6 Introductory 



grounds for the king and his nobles as such they were 

 carefully preserved and wherever this was not the case 

 they were looked upon as unfailing supplies of fuel and 

 soon disappeared. 



As the power of the people grew greater and that of 

 the Crown less, more and more forest land was reclaimed 



Fig. 4. Fern Leaf in Coal shale. 



and used for agriculture until only a few Royal forests 

 were left. 



It was a great many years before the full value 

 of our English woodlands was recognised, but in recent 

 years many small plantations have been made to 



