Home
Quick links:
| | | Column 3 | Column 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
What's happening on your doorstep?
-
The Photo competition 2026 is now open for entries until 9th March 2026 - up to 6 per person - and the categories are Castle Ring and the forest, Gentleshaw Common, Village scenes (street scenes and events), Macro (the little things in life), Skyscapes and the weather, and In bloom. Entries from under 18s and under 12s very much welcomed.
-
We need to introduce more bee-friendly plants at regular intervals around the area and will provide wildflower seed in the spring so that each participating household can be encouraged to plant 1 square metre of wildflower mix in their garden or in pots. You can be part of this by signing up to Bee Squared.
-
Castle Ring trig pillar
Do you have photos or anecdotes to share about the trig pillar which used to be on Castle Ring?
Cannock Wood is a village and civil parish in the Cannock Chase District of Staffordshire, England. It is situated within the triangle of Cannock, Rugeley and Lichfield just to the north of the conurbation of Burntwood and approximately 25 miles (40 km) north of Birmingham city centre. The elevated position of Cannock Wood offers long panoramic views in many directions which are highly valued by many.
The parish includes Castle Ring, an Iron Age hillfort, at the highest part of Cannock Chase with an altitude of 242 metres above sea level. Cannock Chase is designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs are now renamed National Landscapes) and Cannock Wood is the only village that is completely within the boundaries of the AONB. Castle Ring is one of two Scheduled Monuments in this small parish of just over 1,000 inhabitants. The second is a medieval moated site and bloomery at Courtbanks Covert and the covert itself is designated ancient woodland. Close to this site is Nun’s Well, where a spring rises in a chamber cut from rock that is covered by a Tudor style brickwork arch. Castle Ring is a Site of Biological Importance and the close proximity of Gentleshaw Common, a Site of Special Scientific Interest adjoining the parish, means Cannock Wood and its surrounding Green Belt is a haven of tranquillity and wildlife and of importance for biodiversity.
Cannock Wood is a mainly residential area interspersed with open areas including Nunswell Park and public footpaths through the local countryside. There is a tightly drawn settlement boundary, with scattered dwellings and Cannock Wood Methodist Church in the Green Belt areas outside the settlement boundary. Within Cannock Wood, but dedicated also to the residents of neighbouring Gentleshaw, there is an extensive Playing Field offering a children's play area, football pitch and cricket ground and a much used Village Hall. Gentleshaw Primary Academy and Christ Church, Gentleshaw lie just over the road from Cannock Wood in Gentleshaw, which is in the Longdon Parish of Lichfield District. There is one combined community of Cannock Wood and Gentleshaw despite the administrative separation of Parish and District Council boundary lines. There are two pubs in Cannock Wood, The Park Gate Inn and The Rag, and two more just the other side of the parish boundary in Gentleshaw, Ye Olde Windmill Inn and The Redmore Inn.