Fig. 5 The Birch Wood Area Theydon Bois after the Chapman and Andre
Map of 1777
3) Parks
Parks are another wood-pasture type, as Forests; the presence of grazing animals means they
were generally not good places for elms. Elms were often planted as specimen trees or in great
avenues as the medieval deer parks became the landscaped parks of the 17th and 18th centuries.
Most parks seem to have had planted elms, probably because elm would grow relatively quickly
and would almost inevitably produce an attractive tree of great aesthetic appeal. Wanstead Park
still has Wych, Dutch, East Anglian and English Elm; the English Elm avenue here was a feature
of the Park. Other historic parks with elm include Audley End which had a great elm avenue,
Graces at Danbury, and of note the diagonally planted elm avenues that led to Langleys in Great
Waltham (Richens, 1983). Boreham House (Plate 10) had an avenue of elms bordering a
rectilinear canal. Little Easton Park, Hill Hall, near Theydon Garnon, and the park of Prittlewell
Priory also had elms. Thorndon Park is mentioned as having 'gigantic oaks and elms' (Webb,
1901). Sadly, as far as I am aware none of these elms now exist as mature trees. Elm Park also
presumably commemorates planted elms.
Elms were often planted in and around the larger gardens. Miller Christy (1909) reports
large elm trees from the gardens of Stanford Rivers Hall, near Ongar; Coval Hall, near
Chelmsford; Stisted Hall, near Braintree, and a fine elm in the Vicarage Garden at Easthorpe.
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