The Essex Naturalist
117
Epping was largely composed of small-leaved lime Tilia cordata, a tree giving
even denser shade than beech Fagus sylvaticus. By the Middle Saxon period the
limes were being naturally replaced by oak Quercus robur, the former having
been avariciously eaten by browsing animals in the young stage, whilst the oak
would have been less readily eaten. In addition, the palatable lime would have
been frequently ring-barked by livestock during the winter months and the oak
ignored. Until that time, the majority of the bramble would have been round
the forest margins or in occasional clearings made when the trees fell down or
were cut. Only in permanent clearings such as areas of heath would bramble
have had a chance to become well established, and Rackham implies that
heathland at Epping was never more than one sixth of the total area - a far
smaller portion than in the other forests mentioned. In addition it should he
remembered that woods such as Stout Wood and those on the Weald of Kent
were traditionally coppiced on a relatively short rotation, thus giving bramble
almost the optimum conditions for continuing evolution and diversification.
Comparatively, Epping in Medieval times and continuing until the Enclosure
Act, was traditionally grazed and browsed as wood pasture and as a deer forest.
The bramble would have been controlled as part of the staple diet of the deer
which formed a high proportion of the livestock element. Many years ago, Alan
Newton, co-author of Brambles of the British Isles visited Windsor, an area rich in
brambles, thinking the deer park would be an ideal hunting ground. Looking
over the wall he discovered that there was not a single shoot of bramble to be
seen (A Newton pers. comm.). In the years following the Epping Forest Act of
1878, the brambles had a few years to multiply until their gradual elimination as
a state of high forest was achieved, chiefly by lack of management. Though
Rubus powellii in particular is in a somewhat perilous situation, the fact that
efforts are now being made to restore some of the clearings, and perhaps to even
manage some of them with livestock, suggests that the future for wildlife in
general, including some of the less common Rubi may well be an improvement
on the recent past.
Annotated list of Epping Forest Rubus species
Rubus adamsii Sudre - Several colonies scattered through the forest.
Particulatly frequent at Big View, TQ4199. Regional endemic widespread in
south-east England.
R. adscitus Genev. - Two sites: Big View and Ambresbury Banks, TL4300.
Widespread in southern and south-west England and in western France.
R. anisacanthos G. Braun - A colony of a depauperate form on the Nursery
Ground, TQ4196. Widespread in north-west England and northern Europe.
Occurs nearby at Little Baddow.
R. armeniacus Focke - The Himalayan giant of cultivation. Five scattered
colonies in the forest, mirroring its national distribution.