Artists Mary Waltham and Jackie Amies are highlighting the UK’s remaining ancient woodland.

They are staging a joint exhibition called Ancient Woodland: A Celebration of Place at the Allen Gallery in Alton until September 20.

Mary said: “Despite best efforts to support and encourage these woodlands to thrive, they are consistently under pressure for development and from continuing assaults by a range of rapidly evolving tree diseases - such as ash dieback- that are further enabled by a warmer climate year-round.

“We set out to explore and raise awareness of the many dimensions of beauty of ancient woodland from our own perspectives.”

Natural England has an inventory of all 52,000 ancient woodland sites - areas largely untouched by humans since before 1600 - across the UK, mostly fragments covering 2.5 per cent of the country.

The Woodland Trust called ancient woods the UK’s “richest and most complex terrestrial habitat” and home to more threatened species than any other.

It said soil undisturbed for centuries and accumulated decaying wood was perfect for fungi, invertebrates and specialised insects, birds and mammals.

Mary added: “Ancient woods are a continuing record of centuries of interaction and interdependence between man and woodland, often containing remnants of archaeological features such as wood banks, pits and charcoal kilns.

“Ancient woodland is an immensely rich and complex area for exploration scientifically, culturally and artistically. Both Jackie and I feel as though we have only just begun!”

Landscape professionals Chris Webb and David Ball have given expert advice.

Mary said: “They have been in on this exploration of place by me and Jackie from the beginning, providing both of us with essential knowledge, their experience and facts that have enabled us to feel confident about the truths we present.

“We hope that one outcome from our show is increased understanding of the importance of rare and special ancient woodland.”