The landscape of Shotover has changed throughout its history – and is still changing.

Shotover was part of a Royal Forest from the time of the Domesday Book until the Civil War in the 1640s. Nobleman used it as a hunting ground; local people used the land for grazing and the wood for fuel. The oak trees provided timber for many of Oxford’s historic buildings; the coppiced hazels in Brasenose were used for local fencing and sheep hurdles as well as fuel – and still are coppiced to this day.

In 1660, Shotover ceased to be a Royal Forest and became open farmland that was grazed or cultivated.

Until the end of the 18th century, the main road to London (known today as Old Road in both Headington and Wheatley) passed across Shotover Plain. Travellers were ripe pickings for highwaymen here, particularly because the steepness of the hill meant slow progress. John Wesley, founder of Methodism, was accosted by a highwayman while he was in Oxford in the 1730s.

Farming on Shotover stopped during the first half of the 20th century, and the trees grew up into the established woodlands we see today.

During the Second World War, Shotover Hill was used for military training and tanks built at Cowley were tested there. Slade Camp in Brasenose Woods was part of Cowley Barracks and provided a temporary home for soldiers who took part in the D-Day landings. You can still see evidence of the barracks there.

In 1953, Oxford Preservation Trust handed over the care and ownership of Shotover to Oxford City Council, and two wardens were employed to look after it. From the late 1970s onwards, work started to clear woodland to restore its heath, grassland and marsh habitats.

Shotover was designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in 1986.