The Staffordshire Survey comprises the 7,396 acre Needwood estate.
Historically a large area of ancient woodland with extensive stocks of wolf, wild boar and fallow deer, today the Needwood estate comprises a mix of 44 arable, dairy, sheep and beef farms, 51 residential properties and 43 commercial, sporting and miscellaneous lettings. The commercial interests across the estate are diverse and range from specialist equestrian centres and liveries to fishing licences, live/work units and a private airfield.
In 2015, the Duchy entered a ten-year woodland management plan to improve the quality of over 1,265 acres of existing woodland, parts of which are open to the public. The Countryside Stewardship Woodland Improvement agreement with Natural England was renewed in 2022 for a further five years. Areas of the estate also form part of the National Forest designation and have been planted with new woodland in conjunction with the National Forest Company.
As part of our Agardsley Park landscape-restoration scheme, we have planted 250 metres of new hedgerow, ‘gapped up’ 100 metres of existing hedgerow and planted 210 trees.
