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143 
of great interest was the day spent in Woolmer Forest. White, 
in his history of Selbourne speaks of the Royal Forest of 
Woolmer as a tract of land about seven miles in Jength by two 
and a half in breadth. He says “it consists entirely of sand 
covered with heath and fern, without having one standing 
tree in the whole extent.” Now it is largely clothed with fine 
timber, planted by Government during the last century. White 
gives a delightful account of the red deer that once inhabited 
that Royal chase and of Queen Ann on her journey to Ports- 
mouth watching the herd of about 500 head driven round for 
her inspection, and tells how later, in about 1740, the yeoman 
prickers were sent down to capture them all and convey them in 
carts to Windsor. In Epping Forest we have the remains of the 
vast forests that formerly covered a large part of Essex, and 
there is every reason to believe that it has never been under 
cultivation, but that the trees that established themselves in the 
earliest days have continued in unbroken succession touthe pre- 
sent time. 
The red deer that once abounded have now disappeared. The 
last of which we have any record was hunted from Hainault 
Forest in the year 1829, and was secured in my father’s grounds 
at Upton. The horns were sawn off and presented to the mis- 
tress of the house and the deer was carted off to Windsor. 
Bell, who published his history of British Quadrupeds eight years 
ene 6 3 says ==" Tt a6. within the recollection of some of 
my friends that a few red deer still existed in Epping Forest, 
but they have now been extinct there for many years,” so that 
this was probably the last survivor of the original stock. I have 
the horns, and value them as a relic of old Essex Natural 
History 
James Ist introduced the hardy dark variety of fallow deer from 
his Scotch chases, and the deer we see in our rambles are the 
descendants of that stock Roe deer were brought by Mr. 
Buxton from Dorsetshire a few years ago and are now well 
established. 
_ Hainault Forest was a Royal chase but was disforested 
Bees! now! thanks to the exertions of Mr. Buxton, 
a large part has been restored and public interest secured ; it 
is being re-planted and will soon revert to being a home of wild 
animals. i 
Queen Elizabeth’s Lodge, now the Forest Museum, tells of 
the days when that monarch, following the custom of her. pre- 
decessors, hunted here. 
_ J€Mame of another ancient British Queen is associated with 
this Part of the forest, for tradition tells of Boadicea haying held 
mbresbury Banks, or “ Boadicea’s Camp” as it is called, in 
ter flerce struggle with the Romans about the time of Nero. 
