74
THE MANAGEMENT OF EPPING FOREST.
"The Forest of Essex" (1887) as existing in 1630, '31, '34, or
1713.
At the foot of the page appears the per pro signature of Walpole,
the well-known statesman, who lost his offices of First Lord of
the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1742, when, by
way of consolation, George II. made him Earl of Orford.
On the other side of the leaf we find : "My Ld Macclesfield
I pray this order out of Letter Money." Then follow other
names and the receipting signature of the Earl "Tylney."
[Mr. Gould has kindly presented this interesting document to
the Club's Forest Museum at Chingford.—Ed.]
THE MANAGEMENT OF EPPING FOREST.
MEMORIALS TO THE COMMITTEE, AND SECOND OFFICIAL
REPORT OF THE EXPERTS.1
THE bitter agitation carried on in the spring of 1894, in protest
against the thinnings which had been made by the Conservators
in Lodge Bushes, Bury Wood, Monks Wood, Epping Thicks, and many
other parts of the Forest, was dwelt upon in detail in the last
volume of The Essex Naturalist.
Those acquainted with the facts, and with the former con-
dition of the Forest, quite thought that the Report of the Experts,
dated June 7th, 1894, had effectually disposed of and answered most
of the objections to the forestal operations of the Conservators. But
with the renewal of the cutting in the winter of 1894-5, fresh outcry
arose, and speedily assumed somewhat alarming proportions ; certain
of the press taking the matter up, and the wildest assertions and
suggestions were made by writers, many of whom plainly showed that
they were new to the subject, and were not conversant either with
the history of the Forest, or its present state. The agitation may be
said to have culminated in a meeting held at Wanstead, at which
a resolution was passed asking the Conservators to forego any
thinning operations for five years ! To many friends of the Forest,
1 As before, we print the text of these Reports in their entirety, as they will be valuable
documents for future reference in connection with the history of the Forest, and such papers are
apt to become rare and inaccessible. The reader is referred to the former Report set out also in
lull in an article on the "Management of Epping Forest" in The Essex Naturalist, vol,
vii., p. 117.—Ed.