FORESTRY 



of the ' sprynge >los there ; js. for repairing and making of three gates in 

 the fence of the wood ; and 3 in the name of his fee for the keeping 

 of the wood for a year and a half. 



The various warrants to John Conway, authorizing sales to Lady 

 Sussex and others during his time of keepership, are also extant. 10 * 



In June, 1542, Sir Henry Knyvett, gentleman of the Privy Chamber, 

 was appointed keeper of the wood ' called Seynt Johns Woode beside the 

 parish of St. Giles in the Feilds near London.' 106 



Sad as has been the loss of woods and timber owing to the waves of 

 population that have swept over so much of this district, it is permissible 

 to rejoice not only in the preservation of the heath itself, and many a 

 clump of ancient elms or blossoming chestnuts, but also in the fact that 

 there has been of late years such a judicious expenditure on tree-planting 

 by local authorities in roads and elsewhere. As long ago as 1888 the 

 following trees, mostly of new planting, were under the care of the then 

 vestry authorities : 987 limes, 557 planes, 285 elms, 161 sycamores, 

 155 chestnuts, 66 poplars, 27 ash trees, 16 wych-elms, 4 beech trees, and 

 from one to three specimens of ailantus, acacia, maple, oak, willow and 

 birch, a solitary pear-tree, a yew tree, and a mountain ash ; making a 

 total of 2,273 trees. 106 Since that date, the amount of public planting has 

 proceeded apace under the County Council. 



Parliament Hill and Fields, consisting of 267^ acres, adjoin Hamp- 

 stead Heath, and are now included in that great open space ; they were 

 acquired for the public in 1889. 



Waterlow Park, 26 acres, on the southern slope of Highgate Hill, 

 was presented to the council for use as a public park by Sir Sydney 

 Waterlow in 1889. The park is rugged in contour, and well timbered 

 with old cedars and various forest trees. 



At Highgate there is still a tract of pleasant woodland, termed 

 Highgate Woods, extending over about 150 acres, and divided into two 

 parts by the Muswell Hill road. The eastern portion, of about 55 acres, 

 which used to be known as Churchyard Bottom Wood, was opened to 

 the public by the Duchess of Albany in 1898, and renamed Queen's 

 Wood. Down the steep side of the hill leading to the Lea valley there 

 are dense thickets of hazel and other underwood, whilst small poplars, 

 ashes, alders, and hornbeams rise in places above the tangle. The western 

 half, 96 acres in extent, known as Gravel Pit Wood, was presented in 

 1886 by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners to the Common Council of the 

 City of London for the use of the public. The trees are larger than in 

 the other section, and include a curious avenue of pollarded hornbeams. 



The grounds in the centre of Lincoln's Inn Fields were secured by 

 the London County Council in 1894 for the sum of >fi 2,000. They 

 are well wooded, and possess some unusually fine plane trees. 



Clissold Park, Stoke Newington, 54^ acres, was acquired for the 

 public from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners at a cost of over 90,000 ; 



103 i.e. new shoots springing up from the old stools. M Exch. Accts. K.R. bdle. 148, No. 33. 



m Aug. Bks. ccxxxv, fol. 6%6. m Baines, Rec. of Hampstead, 1 10. 



243 



