CHAPTER XXVI 

 THE FORESTS OF HAMPSHIRE 



THE NEW FOREST 



SO much that is good of its kind has been printed concern- 

 ing the beautiful district of the New Forest, that only two 

 or three pages are allotted to it in this work. Mr. Wise's 

 admirable The New Forest , its History and Scenery (1863) long 

 remained the standard book on the subject; but two more recent 

 works have corrected some errors and given much fresh in- 

 formation. One of these is the joint article of over sixty large 

 pages, by the Hon. G. W. Lascelles and Mr. Nisbet, on 

 Forestry and the New Forest in vol. ii. of the Victoria History 

 of Hampshire (1903); and the other is the wholly delightful 

 and thorough book, rich in illustrations, by Mr. Horace 

 G. Hutchinson, which was published in 1904. To this may be 

 added the mention of a good article, with plans, descriptive of 

 the changing area of the forest, with its laws and customs, by 

 the late Mr. Moens, which appeared in the Archceological 

 Journal for March, 1903. 



The New Forest may be described, in broad terms, as the 

 south-western corner of Hants, bounded by the Southampton 

 water and the Solent on the east and south, and by the Dorset 

 and Wilts borders on the west and north. Its extreme length 

 is twenty-one miles, and its greatest width twelve miles ; it 

 covers 92,365 acres, which include 27,620 acres of private 

 property. Put in other words, this means that the Crown or 

 public lands of the New Forest consist of about 100 square 

 miles, whilst the private lands occupy about forty square miles. 

 Within this, notwithstanding the considerable extent of the 

 woods, are several great stretching heaths and many an un- 

 timbered glade. 



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