coppice is a clone of utterly different East Anglian elms with narrowly-ascending
branches and a narrow crown, almost like a Lombardy poplar. Different again are
those on the east side of Emblem' s Coppice, slender with sharply-angular branches
like a false-acacia. Near the Forest are the elegant elms by Canfield Hart, with
slender boughs and graceful twigs sweeping over to one side; the mighty elms of
Great Hallingbury, with straight but leaning trunks nearly 100 ft. high and short
massive branches; the weeping elms near Anvil Cross, with big branches forking
near the base and twigs hanging down from the top of the tree. All these, being
East Anglian elms, have narrow leaves with long stalks and very asymmetric bases,
and the leaves of big trees are smooth. The leaves differ in their detailed
proportions, and were used by Richens to discriminate between kinds of elm in a
more measured and precise way than is possible from the appearance of the tree,
which is difficult to put exactly into words or figures.
Although most Forest elms are typically East Anglian, some clones show some
of the characters (large rough leaves with short stalks) of Wych-elm; these may
well be hybrids. One clone in Street Coppice I attribute to the English-Wych
hybrid group. There are occasional representatives of yet another set of elms, the
Lineage Elm group; these resemble East Anglian elms and are gregarious but do
not (or only slightly) sucker. Lineage Elms, unlike the other groups, are mainly
woodland elms; they are common only in north Essex and south Suffolk.'
Epping Forest
Elms have had only a sketchy treatment by past writers on the Epping Forest flora, their treatment
has been dismissive rather than exhaustive. Buxton (1911) mentions only English Elm (as
Ulmus campestris) as occurring in the Forest, leaving out any description of its status as it was
not thought to be an indigenous species, unlike the Beech or Hornbeam. In 1898, F. W. Elliott,
in the Essex Naturalist, writing on Epping Forest trees and shrubs, records two species: Wych
Elm (as Ulmus montana) 'there are fairly large trees on Warren Hill, Loughton, and young trees
on the banks of the Ching below Whitehall Road. Probably they have all been planted'; and
English Elm (as Ulmus campestris) 'in the same localities, as well as by the pond on Fairmead
and where an old hedge used to run between Fairmead Lodge and the road. There are also some
trees near Queen Elizabeth Lodge, and, of course, plenty in the boundary hedges skirting the
forest and in such roadside wastes as Gilwell Lane'. English Elm suckers still persist abundantly
along Gilwell Lane. W. Broughton (1950) mentions a 'Fairmead Old Elm Pond'. I assume this
is the pond known simply as Fairmead Pond today.
In 1976 J. O. Mountford listed Ulmus minor (as U. carpinifolia), Ulmus glabra and Ulmus
procera for the Forest. In 1978 Lloyd in his booklet about Epping Forest trees noted the effects
of Dutch Elm Disease. He also noted U. procera on the western edge of the Forest, and U. minor
in the north-east corner of the Forest. Ulmus glabra he thought as an introduction but he also
recorded another member of the Ulmus minor group (as small-leaved elm, Ulmus carpinifolia)
as also being present. He assumed the presence of 'sub-species, hybrids or sports'. Lloyd also
mentioned old trees in the vicinity of Clapgate Lane and Puck Lane. The late B. T. Ward, a
former verderer of the Forest, published a small booklet (1980) about trees in the Forest, but
mentions only 'the common elm' with no indication as to the species involved (but presumably
U. procera). Paul Ferris, in a series of papers on the Flora of the southern part of Epping Forest,
published in the London Naturalist (1980-83) gives a list of the elms including Ulmus glabra,
Ulmus procera and U. x hallandica.
Elm is an uncommon tree in Epping Forest but single trees, small groups of trees (including
surviving mature trees and suckers) and occasionally larger groups of elms are widespread
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