3
The fireplaces and brick chimney are later, but still old-time,
additions, made to fit the building for dwelling purposes: succeeding
generations of Forest-keepers have been domiciled here, and the
Lodge is still occupied, so far as the ground floor is concerned, by a
keeper who acts as caretaker.
The two stone mantelpieces are modern; that in the upper
room is dated 1879, and bears in shields in the spandrils the arms
of the City of London and the intertwined initials JTB in
commemoration of J. T. Bedford, the energetic member of the
Court of Common Council to whose efforts the saving of the Forest
was largely due.
Since Tudor times, the old Lodge has been several times
restored, the last occasion being in 1899-1900, when extensive
alterations were carried out by the City Corporation, at a cost of
over £l,000, to render it suitable for its present purpose. The
picturesque half-timbered exterior with its elaborate-pierced barge-
board, is unfortunately only a sham modern veneer.
The great feature of the interior is the massive open timbered
roof to the upper room ; it consists of three bays divided by two
bold curved and moulded roof-trusses, and with chamfered purlins
and curved braces and boldly moulded wall plate : the roof over
the square-neweled staircase is of similar construction.
The pleasing lead diamond-latticed casements in their Tudor-
headed openings are, as already remarked, a later addition.
By the Epping Forest Act of 1878 (Sec. 8), the Lodge was
transferred to the custody of the Corporation of London as
Conservators of the Forest with the stipulation that it " shall be
preserved and maintained by them as an object of public and
antiquarian interest." It has now been approved by the
Ancient Monuments Board for inclusion in the Schedule under the
Ancient Monuments Act of 1913, so that the building is doubly
safeguarded against wanton destruction cr vandalism.
II.-THE MUSEUM.
The Museum was instituted by the Essex Field Club in 1895,
by permission of the Corporation of London, and is annually visited
by thousands of visitors to the Forest, as well as by conducted