ITS HISTORY. 15 



holders, the trustees of Lord Mornington, for 

 being deprived of this hereditary trust. They 

 claimed ^1000, and were awarded ;^3oo in the 

 arbitration. 



The use for sporting purposes by the Crown 

 having all but ceased, and its chief representative 

 seeking to turn his office to profitable account, it 

 is not surprising that the Forest laws were laxly 

 administered, and that the machinery became 

 rusty. Concurrently the growth of London in- 

 creased the demand for produce of all kinds, 

 and, while the supply was artificially limited by 

 protective laws, induced pressure to extend the 

 range of cultivated ground, and enhanced the 

 value of land for building. The term " waste " of 

 the Forest seemed to imply that it was of no value 

 to anybody while it remained in that condition, 

 and tempted those who had the power, or thought 

 they had, to turn it to account. Naturally 

 those parts adjacent to the metropolis were the 

 first to fall into the hands of speculators, and a 

 glance at the map shows that the southern half of 

 the Forest, even now that such large restitutions 

 have been made, presents a sadly tattered ap- 

 pearance. It was, however, not till compar- 

 atively recent times that the Forest Courts began 

 to be generally disregarded and defied. The 

 tradition of their terrors still remained ; and, 

 though small encroachments were made from 

 time to time, it was not until the middle of the 

 present century that wholesale enclosures began 

 to be effected. 



The Office of Woods and Forests was largely 

 responsible for the mutilation which ensued. In 

 the case of Hainault Forest, which lay to the east 



