About the Sherwood Forest Visitors Centre

The Present Visitor Centre      

The present Visitor Centre, established in the early 1970s, was built to fulfil three prime functions:

• provide information and interpretation for the visitor to the historic landscape of Sherwood Forest
• an operational base for directly managing the Country Park and much of the National Nature Reserve
• provide retail and catering outlets, profits from which, help sustain the first two functions.

The Visitor Centre currently provides parking, toilets and other services and facilities for the 360,000 people who visit the Country Park every year. It includes:

• a Visitor Information Point
• the Forest Table Restaurant, which serves beverages, snacks and hot food
• Robyn Hode’s Sherwode, a modestly sized exhibition with displays explaining what life would have been like for outlaws, kings and commoners in Sherwood Forest during the Middle Ages
• a small video theatre showing a short introduction to the Sherwood Forest / North Nottinghamshire /Dukeries area
• the Oak Room, currently used for private functions
• two shops selling gifts and souvenirs
• facilities to support educational visits, including a portacabin classroom
• storage and administrative facilities for the Country Park
• car parking for approximately 260 vehicles
• toilets.

For more information about the Centre, its attractions and events see the Sherwood Forest Visitor Centre and Country Park webpages.

Strategic Context    

Sherwood Forest has iconic status nationally and internationally as the legendary haunt of Robin Hood. Valued as a hunting preserve from before the Norman Conquest, Sherwood Forest grew in importance during the medieval period. Owned by Thoresby Estates Ltd, the 450 acres which comprise the Country Park, have been managed by Nottinghamshire County Council since 1967 on a 60 year lease.

The ancient woodland of Birklands near Edwinstowe is widely acknowledged to be one of the most important old woodland sites in Europe and is nationally and internationally significant for nature conservation. Ancient woodland is an irreplaceable part of the UK’s natural heritage, providing conditions for hundreds of old trees and collections of rare invertebrates. Ancient or veteran trees are among the oldest living organisms in Europe today – their habitats and their forest landscape cannot be replicated. The importance for wildlife of Birklands is reflected by the series of designations placed on the site. It is nationally important for its woodland wildlife, recognised by its inclusion within a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) as far back as 1954 and by the declaration of the site as a National Nature Reserve (NNR) by English Nature in 2002.

Most of Sherwood ForestCountryPark lies within the defined boundary of the National Nature Reserve. The woodland is one of only four sites in the UK to be designated as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) by the UK Government on account of its ancient woodland wildlife. On completion of the formal SAC designation process, this site formed part of the European Natura 2000 series, the only such example in Nottinghamshire. Its high value for nature conservation is a result of the site’s large size, its high degree of naturalness, its rarity as an old pasture-woodland habitat and its important assemblages of rare and scarce wildlife.

Recent History   

For a number of years, the Council has sought to redevelop and remodel the visitor and tourist offer of the Visitor Centre as it is now a well liked but also well worn visitor attraction.

In 2002, the Council agreed with Natural England to relocate the Visitor Centre and its associated car park from within the NNR boundary.  All facilities should have been removed by December 2010, but in the light of its financial constraints, the Council has agreed with Natural England that the relocation may be delayed to 2016/17, though an earlier move is preferred.

Nottinghamshire County Council’s Contribution   

NCC has identified a capital contribution of up to £5.2m. The Council considers that any contribution would primarily be for associated infrastructure costs, eg: the remediation of the current NNR site.

Property and Planning   

A feasibility study on the relocation of the current Centre was undertaken in 2004.  An arable tract of 38 acres (Naish’s Field) adjacent to the NNR site was identified as the preferred site for a new Centre, and was purchased by the Council for this purpose in 2008.

This site will be offered on  a long term lease to the successful tenderer and the length of the lease and other details will be subject to further detailed negotiations.

The tenderer is asked to note that the site to be developed is adjacent to a National Nature Reserve (NNR) and could usefully be expanded to include the NNR, a Site of Special Scientific Interest and European Special Area of Conservation as they all bring their own planning peculiarities. 

The strip of woodland between Naish’s Field and the Swinecote Road (B6034) is owned by UK Coal and is an SSSI.  The County Council does have a licence from the owner to construct a bridge crossing through a designated corridor in the woodland.

As the tenderer will be the developer, Newark and Sherwood District Council will be the determining authority and the County Council will be a statutory respondee.