NEW FOREST NATIONAL PARK
Every year 13.5 million people visit the New Forest, one of the UK’s newest National Parks. The New Forest is mainly in Hampshire, but also covers some of Wiltshire with many small villages dotted around the area see New Forest Towns.
The highest point in the New Forest is Piper’s Wait, just west of Bramshaw. Its summit is at 125m (410 feet) above mean sea level. The tallest tree in the New Forest is over 178 feet high and the oldest an ancient oak is reputed to be over 500 years of age. There are 5 types of deer, 2,700 species of fungi and the 700 types of wild flower. The New Forest is also the largest remaining area of lowland heath in Europe, reputed to be rarer globally than rainforest.
Visitors can enjoy ambling along the 870 miles of road or exploring the 26 miles of coastline with its salt marshes, harbours, beaches, lagoons and mud flats. Visitors will also see ancient woodland, pine groves and open heath land.
All this is to be found less than 2 hours drive from London. Those wishing to stay overnight will find a good variety of accommodation much of which will serve the renowned New Forest Breakfast which is sourced from local produce.
HISTORY OF THE NEW FOREST
NATIONAL PARK
Originally forested, parts of the New Forest were cleared for cultivation during the Stone and Bronze Ages. However, the poor quality of the soil meant that the cleared areas turned into heathland.
| There are around 250 round barrows (burial grounds) and boiling mounds, (used to heat water before heat-resistant vessels were invented, flints were heated and then placed in water. The mounds are piles of used flints). There are also about 150 scheduled ancient monuments, 630 listed buildings and 130 car parks.
The New Forest was created as a royal forest in 1079 by William the Conqueror for the hunting of (mainly) deer. It was first recorded as “Nova Foresta” in the Domesday Book in 1086. The inhabitants of thirty-six parishes were evicted. William’s successor, William Rufus was killed in a suspicious accident while hunting in the New Forest in 1100. The reputed spot of the king’s death is marked with a stone known as the Rufus Stone in Cadnam.
As of 2005, roughly ninety per cent of the New Forest is still owned by the Crown and has been managed by the Forestry Commission since 1923. Around half of the Crown lands fall inside the new National Park.
Formal commons rights were established in the 16th century. Over time, the New Forest became an important source of wood for the Royal Navy, and plantations were begun to replace the felled trees. In the Great Storm of 1703, about four thousand oak trees were lost in the New Forest.
The naval plantations encroached on the rights of the Commoners, but the Forest gained new protection under an Act of Parliament in 1877. The New Forest Act 1877 confirmed the historic rights of the Commoners and prohibited the enclosure of more than 16,000 acres (61 km²) at any time. It also reconstituted the Court of Verderers as representatives of the Commoners (rather than the Crown).
Felling of broadleaf trees, and replacement by conifers, began during the First World War to meet the wartime demand for wood. Further encroachments were made in the Second World War. This process is today being reversed in places, with some plantations being returned to heathland or broadleaf woodland.
Further New Forest Acts followed and the New Forest became a Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1971 and was granted special status as the “New Forest Heritage Area” in 1985. The New Forest was proposed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in June 1999 and it became a National Park in 2005.
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