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Wyre Forest is a large, semi-natural (partially unmanaged) woodland and forest measuring which straddles the borders of Worcestershire and Shropshire, England. Knowles Mill, a former corn mill owned by the National Trust lies within the forest.
It is one of the largest areas of semi-natural (partially unmanaged) woodland in the UK. Bird species to be found in the forest include hawfinch, dipper, wood warbler, common crossbill, spotted flycatcher, pied flycatcher, common redstart and long-eared owl, among many other woodland animals and plants. The small but colourful moth Oecophora bractella has one of its few English populations here, and does not seem to occur much further northwards.
The forest's Vipera berus have been the subject of a notable study by Sylvia Sheldon.
On 9 April 2024, a family of 6 Eurasian beaver (Castor Fiber) were reintroduced to a tributary of Dowles Brook, within a five-hectare enclosure spanning the stream and surrounding woodland.
How far north the Mortimer family's hunting rights extended is debatable, but it may have included the whole area in south east Shropshire of which they were overlords at the time of Domesday Book. While they may have had hunting rights there, much of the woodland in fact belonged to other manorialism, such as Upper Arley and Kinlet. A large tract of woodland on the north side of the Dowles Brook was Kingswood, a detached township of the parish of Stottesdon. The town of Bewdley, a Mortimer foundation, may have been cut out of the forest. Far Forest was until recent times part of the borough of Bewdley, though separated from the rest of it by New Parks, which were in Rock parish. Most rights to land in the forest belonged to these medieval manors.
The rights of the Mortimer family passed to the crown as a result of the accession of Edward IV, who was (amongst other things) previously Earl of March to the crown. Its description as 'forest' probably dates from that period.
The extent of woodland two to three centuries ago was probably similar to that today. The manor of Cleobury Mortimer was alienated in the 16th century, leaving the crown only with the manor of Bewdley and Far Forest. Historical references to the Wyre Forest in this period seem to relate to this rather smaller area owned by the crown. In fact the crown's involvement was slight as its rights were leased to local gentlemen. One series of leases related to the manor of Bewdley, but another concerned something called the 'Wyre Forest'. This may have related to Far Forest, but that is not clear. During the 16th century, coal mining throughout the Wyre was prevalent. Industry in the Wyre Forest continued throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. During those centuries, the forest was intensively managed as coppicing to provide cordwood for the production of charcoal. The charcoal was used to fuel iron finery forge at Cleobury Mortimer, and at Wilden Ironworks and elsewhere in the Stour valley. These supplied iron from manufacture into wrought iron mainly in the Black Country. Coppicing in the Wyre also provided industry to towns such as Bewdley, where local Tanneries profited from the woodland. Charcoal burning continued into the 20th century.
A branch of the Severn Valley Railway, known as the Tenbury and Bewdley Railway once ran through the Wyre Forest. It branched from the main line north of Bewdley station and crossed the River Severn at Dowles Bridge, the supports of which still remain. The trackbed of the railway now forms part of National Cycle Route 45.
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