388 H. Woodward — On theWalthamstow Forest. 



obtained from Walthamstow, most of wliicli are now in his pos- 

 session, viz., two bronze spear-heads, one bronze arrow-head, one 

 bronze knife, one iron sword (late Celtic), part of the bronze sheath 

 of a " late Celtic " dagger, part of a Kimmeridge coal armlet, a 

 pierced axe-head of stag's-horn, a bone knife, a stag's-horn club, 

 various "late Celtic" earthen pots, some hand-made, and some 

 probably turned on a wheel, etc., etc. 



In tracing back the history of this locality, it is exceedingly 

 difficult to ascertain any very exact data. But this much is certain, 

 that so late as a.d. 1700, the entire tract between the Eivers Eoding 

 and Lea was forest-land, the greater part covered with timber. 



In the Notes to Bowen's Map of Essex (1743), it is stated 

 " Epping forest was formerly of very large extent, but its limits 

 were settled and restrained by Act of Parliament (17 Car. I.), 

 according to which regulation, it is now about 14 miles long and 10 

 broad. Tis full of game, and well stocked with deer, said to be the 

 largest and fattest in the kingdom." 



According to the records of the time of Henry III. (1228), and 

 Edward I. (1298 and 1300), the whole County of Essex was at that 

 time one entire Forest. 



There is little doubt that Henhault, Epping, Walthamstow, 

 Tottenham, Enfield, and Edmonton, were, at no very remote period, 

 one continuous tract of Forest land. In the reign of Henry II. (1154), 

 the Forest of Middlesex extended from Houndsditch, to about 12 

 miles north of London, and belonged to the Corporation of the City. 

 The Forest is described as abounding in wolves, wild boars, stags, 

 and wild bulls. So late as the time of Henry VI. (1485), wolves 

 were met with there. 



This tract was not disafforested until 1777 (17 Geo. III., c. 17). 



Chapman and Andre's Map of Essex (1777) is the earliest 

 accurate map of this county, and shows at least a portion of the 

 tract under consideration, still covered with Forest trees, and styled 

 Walthamstow Forest. Indeed, so late as the first Ordnance Survey 

 Map (published in 1805), the "Lower Forest," extended close to 

 Maryland Point, Stratford. 



In referring to these records of the former continuity and extent 

 of Epping and Walthamstow Forests, I do so, not to explain, away 

 the undoubted antiquity of these buried remains, but rather to show 

 that their quiet repose for so long a period at so comparatively 

 trifling a distance beneath the surface soil, is in all probability due to 

 the fact that the spot where they occur has not been disafforested 

 100 years, and has never been disturbed by agriculture, but used 

 simply as pasturage. 



Note. — From the broad tract of the Lea Valley occupied by the 

 Freshwater Shell-bed, and also from the abundance of Drift-wood, 

 together with remains of the Beaver, it is quite possible that we 

 may have here preserved to us the evidences of an old forest-tract 

 flooded by Beaver dams, a condition of things which is sure to arise 

 wherever the Beaver makes his habitation. — See "The American 

 Beaver and his Works," by Lewis H. Morgan, Philadelphia, 1868. 



