ITS HISTORY
13
have been made, presents a sadly tattered ap-
pearance. It was, however, not till comparatively
recent times that the Forest Courts began to be
generally disregarded and defied. The tradition
of their terrors still remained; and, though small
encroachments were made from time to time, it
was not until the middle of the nineteenth century
that wholesale enclosures began to be effected.
The office of Woods and Forests was largely
responsible for the mutilation which ensued. In
the case of Hainault Forest, which lay to the east
of the River Roding, the Crown were owners, not
only of the sporting rights, but of the manorial
rights and the soil as well; and, when the Crown
rights were commuted, it was vested in the
above-named officials for the benefit of the people
at large. They have unfortunately taken an ex-
ceedingly narrow view of their trust, and have
acted on the short-sighted doctrine that they were
to show the best balance-sheet which they could
at the moment. Their policy was thus expressed
by the Chief Commissioner, the Hon. K. Howard,
who, speaking at the moment of the New Forest,
said, " We want to get as much as we can out of the
Forest " ; and what they expected to get is shown in
the following recommendation by one of his assist-
ants in the New Forest, of a large enclosure by the
Crown, " because, exclusive of other advantages, by
so doing, all the best pasture would be taken from the
commoners, and the value of their rights of pasture
would thus be materially diminished, which would be
of importance to the Crown itt the event of any such
right being commuted." Neglecting the future value
of open spaces near great cities, they recommended
—and the House of Commons unhappily endorsed
the proposal in 1851—the complete destruction of
the woodlands of Hainault, and its conversion into
arable land. A contract was made with a manufac-
turer of steam ploughs, who, attaching his anchors
to the soil, dragged up by the roots the old oaks,
including the Fairlop Oak of ancient memory.
The whole operation was concluded in six weeks,
and public opinion, even if it had been then ripe