Attractions/Places To Visit

Cannock Chase National Park

Dalraddy Cottage is situated in the National Park of Cannock Chase (previously known as an area of outstanding natural beauty), close to Stafford, Cannock and Penkridge and situated in South Staffordshire.  It was designated as an AONB in 1958 because of it's beautiful landscape, wildlife and history.  It has the largest surviving area of lowland heathland in the Midlands. This is an internationally scarce and threatened habitat.   Cannock Chase has extensive areas of forest and woodland along with areas of designated parkland and mixed agriculture.  The parklands of Shugborough, Beaudesert, Tixall, Wolseley and Hatherton all fall within Cannock Chase.  At 26 square miles it is the smallest national park in mainland Britain.  Much of Cannock Chase is also designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a Special Area of Conservation (SAC).  Cannock Chase is home to the Cannock Chase Berry - a rare hybrid between bilberry and cowberry, and is home to a number of rare birds including the Skylark, Nightjar and Woodlark.

We want you to enjoy Cannock Chase as much as we do so please:

• keep to designated walking and cycling routes

• leave no trace of your visit and take your litter home

• keep your dog under effective control and remove dog mess - do not leave it in a bag on trees please!!

• Enjoy yourself and take lots of photos!

There is more information on Cannock Chase Area) at www.visitcannockchase.co.uk

For more information on Stafford events and attractions Stafford attractions

We are officially in South Staffordshire - more details can be found here South Staffordshire

Deer On Cannock Chase

• There are 3 species of wild deer on Cannock Chase - Red, Fallow and Muntjac

• The commonest of which are the red and fallow.

• There are also a small number of Roe deer on the fringes of the Chase.

• Please do not feed the deer - they are wild animals

• If you see an injured deer, contact the local police on 101, if you are involved in a collision, dial 999 or 112.

Local Tourist Attractions include:

History Of Cannock Chase (with thanks to Cannock Chase AONB)

• 1086 - Doomsday Book - known as Cank Forest, an area managed by the King and not necessarily wooded.

• 13th  Century - Rights of "Chase" for hunting were granted to the Bishop of Lichfield.  Deer park and hunting lodge established.

• By 1540 - large areas of the chase were owned by the church.  When Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries, Beaudesert was confiscated for the king, who sold it to Sir William Paget.  He set up iron production on the Chase.

• 18th Century - iron production ended on the chase.  Coal mining and quarrying expanded.  The last working pit on the Chase Coalfield was the Littleton Pit at Huntington which closed in 1993.

• 19th Century - trees were reintroduced near Shugborough and Beaudesert.  Most of these trees were felled during the great war 1914 - 1918.. In 1919, the Forestry Commission was established to improve UK timber reserves and acquired land on the Chase for tree planting.

• 20th Century - Military training camps were set up at Rugeley and Brocton in the Great War, and the hospital continued to treat cases of shell shock and gas attack until its closure in 1924.

  • By the mid 1960s Staffordshire County Council had acquired over 2000 hectares, which is now the basis for the country park.

  • The German Military cemetery was created in the 1960s, and Germans who died in Britain during the two World Wars were re-buried here. The nearby Commonwealth cemetery rest German, New Zealander and British war dead. 

  • Also on the chase is the Katyn Memorial to the 14000 Polish people executed in the Katyn Forest in 1940.