26 A NEW FOREST OF WALTHAM. 



grace and a desire to benefit the poor cottagers by a not illiberal 

 allotment of commons. The manorial landlords had no such 

 scruples ; they aimed to *' convey " (to use Ancient Pistol's word) 

 the whole remaining open lands. The division of the " Forest ". 

 into parish commons having been made, the supineness of the 

 people and a compliant Parliament made the rest easy, and six 

 of the seven commons carved out of the old woodlands, 

 were " acquired " within a very few years. As Sir Robert 

 Hunter says, "in order to abolish the common thus left, and to 

 reduce the whole parish to the much desired condition of private 

 land, but one more step was necessary — an enclosure carried out 

 under ordinary conditions. By the aid of the Enclosure Com- 

 missioners, every parish common save one was cut up and 

 allotted among the lord of the manor and the landowners, and 

 the destruction of the ancient forest was at last complete. 

 Happily there was one exception. The Lord of the Manor of 

 Lambourne, father we believe of the present Colonel Mark 

 Lockwood, member for the Epping Division of Essex, does not 

 appear to have suffered from the prevalent rage for converting 

 woods, commons and pastures into arable land. He did not 

 apply for an enclosure of the Lambourne parish allotment ; and 

 it remains, a bit of old Hainhault Forest, to the present day." 



The King's Wood lands allotted to the Crown comprised 

 1,873 acres. The w^hole of the timber was cleared off, the 

 stumps dragged out, and most of the land put under the plough ; 

 in place of a beautiful woodland there appeared a barren looking, 

 meagre, and somewhat unprofitable farm — and so the ancient 

 glories of Hainhault remained eclipsed for 50 years. 



It is not proposed in the present short article to recount the 

 ancient history of this portion of Waltham Forest, or to give 

 any description of its scenery and former natural productions ; 

 this is reserved for future papers, in which also we hope to 

 review the botany and general natural histor}^ of those portions 

 still retaining a forestal character. We have simply to recount 

 the present stages of a noble scheme of reclaimation tor public 

 uses and enjoyment of the existing woodlands, and of gradual 

 re-afforestation (in the non -legal sense, of course) of portions of 

 the " King's Wood " lands. 



The tliought that so much of the land remained in the 

 possession of the Crown has often tempted lovers of open spaces 



