would have been a lot higher than it is now. it was built to maintain the water levels in the area's canals, before Chasewater reservoir was built. Over time, trees have colonised the old reservoir and dam bed.
