in a band between Suffolk and south Norfolk across to Gloucestershire. How it came to be in the
Forest is a mystery: it is not often found in wood-pastures. It does, however, occur elsewhere as a
pollard. Such a rare tree deserves conservation priority and being easily propagated from twigs which
root in water or very moist compost the future stock of the Forest tree deserves to be assured. Another
poplar native to the Forest is the Aspen: it is not uncommon in wood-pastures and coppiced woodland.
Its leaves are not liked by browsing animals, unlike some other poplars and this presumably accounts
for its survival in Epping Forest. It does propagate by suckers, but will also grow from seed, the
seedlings needing to be kept in permanently moist ground immediately after germinating. A few
survived like this after wet summers in Lords Bushes shortly after the drought year of 1976.
The Ching Brook area also has a number of less common trees and shrubs. A single Spindle
(Euonymus europaeus) bush is to be found, conspicuous with its bright coral-pink fruits in the autumn.
Privet (Ligustrum vulgare) also grows by the brook. Dogwood (Swida sanguinea), local but
widespread in the northern half of the Forest is also found here. One rare Forest tree known from the
banks of the Ching Brook is the Buckthorn (Rhamnus catharticus). Its relative, the Alder Buckthorn
(R. frangulits), was also known to Forest botanists for many years from this area. Wild Cherry (Prunus
avium) similarly occurs here, but it is rather more widespread particularly in the northern half of the
Forest, but never in numbers. Relatively uncommon or rare trees and shrubs found in the Forest include
Yew (Taxus baccata) which is frequent only in the old enclosure 369 on Warren Hill. It is very toxic
to livestock and may not have been tolerated where cattle and horses grazed. The Sessile Oak is rather
uncommon in the Forest: the biggest tree I know of is in Birch Grove at Theydon Bois. It may also
hybridise with its common relative Quercus robur. The Guelder Rose (Viburnum opulus) has been
reported from the Lower Forest and near Connaught Waters, although I have never seen it.
Notable Forest Trees
Most forests seem to have or have had a single, usually large, tree, almost invariably an Oak pollard,
that came to symbolise that particular forest. Examples include the Major Oak in Sherwood Forest,
the Knightwood Oak in the New Forest and the Newland Oak in the Forest of Dean. Essex forests
had the Doodle Oak at Hatfield, and in Hainault the Fairlop Oak is said to have been 36 ft. in girth
with boughs 10 - 12 ft. in circumference. The tree was accidentally fired in 1805 and was brought
down in a storm in 1820. The tree is marked on the Chapman and Andre map of 1777. Of the trees
listed below from the Forest, none have ever matched this tree for size.
The Fairmead Oak This fine pollard tree (Plates 14 & 15) stood on Fairmead Bottom until about
1955 when the dead and decayed trunk was burnt down by vandals. The tree last bore leaves in about
1904-5. The tree was said by J. C. Shenstone (EN VIII p.97) to have had a bole between 29 and 30
ft. in circumference. Buxton (1911) gives the girth at 3 ft. from the ground as 22 ft. 7 in. There are
still two large pollard Oaks nearby on Fairmead Bottom (between the carpark in Fairmead Lane and
Fairmead Pond) with girths (in 1989) of 16 ft. 7 in. and 18 ft. 2 in. respectively.
Grimston's Oak This tree was also known as the 'Cuckoo Oak' due to its proximity to the Cuckoo
Pits and 'Bedford Oak' named for a councillor of the City of London who did much towards saving
Epping Forest. It was called Grimston's Oak after a well known cricketer, the Hon. Robert Grimston
(1816-1884) who played for the M.C.C. and the Zingari XI. The tree in 1894 had a girth of 12 ft. 8
in. (EN VIII p.98). I measured the trunk at 15 ft. 10 in. in 1988.
The Pulpit Oak Situated in the north-west corner of Lords Bushes this large pollard Oak had a
girth of 16 ft. 1 in. in 1987. It is situated very close by Monkhams Lane (the unmetalled part), formerly
the old Chigwell Parish boundary and currently the boundary of Epping Forest District Council and
the Essex County boundary.
The King's Oak This formerly well-known Oak (Plate 13) was situated at High Beach - hence the
name of the public house there. Legend has it that Henry VIII sat beneath the tree waiting for the
cannon shot that signalled the execution of Anne Boleyn. A photograph of 1882 shows the stump to
be about 4-5 ft. high, which was reduced to 18-20 in. in height by 1885 by people taking the wood
for souvenir snuffboxes (Ramsey and Fowkes, 1986).
Victoria's Oak Not far from the location cited above. Queen Victoria in 1882. to commemorate
the occasion of her visit to dedicate the Forest, planted an Oak tree. The tree unfortunately died, but
its later replacement, a Red Oak (Quercus borealis) (an exotic North American species) still thrives.
This tree had a girth of 9 ft. in 1982 (G. Green, pers. comm.).
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