Hainault Forest Country Park
Coordinates: 51°37′18″N 0°7′45″E / 51.62167°N 0.12917°E
Hainault Forest Country Park is one of the remaining sections of the former Forest of Essex in England. Epping Forest and Hatfield Forest are other examples. It is located in Hainault in the London Borough of Redbridge and its area is 136 hectares (336 acres).[1] The forest belonged to the abbey of Barking until the dissolution of the monasteries;[2] it extended northwards to Theydon Bois (bois, "woodland"), east to Havering-atte-Bower, on the south to Aldborough Hatch,[3] and westwards to Leytonstone.[4] In a survey made for Henry VIII in 1544 its extent was some 3,000 acres (12 km2).[5]
The forest land was condemned as waste by an Act of Parliament, 1851, disafforested, the deer removed, the old growth forest cut down, and the land divided for building lots, for a growing London. This was deplored by Sir Walter Besant in his works on London: the forest is also the setting for his novel All in a Garden Fair.
After public pressure to retain some remnant headed by Edward North Buxton,[6] a total of 804 acres (3.3 km2) of land, which included 253 acres (1.0 km²) of woodland and rough pasture) was bought for public use on 21 July 1906. It includes the Hainault Forest Golf Club and a large lake, as well as a farm, partly for rare breeds of animal.
The park is administered by the London Borough of Redbridge.[citation needed]
The Forest is a Woodland Trust site[7] and is currently undergoing regeneration.
On 9 December 2009, as a part of the BBC 'Tree O'Clock' Scheme, in association with the Woodland Trust a Guinness World Record attempt was made to plant the most new trees as possible in one hour, with three woodland sites making the attempt, the Heartwood Forest, Hainault Forest and Gransha Park. The existing record had been 18,124[8] which was held by the Forestry Commission at a site in Scotland.[9] However, even though over 250[10] people assisted with the attempt at Hainault Forest, they came third with 20,312, with Heartwood Forest coming second, but both being beaten by Gransha Park where they planted over 26,000 trees in the hour.[8][9]
[edit] Notes
- ^ "Essex/Greater London Site Name: Hainault Forest". Natural England. http://www.english-nature.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1004044.pdf. Retrieved 13 March 2010.
- ^ Barking Side preserves the connection.
- ^ Hatch, a gateway to the forest preserve.
- ^ N. D'Anvers, The Historical Outskirts of London 1907, p. 72
- ^ Forest of Essex
- ^ Mr Buxton is credited in D'Anvers 1907 , p. 72.
- ^ Woodland Trust - Hainault Forest Profile Retrieved 28 May 2010
- ^ a b Tree-planting world record attempts, BBC Breathing Places - Retrieved 28 May 2010
- ^ a b Over 20,000 trees planted in 60 minutes…, Woodland Trust News - Heartwood Forest - Retrieved 28 May 2010
- ^ Hainault beaten to Tree O'Clock world record, BBC London - Retrieved 28 May 2010
[edit] External links
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