IN ROMAN TIMES 15 



mountains bare and denuded as they exist at the 

 present time, witness the mountains of Wales and 

 the Scottish Highlands. 



Three distinct periods are distinguishable in our 

 forest history : 



1. From the time of the Romans, A.D. 44- (where 

 I propose to begin) , to the passing of the Statute of 

 Enclosure in 1482. 



2. From the passing of the Statute of Enclosure 

 to the appointment of a Parliamentary Committee 

 on Forestry in 1885. 



3. From the appointment of the Parliamentary 

 Committee in 1885 to the outbreak of the Great 

 War in 1914. 



i. THE HISTORY OF BRITISH FORESTRY FROM THE 

 TIME OF THE ROMANS (A.D. 44) TO THE PASSING 

 OF THE STATUTE OF ENCLOSURE IN 1482. 



A very considerable proportion of these islands 

 was covered with forest at the time of the Roman 

 invasion. The population was still small, only 

 insignificant areas being required for cultivation 

 and the sites of the small towns and villages. The 

 Romans assisted to some extent in decreasing the 

 forest area by driving their great roads through 

 the country and in clearing areas for their encamp- 

 ments, and to prevent ambuscades. But at the 

 end of the Roman occupation (A.D. 410) the country 

 was still thickly wooded. 



At the time of the arrival of the Romans in Britain 

 the species of trees occurring in the woods consisted 



