About

The Wilderness is a truly unique part of Warley Woods. Rich in both flora and fauna this space supports a staggering number of different species
and is particularly good for its invertebrates. What makes the wilderness so special is its mixture of different habitats creating an ever-evolving open mosaic; open being the key word. Left to its own devices the whole area would turn to scrub and much of the diversity would be lost.

The Wilderness has had a chequered past. The area it now sits on was once the location of Warley Abbey’s walled garden (1820 -1905), where greenhouses that served the house stood. This area was later used as a plant nursery by Birmingham City Council and was out of bounds to the public. Plants grown here by both the ‘indoor’ and ‘outdoor’ gangs were sent out to be planted across the City of Birmingham in bedding schemes. Gradually, the plant nursery, tree nursery, orchard and greenhouses fell into disrepair and, by 1996, they had all been demolished.

2004 was a dark year for Warley Woods, when thousands of tonnes of building waste were illegally dumped, totally and permanently changing
what would later become known as The Wilderness. The area was checked for hazardous waste and miraculously, over the course of the
next four years interesting plant communities started to develop. It was decided the space be reserved for nature; The Wilderness was born!