EPPING FOREST
ITS MANAGEMENT1
Public attention has of late years been often
turned to the management of Epping Forest, and
those responsible for it have been subject to
criticism which has at times been neither just
nor well informed. I do not complain of this
publicity. On the contrary, I welcome every sign
of intelligent interest in this public heritage.
The agitation has, moreover, its good side. It has
at least compelled us to justify to ourselves every
step which we proposed to take, and to redouble
our vigilance.
I propose in this chapter to lay down some
of the leading rules that should, in my opinion,
govern the management of the woodland in
Epping Forest. It would be out of place to go
too minutely into detail, but I will propound
what I consider the most important general prin-
ciples that should guide us. Without pretending
to exhaust the subject I will name four—(1)
Variety; (2) Preservation of natural features;
(3) Restoration of a natural aspect where this has
been interfered with in the past; (4) Reproduction
with a view to the future.
(1) Variety.—We have been peculiarly favoured
in Epping Forest by the fact that the various
manors of the district have been under distinct
management in the past. This, combined with
great diversity of aspect, soil, and degrees of
moisture, has given us more contrasts of vegeta-
1 This chapter is an expansion of an address delivered at a
meeting of the Essex Field Club, 21st October 1896.