of Loughton ' ... in such a wood as Loughton where there are more than a thousand acres of
waste (i.e. Forest) and perhaps a million of trees, to note how not a single one escapes lopping
... if he begins to indulge any fancies about primeval wastes unspoiled by man. a glance at
the trees will correct him. They are not, strictly speaking, trees at all, but strange, fantastic
vegetable abortions. Their trunks, seldom more than a foot or eighteen inches in diameter,
are gnarled, writhed, and contorted ... and ...just within reach of the axe they spread into huge
overhanging crowns ... baffled in their natural instinct to grow into branches the trees throw
up spurs and whips from their roots and every pollard stump - more or less rotten at the core
- is surrounded with a belt of suckers and of sprew' (EN IX p.229).
In 1879, J. T. Carrington, writing in the Entomologist of that year (Vol. XII p. 233-4) '... those who
visit this part of Essex, for the first time, cannot fail to be struck by the curious appearance of the
trees. Years upon years of 'lopping and topping' have caused them to grow rather into thick bushes
upon tree trunks than into wide-spreading shady trees of other counties ... a short walk brings us to
Little and Great Monk Woods. In these the whole scene changes and we are amongst the (recently)
unlopped portion of the Forest. The trees stand in striking contrast to their stunted neighbours, and in
hot weather afford a delicious retreat from the other and less shaded parts of the Forest.'
The early Conservators targeted the pollard trees, notably the Hornbeams, considered to be
particularly unappealing, for felling (Plate 2). Percy Lindley wrote (1886-7). 'Of the trees felled last
winter, between twenty and thirty thousand, half the number are lying as they fell littering the woods
and obstructing the paths...'.
To deal with their more efficient removal, a sawmill had been set up in Hangboy Slade. Lindley
also noted the density of pollard trees. '... Loughton Parish there are 721 acres, having an average of
160 pollard-trees per acre, and that on one acre more than 700 of such trees were counted.' Great
Monk Wood was greatly thinned of its pollards in 1893.
In 1894, the destruction of so many pollard trees led to a vigorous correspondence in national
newspapers, including "The Times' about the apparent destruction of the Forest. As a result a public
meeting was held in the Forest between the protagonists at which the pollard trees were further
vilified:- 'There appear to be few parts of the Forest, if any, which are virgin. They have long been
subjected to pollarding and to pilfering, with the result that there are a great many unsightly and
disfigured trees which are not merely engaged in a struggle for existence among themselves, but are
weakening and killing trees of finer growth and greater beauty.' (EN VIII p.56)
The Conservators were of the opinion that they had"... the unspeakably difficult task of regenerating
a forest all but destroyed by the vandalism of generations.' (EN VIII p.65)
The policy of thinning pollards was regrettably approved of and supported by the Essex Field Club
(EN IX p.38). The matter did not end there. The renewal of thinning operations in the winter of 1894-5
caused a further outcry in the press and a meeting held at Wanstead advocated an embargo on thinning
in the Forest for at least five years and suggested that only dead trees should be removed. However,
a further report by the Epping Forest committee vindicated the actions of the Conservators with regard
to their policy of felling the pollard trees, one of the reasons being given that the trees growing
unnaturally in very close proximity (several hundred to the acre) would soon lead to their mutual
destruction (EN IX p.74-6). This policy has been carried on through the 20th century; even in the
1970s the Conservators still maintained the view that 'the history of the woodlands, with a few minor
exceptions, is one long record of abuse and waste' (Qvist, 1971).
Despite the thinning of many thousands of pollards, probably many tens ofthousands over the last
hundred years. Epping Forest, fortunately, still contains large numbers of pollard trees (Plate 26).
These great, gnarled, wrinkled, old trees are perhaps the most historic feature of the Forest, a living
link with the medieval period and an example of a system of managing trees which probably goes
back to the Dark Ages. Most of the remaining pollard trees in the Forest are over 100 years out of
their pollarding cycle. Some, for example, those in Monk Wood, may be 150 years out. I would guess
that most lopped trees were no younger than 150 years old in 1878, the year the Epping Forest Act
was passed, thus there are few pollards in the Forest less than 250 years old; those with larger girths
may be significantly older than this. The Forest, however, is not a good site for tree growth. Oliver
Rackham has found Oak boilings a little over 4 ft. in girth with at least 350 annual rings. I know of a
Hornbeam pollard near Loughton Camp with a girth of just 30 inches. Pollards are prone to decay
and the rotten interior of many trees precludes an accurate assessment of their age. A feature of pollard
trees is their longevity. Unlike a maiden tree, pollards have an indefinite life span. An unlopped tree
is in its old age at 250 years. Another feature of groups of managed pollard trees is their inability to
22