Thorswood

Thorswood is a nature reserve run by the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust. It lies in the Weaver Hills near Stanton in Staffordshire. The site covers eighty-one hectares and is classed as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The ground rises steeply in places, with low meadows beside streams and higher limestone grassland above. The reserve keeps old farming ways instead of modern methods. Light cattle grazing and traditional hay cutting maintain the grass at the right height. Ox-eye daisy, knapweed and betony grow in the damp meadows, while salad burnet, cowslip and wild thyme appear on the thin limestone soil. Three Bronze Age burial mounds stand on the reserve as scheduled monuments. Visitors follow marked paths across the reserve. The trails avoid old lead mines from the 17th century, whose spoil heaps and shafts remain. From the higher ground there are wide views over the Weaver Hills. The mix of grassland, heaps and monuments shows how people have shaped this landscape for centuries.