BORDER FROM THE ARUNDEL i'SALTER, A.D. 1329. 



EPPING FOREST. 



ITS HISTORY. 



' ' This is the forest primeval. " — Evangeline. 

 1 'a stubbed Thornaby Waaste." — Northern Farmer. 



A VERY brief account of the history of the Forest, 

 showing how the primeval woodland was set aside 

 for the pleasure of the King, and so was preserved 

 with little change from century to century, until 

 it came to be dedicated as an open space for the 

 enjoyment of King Demos, will not be out of 

 place here. The Forest, as we know it, is prob- 

 ably but little altered in character from what it 

 was in the time of the Druids, but its boundaries 

 are sadly curtailed, and that which is now devoted 

 to the recreation of the people and the pasture of 

 the commoner's cattle is but a fraction of the 

 ancient Royal Forest. 



As regards its ancient limits, it appears that in 

 Saxon times, and for some centuries later, a large 

 proportion of the county of Essex, — according to 

 Gibson " as far as the sea," — was " waste," i.e. 

 natural woods, open heathery spaces, and grassy 

 commons. When the whole of London was no 



