The Brecks
From the 12th century onwards the farming of rabbits for fur and meat became a major industry, and landowners built warrens to house them. Later large areas of The Brecks were enclosed within the newly built country estates of the gentry. The 19th century saw measures to protect the topsoil as farmers planted lines of scots pine trees as windbreaks. Then in the 1920s, with the need for more timber, the Forestry Commission purchased large areas of the Brecks to develop as Britain’s largest lowland forest. In the Second World War, several areas were also taken over to become military training grounds and airfields. Today the use of modern farming techniques has drastically changed the ancient character of the area, turning the sandy soils into productive agricultural land.
The pockets of remaining heath-land are fiercely protected and managed creating a rich haven for many rare species of flora and fauna. Colourful heather, spiked speedwell, military orchid and Spanish catchfly flourish here, alongside many insects (spiders, bees, ants), butterflies and moths, rabbits, stone curlew, lapwing and woodlark. There are also special features - ‘meres’ whose water levels rise and fall, and ‘pingos’, damp shallow craters left by retreating glaciers during the last Ice Age. The landscape is also dotted with historical sites - burial mounds, deserted villages and Neolithic flint mines, where the stone was dug for tools, gun flints and building material. The prehistoric ‘Icknield Way’ cuts through the area, as does the Roman-built ‘Peddar’s Way’.
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