ITS TOPOGRAPHY
45
OBJECTS OF INTEREST WITHIN AND
AROUND THE FOREST
'' A monk ther was, a fair for the maisterie ;
An out-ryder, that loved venerye . . .
He gaf not of that text a pulled hen
That seith that hunters be noon holy men . . .
Greyhoundes he had as swift as fowel in flight:
Of pryking and of huntying for the hare
Was al his lust" The Canterbury Tales
WANSTEAD PARK
Wanstead Park has a history exceeding in in-
terest any other part of the Forest. Just above
the round pond, called the Basin, is the site of the
great mansion erected by the first Earl Tylney in
1715. Old maps of the neighbourhood show
avenues radiating from the house in all directions,
those to the north-west extending as far as the
Eagle at Snaresbrook, and there appears to have
been little distinction at that time between the
Park and the surrounding Forest. The avenues
were planted for the Earl's father, Sir Josiah Child,
under the direction of the famous John Evelyn of
Watton, the author of Sylva, who informs us " of
Sir Josiah Child's prodigious cost in planting
walnut trees about his seat, and making fish-ponds
many miles in circuit in Epping Forest on a barren
spot." The splendid mansion built by Sir Josiah's
son in 1715 was the work of Colin Campbell,
the celebrated architect, and author of Vitruvius
Britannicus. Horace Walpole speaks of him and
the place in a letter to Richard Bentley, dated
17th June 1755:—"I dined yesterday at Wan-
stead : many years have passed since I saw it.
The disposition of the house and prospect are
better than I expected, and very fine. The garden,
which, they tell you, cost as much as the house,
that is £100,000, is wretched: the furniture fine
but without taste. . . . The present Earl is the
most generous creature in the world. In the first