20 
NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBOENE. 
LETTEE VIIL 
TO THE SAME. 
On the verge of the forest, as it is now circumscribed, are three 
considerable lakes, two in Oakhanger, of which I have nothing 
particular to say ; and one called Bin's, or Bean's Pond, which is 
worthy the attention of a naturalist or a sportsman. For, being 
crowded at the upper end with willows, and with the carex cespitosa,* 
it affords such a safe and pleasing shelter to wild ducks, teals, 
snipes, &c., that they breed there. In the winter this covert is 
also frequented by foxes, and sometimes by pheasants ; and the bogs 
produce many curious plants. (For which consult Letter XLI. to 
Mr. Barrington.) f 
By a perambulation of Wolmer Forest and the Holt, made in 
1635, and the eleventh year of Charles the First (which now lies 
before me), it appears that the limits of the former are much circum- 
scribed. For, to say nothing of the farther side, with which I am not 
so well acquainted, the bounds on this side, in old times, came into 
Binswood; and extended to the ditch of Ward le Ham Park, in 
which stands the curious mount called King John's Hill, and Lodge 
Hill ; and to the verge of Hartley Mauduit, called Mauduit Hatch ; 
comprehending also Short Heath, Oakhanger, and Oakwoods ; a large 
district, now private property, though once belonging to the royal 
domain. 
It is remarkable that the term purlieu is never once mentioned in 
this long roll of parchment. It contains, besides the perambulation, 
a rough estimate of the value of the timbers, which were consider- 
able, growing at that time in the district of the Holt ; and enumerates 
the officers, superior and inferior, of those joint forests, for the time 
being, and their ostensible fees and perquisites. In those days, as at 
present, there were hardly any trees in Wolmer Forest. 
Within the present limits of the forest are three considerable lakes, 
Hogmer, Cranmer, and Wolmer ; all of which are stocked with carp, 
* I mean that sort which, rising into tall hassocks, is called by the foresters 
torrets ; a corruption, I suppose, of turrets. 
Note. In the beginning of the summer 1787, the royal forests of Wolmer and 
Holt -were measured by persons sent down by government. 
t Here is one of those records so useful in a local history. We learn from 
My. Bennet's edition, that Bin's Pond has been drained, and that cattle now graze 
upon its bed. The character of the place, so correctly yet simply described in 
this letter, has thus been completely altered, and we see improvement working 
out the changes alluded to in the note to p. 15. It would be in vain now to look 
for the plants, or for the water-fowl that found there a "pleasing shelter." The 
hassocks of carex alluded to, form a very marked feature in such a place ; they are 
• most uncomfortable to walk am.ong, and form a complete cover and shelter to 
various animals and birds. From age and successive growths, they form high 
" torrets" with a solid base. The foliage hangs down, and a covered way is formed 
underneath, where young water-fowl, water-rails, &c., can run and escape 
detection for a long time, even from a dog. 
