Cannock Chase was designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in 1958 because of its beautiful landscape, its wildlife and its history. From November 2023 it has been renamed as a National Landscape.

Cannock Chase is the largest surviving area of lowland heathland in the Midlands. Lowland heath is an internationally scarce and threatened wildlife habitat. The National Landscape also has extensive areas of forest and woodland along with areas of designed parkland, sand and gravel quarrying and mixed agriculture. A large northern section of the Natural Landscape lies within the Stafford Borough boundary.

Stafford Borough Council along with Natural England and four other local authorities (Cannock Chase Council, Lichfield District Council, South Staffordshire Council and Staffordshire County Council) fund and support the work of the Cannock Chase Natural Landscape Unit and implementation of the Cannock Chase National Landscape Management Plan through the Joint Committee and Officer Working Group. Additional work on specific projects is carried out by a range of National Landscape partners.

Here is a short film on Cannock Chase.

Further information on Cannock Chase National Landscape (www.cannock-chase.co.uk).