William Morris, the Walthamstow born artist, poet and crafts-
man, and lover of the forest, has described how as a boy he
remembered his :
'first acquaintance with a room hung with faded greenery
at Queen Elizabeth's Lodge by Chingford Hatch in Epping
Forest . . . and the impression of romance it made upon me.'
The impression is hardly less today for the well chosen
situation of this sturdy survival of a romantic age commands an
exciting panorama of the forest horizons from Pole Hill to High
Beach, down to Fairmead and beyond to Woodford. To the
casual passer-by it is an enhancement to the forest scene. But the
full reward is obtained only by those who explore the interior and
scan the forest vistas from these historic platforms.
It is to be hoped that these notes will increase the enjoyment
of those who visit the lodge and perhaps encourage them to explore
still further the historic associations of Chingford and the forest.
There is no better place to start than from the lodge on Dannett's
Hill.
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