One of the important and scarce habitats we have in Staffordshire is heathland. At the Wolseley Centre we have tried to create a small example of heathland to show visitors the different vegetation that can be found there. Heathland only develops on acidic soil, the plants that you expect to find growing include heather, bilberry, cowberry and grasses like wavy hair grass. These plants are adapted to the acidic conditions and will thrive where others would fail. A good heathland will consist of a matrix of areas of these different plants.

The very small area we have at Wolseley is just to give you a glimpse of places like Cannock Chase, the heathland of Cannock Chase is now protected as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) such is its importance for nature conservation. We have created our mini heathland opposite our small area of limestone habitat, this is to show the contrast in the vegetation on the two areas, you wouldn't normally find these two habitats in the same location.