The Essex Naturalist
111
1722 : Deer to be spared.
1731 : Deer numbers low again due to deer stealers.
1744 : Deer numbers low due to deer stealers.
1748 : Deer numbers low in Wanstead, Woodford, Walthamstow, Chingford,
New Lodge, Epping and Loughton.
1793 - 1843 : Forest enclosures reduce forest area from 3,640 ha (9,000 acres) to
2,830 ha (7,000) acres.
1793-1798: Big decline in deer numbers due to "Waltham Blacks", a gang of
lawless men living in the forest.
1801 : Increasing lawlessness in the forest, provoking calls for more enclosures.
*1830's: Epping New Road (A104) under construction. Many deer killed by
navvies.
1851 : Hainault Forest disafforested. Total area now 2430 ha (6000 acres).
1865 : More, smaller enclosures.
1869 : Total area of Epping forest now 1215 ha (3000 acres).
1870 : Ten deer parks containing tallow deer (mostly common) are now in
existence in Essex. Every now and then, some of these will escape, or
the park will be disbanded and the fences come down.
1871 : Lawsuit filed on behalf of the Corporation of London against 16 forest
Lords of the Manor. The case was successful, and an injunction was
granted preventing further enclosures as well as causing the removal of
all fences erected since 1851.
1872 : The Epping Forest Act, 1872 was passed, forbidding enclosures of forest
wasteland and damage to trees or vert until legislation was passed.
1878 : The Epping Forest Act, 1878 was approved and passed, entrusting the
management and care of the forest to the Corporation of London. The
forest area is increased to its former size in 1851 following the opening
of the enclosures.
1900 : 21 deer were removed from the forest due to "overcrowding".
1902 : 17 deer were culled.
1948 : The Epping White Buck was first spotted.
1948 : Motorised traffic through the forest begins to significantly increase.
1950 : White Buck culled by the conservators to preserve the coat genetics of
the black fallow.
1952 : First verge clearing experiments - removing trees and shrubs from road
verges to increase visibility and reduce deer road casualties. Successful
at first, but then deer casualties increase again as the deer use the
verges to feed on the new grass growing there.
1953 : First report of a common tallow seen in the forest.
1954 : Another white buck seen in the forest. Conservators can't cull it due
to a national protest.
1960 : White buck discovered dead. Shotgun wounds on carcass.
1960 : Deer sanctuary set up at Theydon Bois to protect the black fallow and
keep them from breeding with common form. Some black fallow are
taken to Whipsnade.