114 THE NEW FOREST 



an outcry was sure to be raised against any action 

 of this kind by the Office of Woods, who had 

 not at that time earned public approval and con- 

 fidence in such matters by their singularly able 

 preservation of Tintern Abbey. Accordingly, we 

 called in Sir Aston Webb, as the highest autho- 

 rity obtainable, to examine our plans and advise 

 generally. 



He cordially approved of the scheme we had 

 propounded, only stipulating that everything should 

 be carried out not as in earlier days but with 

 the best material and in the best manner. He 

 suggested a valuable alteration or two, and thus, 

 armed with his report, we were quite prepared 

 for the inevitable question in the House of 

 Commons, asked by some member who knew 

 nothing about the matter, as to a proposed " de- 

 struction" of a historical building in the New 

 Forest. 



One of the stipulations I made in the builder's 

 contract was, that no brick should be used in an 

 addition to the old building that was not certified 

 to be at least two hundred years old. When the 

 contractor ran out of what material he could pro- 

 vide from old cottages and the like, I provided 

 him with the remainder from the walls of the 

 old derelict garden at Boldrewood, abandoned for 

 many years, but of considerable age. In this 



