

FORESTRY 



chase, which was at this time in the hands of the 

 duke of Buckingham. In 1649 and 1651 

 Parliament 100 ordered that 3,000 should be 

 raised by felling wood in Whaddon Chase to 

 meet the expenses of the garrison of Windsor 

 and for other purposes, and this was accordingly 

 carried out, while the encumbered condition of 

 the Villiers estates after the Civil War invited 

 further waste, and Catherine, duchess of Buck- 

 ingham, converted the park into pasture and 

 tillage in the reign of Charles II. 



A lamentable picture of the state of the wood- 

 lands 101 is drawn at the end of the next century 

 by the reporters to the Board of Agriculture. 



Whaddon Chase was then divided into several 

 coppices, covering about 22,000 acres, part of 

 which was shut up for a certain number of years, 

 usually nine, and then laid open to the deer as 

 well as to the commoners for twelve years. The 

 coppices produced large oak, ash, and other timber 

 as well as underwood, ' but from the custom 

 of the deer and the commoners' cattle being 

 suffered to depasture thereon unlimitedly, the 

 young timber is at this time totally destroyed.' 

 The reporters proceed to point out that if the 

 deer were confined to one spot and the chase and 

 commons divided among the parties interested, 



it would be a very important advantage gained to the 

 proprietors, and a great national benefit, inasmuch as 

 the growth of oak and other Umber would be en- 

 couraged. 



They further state that 



large sticks have formerly been sold from this chase 

 for upwards of ten pounds per tree ; it is therefore 

 the more to be deplored, that the young timber 

 should be so continually destroyed, the land being so 

 well adapted to its growth. 



From a further report lw by the Rev. St. John 

 Priest to the Board of Agriculture in 1813 we 

 learn that the coppices were twenty-eight in 

 number, of which twenty-one belonged to Mr. 

 Selby of Winslow and the rest to New College. 

 Besides the chase proper, he mentions certain 

 'busky-leys* which 'are somewhat of the same 

 nature, except that they have not been the pro- 

 perty of the Crown as Chaces have.' The 

 recommendations made to the Board of Agri- 

 culture in 1794 did not bear immediate fruit, as 

 the deer were still allowed to roam at large over 

 the chase for between forty and fifty years longer 

 before they were finally limited to the inclosure 

 of the park. 



The General View of the Agriculture tf the 

 County of Buckingham, drawn up in 1794, by 

 Messrs. James and Malcolm, has already been 



'" Cal. Comf. Gen. Proc. 376, 484, 520, 556, and 

 S. P. Dom. Interr. cxxx, 10, 52. 



101 James and Malcolm, Gen. yiew Agric. Bucks. 

 (1794), 42. 



l " Op. cit. 26, 27. 



referred to in connexion with Whaddon Chase. 

 This comparatively brief reference to woods and 

 woodlands stated, at the outset, that from Marlow 

 to Fingest, and through that district bounded by 

 the London and Oxford road on the south and 

 the Thames on the north, one sixth part of the 

 land was covered with beechwood, ' which may 

 yield a profit of from 141. to 20*. per acre per 

 annum.' The woods required but little atten- 

 tion, as the old trees shed a sufficient quantity of 

 seed to keep up a constant supply of young 

 plants. In the parish of Wycombie there were 

 700 acres of common beech woodland. In the 

 neighbourhood of Chesham, the large thriving 

 beech woods were under good management. 

 There were also particularly fine woods of beech 

 growing upon the chalk in the parish of Amers- 

 ham. Mention is made of the large amount of 

 planting, chiefly with Scotch firs, which had 

 recently been undertaken on the heaths in the 

 parishes of Wavendon and Brickhill, which was 

 in a very thriving state. 



Mr. Priest, in the tenth chapter of his report 

 of 1813, deals particularly with woods and plan- 

 tations. It is there stated that the Whaddon 

 coppices were sold as firewood and also for 

 fences ; the faggot wood at 241. per hundred, 

 viz. 120 faggots. The thorns were sold not only 

 for fences but also to fill up underdrains, and for 

 that purpose were carried many miles. At 

 Hillesden Wood, seven or eight acres were felled 

 once in twelve years, and at Emberton, where 

 there were about eighty acres of wood, six were 

 felled yearly. There were 140 acres of copse 

 wood at Stoke Goldington. On many farms 

 strips were set aside to grow sallows, ashes, and 

 elms to serve as stuff for hurdles. 



The Chiltern Hills, particularly at West 

 Wycombe, are mentioned as abounding in low- 

 growing junipers. Beech is named as by far 

 the most abundant wood in the county, and in 

 general use for the manufacture of chairs. Beech 

 wood is sold at from I ^d. to i fd. a foot. The 

 beech wood was exceptionally beautiful at Shard- 

 low, where Mr. Drake had one beech which 

 was perfectly straight and 75 ft. in height up to 

 the first bough. The girth, two feet from the 

 ground, was 7 ft. 8 in., and it was estimated to 

 contain 229 ft. of timber. 



The timber of Ashridge Park is described as 

 noteworthy, and the measurements are given of 

 several oak and beech trees. 



There are some interesting comments offered 

 upon the growth of trees, owing to the difference 

 of soil above and below the Icknield-way. The 

 beech, ash, larch, and fir are stated not to flourish 

 below the Icknield-way, whilst all other trees, such 

 as oaks, elms, horse-chestnuts, and whitethorn 

 were very promising. A remarkable old oak is 

 named at Thornton, which was quite hollow and 

 capable of containing seventeen persons ; it had 

 a girth at the roots of 45 ft. 



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