The woodland flora of the Forest of Writtle and surrounding area
clothes it in Corncockles, Bluebottles. Marigolds, Pheasant-eyes, Thorow-wax, Corn Buttercups
and the fiery flame-dappled blooms of Cow-wheat. If only it were possible to press a button and
whiz back seven hundred years. As long as it worked in reverse of course! Recently, large numbers
of Broad-leaved Spurge appeared on this farm following the construction of a fishing lake. This
cornfield weed, once common, now rare, is as representative of continuity in the history of the
Forest landscape as the coin. Human history and natural history are as one and floras are as much
about people as they are plants.
So much of that continuity has been lost during the agricultural revolution of the past fifty years.
Handley Barns is fortunate in that it has changed only gradually since that steward rode across the
fields on his horse and that it continues to evolve in this way. Many other farms in Essex also changed
only gradually between 1300 and 1945 but since then their landscape has been all but destroyed. They
are now like a blank page, from which the historical record of centuries in the form of woods, hedgerows,
ponds and meadows has been erased. If every ancient building in our cities was to be bulldozed such
action would be seen clearly for the outrage it is by Luddite and Modernist alike. Cathedrals and
Forests are not simply physical features of the landscape but symbolic ones too, and what they symbol ise
is the spiritual link with past generations. As a naturalist I feel that, first and foremost, I should lament
the loss of hedgerow and copse as wildlife habitat but as the son of my father, and the generations of
farm workers that preceded him, I mourn most deeply for the lost ties with them. The land might just
as well have been covered in concrete. Thus my delight with the Writtle Forest, and the farms like
Handley Barns that arc clustered around it. There I can feel at case with the past, happy in the present,
and confident of the future. If, in a couple of hundred years time, a botanist should stumble upon my
lost house keys in the middle of that field there will, I hope, still be a Forest for him or her to enjoy and
a comfortable tree on the edge of Box Wood beneath which to sit, coffee and sandwiches to hand,
there to ponder on the history of the landscape and its plants.
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank the owners of the woods described above for allowing me access to their land;
in particular Lord Petre of Writtle Park, who gave me free rein in the Forest's main Springs; Mr
Bucknell of Fingrith Hall Farm, Blackmore (Horsfrith); Alan Pudney (Osborne's Wood and The
Hyde Lake), Mr Myson of Harding's Farm (The Grove) and Simon Upton of Furness Farm,
Margaretting (Coptfold). Most of the plant survey work on the last named estate was carried out in
conjunction with BTO bird surveys in the mid-1990s. I am also indebted to Professor Oliver Rackham
of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge for reading through the draft of this article and advising me
on ways to improve the text as well as correcting a few casual assumptions and lazy turns of phrase!
Also, for permitting me to quote from a document he wrote for the 'Stop the M12 Campaign' in
1990. Mark Hanson also gave me invaluable advice of many aspects of the text and Ken Adams
made sure that my Latin nomenclature (and the wretched computer's - which has a mind of its own)
were up to scratch! Thanks are also due to Stephen and Geoffrey Wilkinson, Martin Heywood,
Tony Boniface, Tim Pyner, Alee Bull, Ailsa Wildig and Mark Hanson for allowing me to use their
records.
References
ADAMS, K.J. (1974) Bryophytes. .In: Jermyn S.T. & Adams K.J., The Flora of Essex. Essex Naturalists*
Trust. Colchester. Pp. 229-271.
BAKER, C.M. (1982) Margaretting - The Village with a Beautiful Name. Acorn Press. Billericay.
BLOCKEEL, T.L. & LONG, D.G (1998) A Check-list and Census Catalogue of British and Irish
Bryophytes. British Bryological Society. Cardiff.
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