Images of New Forest from an original painting by David Hobbs
Week 52
Like much of England, the site of the New Forest was once deciduous woodland, recolonised by birch and eventually beech and oak following the withdrawal of the ice sheets starting around 12,000 years ago. Some areas were cleared for cultivation from the Bronze Age onwards; the poor quality of the soil in the New Forest meant that the cleared areas turned into heathland "waste", which may have been used even then as grazing-land for horses.There was still a significant amount of woodland in this part of Britain, but this was gradually reduced, particularly towards the end of the Middle Iron Age around 250–100 BC, and most importantly the 12th and 13th centuries, and of this essentially all that remains today is the New Forest.
The New Forest was created as a royal forest by William I in about 1079 for the royal hunt, mainly of deer.It was created at the expense of more than 20 small hamlets and isolated farmsteads; hence it was 'new' in his time as a single compact area.
Thank you Tom for another beautiful map card!
Sent: 31 December 2014 Received: 12 January 2015 Travelled: 12 days
No comments:
Post a Comment