31 



QUEEN ELIZABETH'S LODGE AND THE 

 EPPING FOREST MUSEUM. 



IN the annual report of the Council for 1897 (^o^- ^-i 

 pp. 252-3) a statement of the position of the Epping Forest 

 Museum was given, and hope was expressed that the whole 

 question of the repair and restoration of Queen Elizabeth's Lodge 

 so as to afford more space for the Museum would be taken in 

 hand by the Epping Forest Committee. This matter has been 

 brought to a head in a Report ot the Committee presented to the 

 Court of Common Council on April 13th last, which report -was 

 uiiaiiimonsly agreed to by the Court and which has since been printed 

 and circulated. The report is of great importance with regard to 

 the future of the Lodge and the Museum, and some extracts 

 from it may be interesting. After summarising the history of the 

 Museum, the report goes on to say : — 



" The exhibition is very popular, and has been visited by many thousands 

 of people, but the space at present available is insufficient for the increasing 

 number of exhibits. The Essex Field Club are desirous of enlarging the 

 Museum, if additional space can be provided in the Lodge. 



" We have given considerable attention to the structural condition of the 

 Lodge, both externally and internally. 



" The whole of the space on the fust floor was originally one large room 

 corresponding in dimensions to that on the second Hoor ; but at some period 

 anterior to the Lodge being handed over to the Conservators, it was divided 

 into three rooms ; some of the windows have been filled in, and it has been 

 otherwise mutilated 



" We accordingly consulted Mr. J. Oldrid Scott, who is an eminent 

 architect skilled in Tudor architecture, as to the condition of the building, the 

 cost of throwing the rooms on the first floor into one, providing a new oak 

 ceiling and additional windows on the first floor, removing the plaster and 

 otherwise improving the appearance of the exterior and providing bedrooms 

 for the keeper in lieu of the rooms now used by him on the first floor." 



A detailed estimate of the repairs, &c., is then given 

 amounting to £']^o and the report continues : — 



" We are of opinion that it is a matter of urgent necessity that the work 

 should be taken in hand at once, not only with the object of extending the 

 Museum, but also of strengthening the structural condition of the Lodge and 

 improving its external appearance, and that it should be carried out in 

 accordance with Mr Scott's reports, of which we annex copies. 



'• We therefore beg to recommend -bearing in mind the obligation thrown 

 upon the Conservator.-, — that your Honourable Court will be pleased to grant 

 tne sum of ;^5oo tor the structural alterations to the interior and restoration 

 of the exterior of the building, as advised by Mr. Scott 



