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Farming arrived in the UK 6,000 years ago, after slowly spreading across Europe from origins in Syria and Iraq. This shift from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to farming is known as the Neolithic Revolution.
It took over 2,000 years for farming to replace hunting and gathering in the UK, with humans changing the environment and breeding wild animals to become tamer to do so. Before the Neolithic Revolution, the British landscape would have been made up of large patches of woodland. To make space for growing crops and create open areas to care for farm animals, humans cut down many of these woods. This clearance meant that much of the UK became grassland. Native wildlife had to adjust to these changes to be able to survive in this new landscape.
How your ancestors helped wildlife
Humans began growing crops, such as wheat and barley, to provide food for their families and farm animals. Naturally, birds and other animals were attracted to these new fields full of grain, and would help themselves.
The clearance of small areas of woodland over time can help wildlife. The extra light hitting the ground from the removal of trees, and the turning over of soil from human movement, meant that lots of different plants were able to grow.
Humans also planted and managed trees to create hedgerows, which are great homes and often provide food for wildlife. Fruit trees grown in orchards also created a habitat for lichen and insects.
Over time, as native wildlife adapted to survive in these new environments, some became reliant on the changes humans had made.
Highly commended in the Wildlife Close Up category by Mark Cox
Ridge and furrow ancient farming technique
Robinswood Hill is part of the Cotswolds - one of the best places in the country to see the ancient farming technique of ridge and furrows - long lines of raised soil separated by trenches.
For thousands of years farming was done by hand, using a plough pushed by a farmer or animal, like an ox. Ploughing created raised lines of soil, where the crops would grow, with long trenches to separate them. These ploughs were heavy and hard to turn, to save time and energy, long strips were created running all the way along a field. In places where ploughed fields became grassland, the ridge pattern can still be seen.
One of the jobs children used to do was stand in the field and scare birds away so they would not eat the seeds. This would be all day when the sun was up, so in the summer they'd be out from 4 in the morning until 9 at night! Would you like a job as a scarecrow?
To get a really good view of the ridge and furrows, take a seat on the sculpture and look out over the meadow. Can you see where the ground dips?
As you walk to the next section of the trail you will enter an open field, this is one of the best fields on Robinswood Hill for wildflowers. Try and count the different flowers or leaf shapes, how many can you find?
Take action
Want to help wildlife like your ancestors? Why not join WilderGlos? This is a movement started by GWT to encourage individuals and communities around the county to stand up and take action for nature and wildlife. You can pledge to make a difference in your local area, like planting a tree, buying peat free compost or creating a wildlife friendly herb patch. You can sign up to take action here.