Wilders Wood or Wilderswood as it is known today was once the name for a small strip of native woodland following a small brook that flows down from the moorland above Horwich in Lancashire. Since the early 20th Century the name has been used for a wider area of land, reaching westwards to George’s Lane and Old Rake.
The name Wilderswood is locally connected with the legend of the Two Lads who where “bewildered” and died in the snow on the moors above long ago. However, rather than thinking in the modern usage of the word it’s important to note that ‘wilder’ in Old English actually meant Wild Deer but was used as a term for most wild beasts. To be ‘wildered’ actually meant to be away from villages and farms and domestic beast - out in the place where wild beasts lived; one supposes either by being lost or by being outlawed. In fact the land surrounding here was part of the medieaval “forest”, that is land held by the king or in this case for the purpose of hunting wild deer the lords of Manchester. In 1322 this place was named “Wilderhirst”.
In the mid 20th Century much of the open ground in the centre of the modern area of Wilderswood was planted with pines, as was the scheme with many areas at the time and for many years these remained. Wilderswood stood out on the side of the hill due to the dark pine colours, within the wood the floor was covered in a soft carpet of orange-red pine needles and it always felt quite sheltered and warmer than a traditional deciduous wood. Recently many of the pines have been removed for re-planting with native trees. Much of the place looks really bare at the moment like there’s been some sort of disaster. Added to this, quite a few established, native trees fell over in high winds a few years ago. Some ground has been disturbed during the forestry work, and a few items of historic interest are now either buried or lost. A shady corner where an old native tree sheltered a variety of interesting fungi each season now seems destroyed. A lot of people never wanted pine trees in the first place but that was before I was born. I’m not sure how much the new, native trees can grow in my lifetime so maybe this part of the woods will remain bare for me.
The rest of the woods remain much the same apart from a huge (well it was huge for round here) landslide in about 2008 where a bridge-like embankment slid down and buried part of the little Wilders Brook. It’s a great little gem of a place but it’s tiny car park often gets full. It’s possible to visit on nearby walks or by parking along the start of the unsurfaced Pike road.
