122 THE ESSEX NATURALIST.
P. Wanstead Park Proper.
This section includes the site of old Wanstead House and the
surrounding grounds ; the estate has been enclosed for many
hundred years. In the time of Henry VIII it belonged to Sir
Giles Heron, son-in-law to Sir Thomas More ; when the latter fell
under royal disfavour the property was seized by the King and
Wanstead remained a royal manor for a number of years, passing
into the temporary possession of one royal favourite after
another. In 1667 the manor of Wanstead was purchased by
Sir Josiah Child,1 who spent much time and money in developing
the estate in the elaborate fashion of the time. We have the
following often-quoted account by John Evelyn, the distinguished
author of "Sylva," of his visit to Wanstead in March, 1683 : "I
"went to see Sir Josiah Child's prodigious cost in planting walnut
"trees about his seate, and making fish-ponds many miles in
"circuit in Epping Forest, in a barren place." These ponds,
somewhat altered, are those we have at the present day. The
eight small islands to the south-east of Lincoln Island,
formerly called "the fortifications," and grouped around a central
island on which duck-shooting guns were stored, are still there,
but they are no longer connected by little bridges and are over-
grown with a tangle of Guelder-rose and grasses, making a
sanctuary for water birds. On tall trees on Lincoln Island are
great nests of Herons, steadily decreasing in number since the
Heronry of the Walthamstow Reservoir became more attractive
to the birds. In the spring sheets of blue-bells clothe the ground
beneath the trees. On the water surrounding the islands are
beds of yellow and white water-lilies, and on the banks grow
Skull-cap and Forget-me-not, with their sky-blue flowers, and
interesting sedges and grasses. When the Park was opened to the
public in 1882 part of the enclosed space surrounding the old
Grotto was white in early spring with Snowdrops. The extensive
fruit and vegetable gardens lying to the south-east of where the
Great House stood have all gone ; except for a gnarled old
Mulberry tree, which survived until recently near the south
entrance to the golf links. Two Walnut trees, the larger 40 feet
high and 7 feet 6 inches in girth, standing on the east side of the
1 These Childs belonged to an Essex family and were associated with the East India Company.
They were not connected with the founders of Child's Banking Company.