References
Buxton. E.N. (1911) Epping Forest. Eighth Edn. Revised. 150-166. London.
Fisher, W. R. (1887) The Forest of Essex. London.
Hanson. M. W. (1990) Essex Elm. Essex Naturalist N.S. No. 10, p. 34.
Harding. P. and Rose, F. (1986) Pasture Woodlands in Lowland Britain NERC.
Hazzledine Warren. S. (1909) Charcoal Burners in Epping Forest Essex Naturalist. Vol. XVI. 65-73.
Lindley, P. (1886-7) Walks in Epping Forest. London. 3rd Edn.
Pratt, B. (1981) The Loppers of Loughton. (Privately Published)
Qvist, A. (1971) Epping Forest. (Corporation of London) p. 14-15.
Rackham, O. (1978) In Corke, D. Ed. Epping Forest - the natural aspect. Essex Naturalist N.S. No. 2.
Ramsey, W. & Fowkes. R. (1986) Epping Forest - then and now. (Plaistow Press)
Sharpe, J, A. Ed. (1986) "William Holcroft His Booke" Local office-holding in late Smart Essex 1986 ERO. Essex Historical Documents. 2
(Pubn.no, 90).
Snow, K. (1982) The hidden life in tree holes. The Living Countryside. Vol. 7. Iss 75. 1498-1500.
Townley. H. (1910) English Woodlands and their story. Methuen.
Winstone, B. (1891) Extracts from the minutes of The Epping and Ongar Highways Trust - From its Commencement in 1769 to its Termination
in 1870. Harrison and Sons.
Grazing on the Forest
The cattle grazing the southern grasslands of the Forest represent the last of the common rights to be
exercised today. Grazing animals have been continuously on the Forest, although greatly fluctuating
in numbers and type, for at least 800 years and in all probability for well over a thousand years. Fisher
(1887) points out that there are several hatches mentioned for the Epping Forest area in an
Anglo-Saxon charter of lands given by Edward the Confessor to the Monks of Waltham in 1062. A
hatch was a gate across a road that prevented livestock from straying. It is certain that the grazing of
commonable beasts on the Forest pre-dated the establishment of the legal Forest. The Forest courts
rarely interfered with grazing animals, except to ensure they were kept off the Forest during the Fence
month (the forbidden month, 15 days either side of 24th June, the old style Midsummer Day, the feast
of St. John the Baptist), when the deer were said to fawn, or to prevent the depasturing of
uncommonable animals on the Forest. The commonable beasts were not restricted to any one part of
the Forest: intercommonage was practised - a cow belonging to a commoner in one of the southern
Forest parishes could roam the whole Forest as far north as Epping if it so wished. This fact was to
have important implications for the survival of the Forest in the 19th century. The numbers of grazing
animals on the Forest were regulated by officials appointed by the parish and not by Forest officers,
which further underlines the presumption that the grazing of commonable beasts pre-dated the
establishment of the legal Forest. Cattle would compete with the monarch's deer for feed and this
would certainly not have been possible under the Forest law which was mainly concerned with the
preservation of the deer.
In Epping Forest lords of the various manors, tenants and poor cottagers were all able to graze beasts
on the Forest. The right to graze was often explicitly cited in documents relating to the various Forest
manors (Morant, 1763-8). The Abbey of Stratford was endowed with several manors upon its
foundation in the 12th century, including West Ham and amongst several rights enjoyed by the Abbey
was that of common pasture in Wanstead. In the case of the manor of Aldersbrook in the 17th century,
the right of common pasture cited in the documents relating to the manor expressly included the tenants
(Morant, 1763-8).
Each parish appointed a Reeve (and 'fourmen' to assist him) to regulate the pasturing of beasts on
the Forest. On payment of a small fee the cattle were branded in the distinctive mark of each parish,
a letter from the alphabet, from A to R and surmounted by a crown. Cattle were marked on particular
days and at particular places. A notice was placed in each parish church to notify the commoners of
an impending marking day. There are records of complaints by commoners in 1752 (CAII p.30) about
John Crab, the Reeve of Epping parish, failing to turn up on the day appointed to mark cattle at the
Cock and Pye inn, earlier in 1749 (CA II p. 11) a complaint was made that the Waltham Reeve did not
turn up and the inhabitants of the parish had to go to Fairmead to get their cattle marked. Poor cottagers
had the right to graze animals. In 1748 (CAII p.4) an entry in the roll of the Court of Attachments
stated that Reeves could mark the cattle of poor cottagers, such people being 'certified' by the Minister
and one of the Church wardens of the parish and upon production of the certificate the cattle would
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