century herds of animals on the Forest may well have had regular patterns of movement about the
Forest and have had regular drinking spots It would thus have been relatively easy to note unmarked
or diseased animals among the stock wandering the Forest when they came to drink. Fairmead Pond
was fed by a small brook: it appears to have been constructed from a partial damming of this brook.
Other probable stock ponds include those on Bell Common and Golding's Hill Ponds, the latter
perhaps constructed with the Golding's Hill road in the 17th century to water animals on the long haul
uphill from Loughton. Many species of plants owe their presence to ponds (see page 83). Plate 8
shows Golding's Hill pond: note the rail to guide horse-drawn vehicles in the pond and the lack of
vegetation on the unfenced part of the pond.
Poached areas around ponds may have provided home to species such as Ivy-leaved Bellflower and
Bog Pimpernel, the grazing and occasional trampling reducing the ability of large plants to
overshadow these smaller more delicate species.
Burning
One aspect of the management of heathland that I have not yet mentioned is burning. In places, such
as the New Forest, burning has for long been a useful management tool. The burning every few years
of plants such as Heather, Gorse and Purple Moor Grass causes them to produce fresh young growth
which is much more palatable to livestock than tough old plants twenty years old. It also has the dual
purpose of limiting the colonising powers of trees such as Oak and other woody plants. I have never
come across a reference to burning as a deliberate management practice in the Epping Forest. I believe
that unlike the 'Calluna' heaths of Surrey or the New Forest, the Epping heaths were mainly
grass-heath; acid grassland with patches of Ling. Gorse and Broom. However, there is an early record
of a fire on 40 acres of heath in Hainault (in 1372) but this is not necessarily a managed fire. There
are many instances of arson and accidental burning reported from various places in the Forest in the
19th and 20th centuries. Hot summers, such as those in 1976, 1989 and 1990. always produce many
fires. A typical fire occurred on Wanstead Flats in August-September. 1990. In the vicinity of TQ
404866 several acres of Broom/Bramble/Hawthorn scrub intersected by areas of acid grassland, a rich
invertebrate site, was burnt. Virtually nothing but charred stems remained, but within a few weeks,
after rain, many of the grasses started to shoot - particularly conspicuous were the tussocks of Purple
Moor Grass. By July 1991 tussocks of Mat Grass, Heath Grass. Fine-leaved Sheep's Fescue,
Wavy-hair Grass and Heath Rush were prominently in flower on the burnt ground. In patches Broom
seedlings, after a very wet June, covered the ground. Many of the Hawthorns, dead above ground
level, were producing suckering regrowth. The Epping Forest Committee reports of the 1880s and
90s registered fires as a regular occurrence. In April 1891 29 fires were reported covering a total of
40 acres. It seems that many fires were deliberate acts of arson. One individual apprehended and
convicted at Chelmsford Assizes for setting fire to furze at Snaresbrook was given six months with
hard labour!
Forest Hatches
Hatches were gates across roads that prevented livestock from straying off the physical forest.
Several names survive in the Epping and Hainault Forest areas to remind us of these gates, among
them Chingford Hatch (Chenkford Hache, 1487). Hatch Grove, Aldborough Hatch. Mark's Gate and
Forest Gate, the latter commemorating a gate that stood across Woodgrange Road near the Eagle and
Child Inn. Reaney (1969) suggests that Lipitts Hill is derived from Lephacche (1270) or Lypatteshach
(1440). a gate that would keep livestock in but could be leaped by deer. There are several references
to Forest gates in the attachment roll. In 1715 ( CA I p.21) it was ordered that all gates within the
Forest made for the convenience of the King's riding and pursuing of game, that had been fenced,
should be opened up and the gates replaced. In 1751 a Mr. Dunster was presented before the court for
repositioning one of the Forest Gates. There are occasional references to the repair of gates. In 1717
the underwoodward was ordered to 'take eight posts and rayles for repairing the fforest Gates' and in
1790 (CA II p. 143) the woodward was asked to fell three loads of oak pollards to pay the balance of
Samuel Clare's bill - about £8 - for repairs of the Forest gates at Mark's, Little Heath and Rose Lane
in Hainault Forest.
Dung
Numbers of herbivorous mammals at large on the Forest indicate that a not inconsiderable amount
of dung would have been produced throughout the year. Dung was one way in which nutrients could
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