Century Wood is called Century Wood because it was first planted up as woodland by the Duke of Sutherland around 1900. The Leveson-Gower family gradually accumulated land in Shropshire, Staffordshire, and Cheshire over several centuries. Their stewardship ultimately affected the pattern of land ownership today and even what the land looks like.
There were a lot of Leveson-Gowers, but I’m only going to pick out three that made the most difference to how Century Wood looks today.
Continue reading “The Duke’s woodland”