AN EXHIBITION will chart the rich and captivating history of a forest that once covered the vast majority of West Oxfordshire.

'Discovering Wychwood: Living and Working in a Royal Forest' will capture the origins of Wychwood Forest as a hunting ground for Norman royalty and illustrate how it was used in the 19th century by shepherds, woodsmen, gloveresses and others.

Led by conservation charity the Wychwood Project and supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund and West Oxfordshire District Council, the exhibition aims to educate people about the district’s heritage while inspiring an interest in conserving its landscape today.

Sharon Williams, Wychwood Project director, has high hopes for the exhibition, which opens at the Oxfordshire Museum, in Woodstock, on Saturday.

She said: “I really hope a lot of local people will be able to get along to this free exhibition.

"It will show everyone who comes how much life in West Oxfordshire has changed since the days when the area was largely covered by the Wychwood Forest.

“But we also hope that it will encourage everyone who comes to see what we can all do today to protect the area’s valuable past and improve our green spaces and natural environment for the future.

"We want people to come and find out more about the past of this beautiful area.”

As well as covering the history of the forest when it was thriving, the exhibition will also cover the dramatic change to West Oxfordshire in the 1850s when much of the forest was enclosed, trees were felled and the land was turned over to farming.

It will open on Saturday at 10am, with hands-on activities for children between 11am and 4pm, including making nature crowns, leaf stamps and clay animals.

The exhibition will run throughout the summer.

There will also be demonstrations of rural crafts like hurdle making and a chance to taste the wild foods of the forest.

The original aim of the Wychwood Project – which was set up in 1997 – was to put as many trees back into the Wychwood Forest as possible.

Today, still true to the group’s original aims, the project plants at least 2,000 trees every year, and has developed community woodlands across the district, including Foxburrow wood, where the group planted 10,000 trees.

But the project now covers a lot more than just tree planting.

It uses teams of volunteers and works in partnership with communities planting hedgerows, rebuilding drystone walls and conserving wildlife-rich meadows, woods, hedges and ponds.

In addition, it provides advice, training, and opportunities for volunteers to become directly involved in caring for the Wychwood countryside.

For more visit wychwoodproject.org