Training trench to be listed

A rare First World War training trench on Cannock Chase has been given legal protection to safeguard its future.

The Forestry Commission, which is keeping the exact location of the trench secret, will now work in partnership with English Heritage to look after what is now deemed a piece of military history.

The trench has been officially named a Scheduled Ancient Monument by English Heritage, making it a protected archeological site of national importance.

To be eligible for the special protection a monument must meet specific criteria proving it is of national significance.

The list included it being rare, having unique features, having been in use and its potential to help with further studies will lead to a greater knowledge of an issue.

Local forester Roger Wilson, who found the trench when he fell into it more than 10 years ago, said: "I sensed it was some sort of trench as soon as I saw it but I didn't know it was quite so significant.

"The fact it has been given scheduled status shows just how important this site is to the country. It also means a lot to me personally as my grandfather, who died 20 years ago, fought in the trenches."

Mr Wilson and his colleagues were felling trees in the woods in 1995 when they came across the unusual series of banks in the ground. Experts soon worked out that the small area of excavation was a trench used in training camps during the First World War.

Cannock Chase was the location of one of two giant training camps established in the Great War.

Up to a quarter of a million British and Commonwealth troops, destined for the trenches, passed through the camps.

At the time there were barely any trees on the Chase, which made it an ideal location to practice large-scale activities.

Author of Lord of the Rings J R R Tolkien was among those to complete military training on Cannock Chase.

A number of writers have pointed to the similarities between the huge army camps on Cannock Chase and the vast camps of Mordor in Tolkien's famous story.

During the Second World War a training school was built on Brindley Heath called the No. 6 School of Technical Training and was better known as RAF Hednesford.

By the end of the war it had become the size of a small town and included huts as accommodation, shops, workshops, a cinema, a hospital and even its own railway.