X INTRODUCTION. 



Venerable Bede, about the year 731, as "thick and inacces- 

 sible/' and as a place of shelter for large herds of deer and 

 swine, as well as wolves; and we learn from the Saxon 

 Chronicle that in a.d. 893 it extended from east to west 

 one hundred and twenty miles, and from north to south 

 from eighty to ninety miles, making it nearly co-extensive 

 with the Weald in Sussex, Kent, and Surrey. It is now so 

 greatly curtailed by clearing and by cultivation that little 

 remains but the forests of St. Leonard, Tilgate, and Ash- 

 down. From the time of the Romans to that of Charles II., 

 large portions of these forests were greatly reduced by the 

 practice of felling trees for charcoal, to be used in the 

 extensive manufacture of iron ; but in his reign, on account 

 of the great destruction of the oak-timber consumed in 

 smelting it, the portion now known as St. Leonard's was 

 disforested, and made a deer-park, thus, of course, doing 

 more harm than good, as every young oak was browsed 

 down by the deer. There is a small portion of the ancient 

 woodland called Charlton Forest, situated on the north slope 

 of the Western Downs, the only part of them which still has 

 native timber. The whole of the county, however, with the 

 exception of the Downs and the levels of the rivers, is still 

 very well wooded, as may be seen by any one looking down 

 upon it from their summits. This is, in a great measure, 

 caused by the practice of the original reclaimers, of leaving 

 a strip of wood, in this county called a Shaia, of several 

 yards in width, around each enclosure for the preservation 

 of timber, the oak of Sussex being considered the best in 

 existence for the use of the Navy ; and it is still the pre- 

 vailing tree throughout the county, though more especially 

 on the clay. There are two distinct species, the Querciis 

 pedunculata, or robur, and the Q, sessiliflora, of which the 

 former is by far the commoner, and, from its greater dura- 

 bility, very superior as timber to the latter for naval purposes. 



