In the process of extraction, much complaint was made of the damage done to the vert of the Forest,
in some cases various items were unofficially removed and sold. In 1812 the previously mentioned
John Moore was presented for the removal of ... a very large Quantity of Turf. Earth and Bushes'
from Leyton Flats to the detriment of the deer and the grazing of commonable beasts. In 1883 Professor
G. S. Boulger of The Essex Field Club (in the company of E. N. Buxton on a trip aimed at assessing
the management needs of Epping Forest) noted the undercutting of many of the trees around the
excavations (it being illegal to fell the trees) and this undercutting is still visible in Lords Bushes
today, and indeed elsewhere in the Forest (Hanson, 1983).
Most of the existing gravel pit ponds in the Forest, such as the Hollow Ponds, the Lost Pond,
Strawberry Hill Pond and Earls Path pond owe their origin to the fulfilment of a local need. Some,
such as Knighton Pond in Knighton Woods, were dug for ornamental reasons. The Hollow Ponds on
Leyton Flats were enlarged in 1905 to create employment for local labourers. In 1907 over 400 men
were employed to excavate and form a bathing pond to the north of the Hollow Ponds (Ramsey and
Fowkes. 1986).
Gravel extraction carried on in the Forest well after the Epping Forest Act of 1878 and indeed went
on until at least 1914 when the Lost Pond on Blackweir Hill is last thought to have been worked (G.
Green, pers, comm.) and trial diggings went on to at least 1921.
Sand
The main source of sands in the Forest area has come from the Bagshot Beds and from the upper
Claygate Beds which have a relatively high sand content. At High Beach there are outcrops of London
Clay, Claygate Beds, Bagshot Beds and superficial deposits of Pebble Gravel. As one ascends Claypit
Hill it is possible to see a succession of workings, starling with a clay-pit at the bottom, a sand-pit
halfway up and a gravel working at the top. Sand-pit Plain, near Loughton Camp, obviously
commemorates a site where sand was dug.
There are few entries relating to the unlicensed digging of sand in the records of the Court of
Attachments. In 1795 one Hancon of Waltham, a bricklayer, was presented for digging and taking
away a quantity of sand from the Forest within the manor of Sir William Wake (Waltham) without
licence to do so and leaving large holes open which were considered dangerous (CA III p. 16). In 1802
John Wood was presented for digging holes for sand in New Lodge Walk (the area between High
Beach and Fairmead Bottom) and subsequently he had to pay to have the holes filled (CA III p.53).
In 1813 Mr. John Bryant of 'Golden Hill' (Goldings Hill) was presented for removing over one
hundred loads of sand, soil and vert from Goldings Hill and elsewhere in the Forest, assuming he had
the right to do so (CA III p. 141). I would guess that the sand was mainly for use in building.
Clay
The London Clay which underlies the Epping Forest area has provided an ample resource for brick
and tile manufacturers. Within the bounds of the physical Forest I know of at least seven brick and/or
tile works and there are records of others outside the physical Forest but within the legal Forest. The
heyday of brick and tile manufacture in the Forest seems to have been the 18th and 19th centuries.
In 1607. John Russel built a cottage and a brick kiln in an enclosure near the beginning of the Bridle
Path at Oak Hill (near Hale End). The enclosure became known as the 'Scotchman's Hoppet'. Russel
was licensed to dig clay nearby for making tiles and bricks. At first the workings extended to just over
3 acres but by the middle of the century they extended over 36 acres and the cottage expanded to a
six-roomed house called Tile Kiln House. The business was flourishing in 1684 but had ceased by
1796 and the house was demolished by 1820. Four houses were subsequently built on Scotchman's
Hoppet about 1880-5. Other brick and tile workings took place in another eleven acres nearby between
1768 and 1787. The pits formed by these works still exist near the Bridle Path, now completely
overgrown with secondary woodland. Broken pieces of tile are abundant in the neighbourhood (Law
and Barry, 1978).
Another Brick and Tile works is mentioned for the Theydon Bois Oak Hill, just south of the Wake
Arms-Theydon Road. A brick and tile works is shown here on the 1863 O.S. map (VHM R 5413) and
a huge 'quarry' rather like an amphitheatre is still very visible here today. Its geology was described
by N. F. Roberts in 1882. I suspect the brick and tile works was established by the 18th century. An
entry in the Court of Attachments (CA II p.33) in 1753 relates to the presentment of the inhabitants
of 'Theydon Boyce' for erecting four houses near Theydon Brickhills within the Forest and not having
licence to do so.
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