The
New Forest is without doubt a place to escape the pressures
of the modern world.
A
beautiful place to visit, the New Forest is a delicately balanced
area - follow the New Forest Code
to ensure many more years of unspoilt enjoyment for generations
to come.Tell-a-Friend
about the new forest
Relax,
unwind and recharge your batteries at any time of year - Spring,
Summer, Autumn or Winter in one of our beatiful holiday cottages
in the New Forest! We are in a remarkable corner of the English
countryside set aside as a special place more than nine centuries
ago by William the Conqueror. William named his "New" hunting
forest, to be jealously guarded against any possible threat
to the Chase of the Royal Deer. As we enter the New Forest
today, we appear to step backwards in time.
The
landscape is unique and traditions exist here that are unchanged
since mediaeval times. Over the centuries too many places
have changed almost beyond recognition yet the New Forest's
ancient woodlands and wilderness heath remains largely intact,
earning the area national and international status.
This
most English of forests continues to be a living and working
community where ponies and cattle still have right of way
as they freely graze the land. Deeper in the forest wild
deer browse beneath canopies of mighty oak and beech - natural
scenes unchanged by the modern world.
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It
is remarkable that this way of life has survived as a remnant
of ancient England along with the unmistakable landscape
it created, when so much of our heritage has been lost elsewhere.
The
New Forest was created by King William I in 1079, just 13
years after the Battle of Hastings. This was the land of
earlier Jutish settlers known as Ytene. For William, it
was ideal for a new hunting ground, a poor, thinly populated
district of furzey waste and ancient woodland covering over
200 square miles, yet close to his royal capital of Winchester.
In
Norman times, the word 'forest' had dark overtones, signifying
a land ruled without quarter by kings who jealously guarded
their right to hunt unhindered by the petty concerns of local
people. To these poor folk, the forest law was brutal. They
could not protect their crops with fences or hedges. They
could not take timber for their houses. They could not catch
game for their pots. The penalty was mutilation or death.
But it was grudgingly conceded that they had to live on something,
and to this end they were allowed to graze livestock on the
forest wastes. This right survives 900 years later as animals
owned by local people still roam across the forest.
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Their
grazing has created and maintained the landscape that is such
a well-loved part of our national heritage. Without constant
browsing, the forest would soon disappear under heavy scrub
and the wide open spaces would be no more. The New Forest
with its wonderfully rich collection of plants, birds and
insects is now a national nature reserve. It is unique in
this country for its sense of freedom. With the exception
of the timber inclosures, no boundaries separate one habitat
from another. Wild antiquity has determined this rich mosaic
of ancient woodlands, windswept heaths, wet valley mires and
fertile streamside lawns.
An
intriguing paradox, this ancient forest, now managed by
the Forestry Commission, changes but little each century
yet is always on the move, forever advancing and decaying
through a timeless ebb and flow of nature.
Step
Backwards in Time
As we enter the New Forest today, we appear to step backwards
in time. The landscape is unique and traditions exist here
that are unchanged since mediaeval times. The New Forest's
ancient woodlands and wilderness heaths remain largely intact,
earning the area national and international status.
Naturally...
A Way of Life The New Forest hasn't really changed since William
the Conqueror gave it his special protection nearly 900 years
ago. The ancient system set in place to protect the woodlands
and wilderness heaths still works today through the efforts of
Verderers, Agisters and commoners - literally the judges, police
and land users of the forest.
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The
Verderers Hall
The Ancient Verderers Court dates from Norman times and today
is one of Britain's oldest judicial courts. It was originally
set up to administer a judicial system that protected the beasts
of the New Forest and their woodland habitat. Severe laws ensured
that the hunting of deer and wild boar remained the jealously
guarded privilege of the King and his followers.
Today
the Verderers sit in public six times a year and administer the
New Forest's commoning system.
Commoners
It is hard to imagine the New Forest without its famous New Forest
Ponies. Each animal is owned by a commoner and must be marked
with an individual brand before being left to wander the open
forest at will. Anyone may become a commoner, the term simply
refers to a person who owns or rents a property or plot of land
to which privileges known as rights of common are attached. More
often than not they have the right of pasture which allows them
to graze stock on the open forest. About 300 commoners currently
exercise this particular right.
The
New Forest Pony or horse was an important rural economy before
the car, and the tradition of keeping them provided a valuable
income. Today, rather than work horses, the demand is for riding
ponies, and only a handful of commoners are able to make their
complete living keeping stock.
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Keepers
To forest folk, the New Forest keeper is a well-known character.
The office of keeper is as ancient as the hunting forest itself
and today's keeper continues to follow a proud tradition. Employed
by the Forestry Commission on behalf of the Crown, keepers undertake
a range of wildlife, conservation and recreation duties. Each
of the twelve keepers has a detailed knowledge of his particular
beat, where he also manages the deer populations.
Landscape
Less than half of the forest's 150 square miles is actually wooded.
The term forest was originally taken to include not only woodland
but open heathland, pasture land and small human settlements -
in short, the habitat for the wild beasts of the Royal Chase.
New Forest woodland is essentially of two main types, the timber
Inclosures and the Ancient and Ornamental Woodlands.
It
is the Ancient and Ornamental Woodlands, mainly old oak and beech,
that capture the imagination and evoke the timelessness and mystery
associated with the New Forest. These magnificent woodlands have
a truly medieaval character. Their boundaries are irregular and
difficult to define, interrupted by sunlit leafy glades, created
by the collapse of decaying giants or the savage strength of winter
gales.
Ancient
and Ornamental Woodlands are open to the deer and the commoners'
animals. The Inclosures, on the other hand, date back to 1483
when commoning animals were first excluded from timber producing
areas by enclosing them with stock-proof fences.
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