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What is the history of woodlands?After the last Ice Age, around 13,000 years ago, much of Britain would have been covered by trees and forests - the original wildwood. This wildwood, or primary woodland would have ranged from dense woodlands to open forests. Without the influence of people, and particularly farming activities, up to 80% of our land surface would be covered by woods in some shape or form. In the Peak District, much of our highly valued heather moorlands, limestone dale grasslands and hay meadows would have been woodland at one stage.
However, since Neolithic times (4500 years BC) saw the arrival of the first farmers, people have felled trees to clear the land for growing crops and rearing animals. Landscape historians believe that by the time the Domesday Book was written by the Norman Conquerors in 1086, the woodland cover in England had dramatically fallen to no more than 20% - less in certain areas. In the 12th and 13th centuries, large monastic farms, or granges, established huge flocks of sheep in order to benefit from the lucrative wool trade. In the Peak District this was particularly the case in the White Peak. These granges required large areas of grassland for sheep grazing and many trees were felled to clear the land for this purpose. 
Tree cover has continued to decline to such an extent that in the Peak District there is now only 7%, a slight increase since the First World War. Only 2% of the original wildwood exists in Britain today.
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