78 THE LATEST ADDITION TO EPPING FOREST. 



In all probability, the bird in question was a White-tailed 

 Easjle, specimens of which (generally immature) are not un- 

 common, even now, in Essex in the winter time^ ; while it is 

 quite likely that the Salmon mentioned by Newby was caught in 

 the River Stour, though, as it was dried, it may have come from 

 elsewhen;. It will be seen on reference to Dr. Laver's Mammals, 

 Reptiles, ami Fishes of Essex (p. 103) that the Salmon was formerly 

 a regular inhabitant of our principal Essex rivers and is, even 

 now, more or less polluted as most of them are, a not infrequent 

 visitor. 



YARDLEY HILL, THE LATEST ADDITION TO 

 EPPING FOREST. 



OINCE that nremorable May morning seventeen years ago, 

 k3 when Her Majesty the Queen granted the modern " Carta 

 de Foresta "' by personally dedicating 5,500 odd acres to the use 

 and enjoyment of the public for ever, friends of the " free forest " 

 have recognised with gratitude and pleasure three notable 

 additions to the woodlands. These are " Oak Hill,'' Theydon, 

 " Highams Park," Walthamstow and Woodford, and the latest 

 gift, " Yardley Hill," Chingford. 



It is to the generosity of Mr. E. N. Buxton, to whom the 

 public are indebted in large measure for the previous acquisitions, 

 that this last splendid addition to the forest is due. \\. a meeting 

 of the Co.njion Council of the Corporation of London, on 

 Thursday, October 20th, the folio iving letter addressed to the 

 Lord ]\Iay or was read: — 



" Kni:;hton, Buckhurst Hill, October iSth, 1898. 

 •• My dear Lord Mayor, — I have for a long time past been impressed 

 with the importance, it not tl:e necessity, of securing the picturesque vantage 

 ground knovvQ as Yardley Hil! as an addition to Epping Forest. It is a 

 timbere-1 ridge which projects into the Lea Valley basm, from which ri\er its 

 highest point is distant about 400 yards. From its prominent position it 

 commands many' miles of the valley, along which a manufacturing population 

 is steadily assembling, as well as such distant points as Hampstead, Barnet, 

 and the iiigli grounds near Broxbourue. A more practical consideration is 

 that it would connect that charming outlying portion of the Forest called 

 GilUvell-lane, at present, owing to its isolation, rarely visited, with the main 

 block near Hawkwood. My etforts, more than once renewed, have at length 

 been successful, and I have no.w the pleasure of begging your Lordship, as 



5 Tliere :irc two specimens in the Museum of the Essex Field Club. 



