Description: This is a spatial dataset that describes the geographic extent and location of ancient woodland habitat in England (excluding the Isles of Scilly). Ancient woodland is land that has had a continuous woodland cover since at least 1600 AD. It includes Ancient Semi-Natural Woodland (ASNW), which retains a native tree and shrub cover, Plantation on Ancient Woodland Sites (PAWS) where the original tree cover has been felled and replaced by planting, often with conifers, or Ancient Wood Pasture (AWP) where the trees are managed in tandem with a long established tradition of grazing, characteristically with at least some veteran trees or shrubs.In total 53,637 polygons were captured, covering approximately 364971.81 Ha. Our guidance document can be accessed here.LineageBetween 1981 and 1982 the Nature Conservancy Council began to compile an inventory of ancient woodland for England and Wales. This Ancient Woodland Inventory (AWI) was originally produced on a county basis with reports and paper maps published as they became available. It has since been digitised to create a national dataset which has been administered by the NCC’s successor bodies, English Nature and now Natural England.The majority of the south east counties were updated in a pilot project (2006 - 2014) and this area includes smaller woods for the first time, dropping the threshold to 0.25 hectares from the previously mapped two hectares threshold.Datasets used include:National Forest Index - Forest CommissionOS MasterMap (PSGA)Historic Ordnance Survey data including Ordnance Surveyor's Drawings, County Maps and First Series 1 inch maps to current editions - Landmark (bespoke licence)Priority Habitat Inventory - Natural England (OGL)Ancient Tree Inventory - Woodland Trust Aerial Photography (APGB agreement)Prior to the digitisation of the boundaries, only paper maps depicting each ancient wood at 1:50 000 scale were available.Full metadata can be viewed on data.gov.uk.