Thoughts on the Proposed Inclosure of Waltham (commonly called Epping) and Hainault Forests / In which a new plan is suggested for disafforesting the same: with the heads of the bill now proposed for that purpose

by Thomas Street

GENTLEMEN,

WHEN I took the liberty of addressing you, in January last, on the subject of the projected inclosure of these Forests, I could not foresee that the plan I submitted to general consideration would have been adopted by the Commissioners of Woods and Forests, which it appears, by the Heads of the Bill, they now propose bringing into Parliament has been done; and the giving effect to a plan, on the mere suggestion of a private individual, whose name was not even known to them, shews, on their part, the strongest desire, in executing the duties of their office, to afford every possible degree of accommodation to the interest and convenience of the persons to be affected by it. Connected as I am with gentlemen who have considerable property in these Forests, I do earnestly hope that the plan I have suggested, and which has been, on the part of the Commissioners of Woods and Forests, so liberally adopted, will be carried into effect; and, at the request of several friends, I have been induced to re-publish my Thoughts on the subject, in the hope that they may have some weight, with my readers, in convincing them of the expediency of giving their earnest support to the Bill now proposed.

I remain, Gentlemen,

With great respect.

Your very obedient servant,
THOMAS STREET,

Philpot-Lane, London,
15th April, 1818.

THOUGHTS, &c. &c.

The local knowledge acquired by occasional residence, for many years past, in the Forest of Waltham and the neighbourhood, and its having been the favourite spot where I have indulged in occasional relaxation from professional pursuits, my attention has been drawn to the notice given of an intended application to Parliament for an inclosure of that and also of Hainault Forest, and the controversy which has taken place respecting such a proceeding has induced me to peruse the papers that have been published on the subject, and to reduce to writing a few observations thereon; and, although my remarks are intended to apply more particularly to the neighbourhood of Woodford, yet I think they will be found not inapplicable to the interests of the landed proprietors in general within the precincts of these Forests.

I, some time since, understood, from authority, the correctness of which I have no reason to doubt, that it was not the intention of the Crown to press for a general inclosure of these Forests, but merely to obtain a reasonable compensation (to be settled by the Commissioners under the proposed Act) for disafforesting both Waltham and Hainault Forests, and extinguishing the rights of the Crown therein. I hare considered the subject with much attention, and I confess that I could hardly have pictured to myself any thing so desirable to the owners of landed property in and adjoining to these Forests, as their being relieved from the rights of the Crown, rights from which, in point of fact, the Crown derives no sort of benefit; but, on the contrary, incurs an annual expense of £300, (as appears by the 15th Report of the Commissioners of Woods and Forests,) and which have been, for many years past, a continual source of complaint on the part of the land-owners and inhabitants. I was, therefore, much surprised, on perusing the resolutions passed, on the 26th November last, at a Meeting of the Freeholders and others, possessing landed property in the parish of Woodford, to find them so strongly deprecate the proposed inclosure.

As to the proposition respecting Hainault Forest:—the principal part of it, which is occupied by the growth of timber, is so low and swampy, that no human being would ever think of building in such a situation, and the land could not be brought into cultivation without an enormous expense in grubbing up the timber, and draining the soil. If, therefore, we give the Commissioners for the Inclosure credit for a reasonable degree of judgment and discretion, it is within this part of the Forest, so well calculated for the growth of timber, that they would undoubtedly appropriate the 2,000 acres to be inclosed as a nursery for that purpose, and for which it would be a situation peculiarly advantageous, on account of its easy communication with water-carriage and the dock-yard at Woolwich. I really cannot discover what injury could be done to the land-owners surrounding that spot, who, according to the plan proposed, would have a thousand acres of uninclosed land left subject only to the custom of the manor, within which their lands happen to lie, and totally free from the intervention of the forty days court; the frequent and inconvenient interference of which, in the exercise of the duty imposed on them of protecting the rights of the Crown, and preventing the deer being deprived of the herbage, has been so generally complained of by persons within its jurisdiction.