2017
TQ4793 : Hainault Forest Country Park
taken 7 years ago, near to Lambourne End, Essex, England
Hainault Forest Country Park
Hainault Forest belonged to the Abbey of Barking until the Dissolution of the Monasteries. In a survey made for Henry VIIIth in 1544 its extent was given as some 3,000 acres. The vast royal hunting forest of Hainault Forest never found the determined defenders that Epping Forest had to save it. After Parliament gave its approval in 1858, over 100,000 forest trees were felled and the land was drained and fenced. However, the outrage at the destruction of Hainault led to the creation of conservation groups which successfully opposed a similar fate happening to Epping Forest.
In the end a total of 804 acres of land was bought for public use on 21st July 1906. Even so, Hainault Forest Country Park is just a surviving fragment of Hainault Forest. The Redbridge section of the park here is being developed by Redbridge Council as a country park. The Essex section to the north is managed by the Woodland Trust, on behalf of its owners, Essex County Council.
This view on the London LOOP looks out towards the City of London on the right and Canary Wharf in the centre with the Crystal Palace Ridge beyond.
This page has been
viewed about
43 times