BORDER FROM THE ARUNDEL PSALTER, A.D. 1329.
EPPING FOREST
ITS HISTORY
"This is the forest primeval."—Evangeline.
" I 'a stubbed Thornaby Waaste."—Northern Farmer.
A very brief account of the history of the Forest,
showing how the primeval woodland was set aside
for the pleasure of the King, and so was preserved
with little change from century to century, until
it came to be dedicated as an open space for the
enjoyment of King Demos, will not be out of place
here. The forest, as we know it, is probably but
little altered in character from what it was in the
time of the Druids, but its boundaries are sadly
curtailed, and that which is now devoted to the
recreation of the people and the pasture of the
commoners' cattle is but a fraction of the ancient
Royal Forest.
As regards its ancient limits, it appears that in
Saxon times, and for some centuries later, a large
proportion of the county of Essex,—according to
Gibson "as far as the sea,"—was "waste," i.e.
natural woods, open heathery spaces, and grassy
commons. When the whole of London was no
bigger than Colchester is now, and the population
was everywhere sparse, there was not the demand
for cultivated ground which arose at a later period.
Even as late as the time of Camden, who wrote
at the end of the 16th century, we learn that
"Near the Ley . . . spreads out a chase of vast
extent, full of game, the largest and fattest deer
in the kingdom; called heretofore, by way of
eminence, the Forest of Essex, now Waltham
B