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Top 10 Sensational Facts about New Forest, United Kingdom

The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest and southeast .

It was proclaimed a royal forest by and featured in the .

1. Its pre-existing rights of common pasture are recognised to date

New Forest, United Kingdom- Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Pre-existing rights of common pasture are still recognised today and are being enforced by official verderers and agisters so as to preserve the natural beauty and good traditional character of the Forest.

In New Forest, a verderer is an unpaid officer whose duty is to regulate and protect the interests of the New Forest commoners .

An agister on the other hand is a local official whose role is to assist the Verderers with their duty to manage the free-roaming animals that the local commoners are allowed to release onto the forest.

2. Became a source of timber for the Royal Navy

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

In the 18th century, the New Forest became a source of timber for the . It remains a habitat for many rare birds and mammals.

The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom’s force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the against France.

The modern Royal Navy traces its origins to the early 16th century; the oldest of the , it is consequently known as the Senior Service.

3. New Forest is a biological and geological site of special scientific interest

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

New Forest, a 71,474-acre is a biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest. Several areas are Geological Conservation Review and Nature Conservation Review sites.

It is a Special Area of Conservation, a and a

4. It covers two parliamentary constituencies

The New Forest covers two . That is, and .

New Forest East is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1997 by , a member of the Conservative Party.

On the other hand, New Forest West is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1997 by , of the Conservative party

5. New Forest was once a deciduous woodland

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

In the fields of and , the term deciduous means “falling off at maturity” and “tending to fall off”, in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, after flowering; and to the shedding of ripe fruit

Like much of England, the site of the New Forest was once woodland, recolonised by and eventually and after the withdrawal of the ice sheets starting around 12,000 years ago.

Some areas were cleared for cultivation from the 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 around 250–100 BC, and most importantly the

6.  There are round barrows within its boundaries

There are around 250 within its boundaries and scattered , and it also includes about 150 . A round barrow is a type of and is one of the most common types of archaeological monuments.

One such barrow, in particular, may represent the only known burial of the Early Iron Age and the only known burial in Britain; however, the acidity of the soil means that bone very rarely survives.

7. The area of New Forest became a site of the Jutish Kingdom

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Following in Britain, according to , the area became the site of the kingdom of Ytene; this name was the of Yt meaning “Jute”.

The were one of the early tribal groups who colonised this area of southern Hampshire. The word ytene (or ) is also found locally as a synonym for giant and features heavily in local folklore.

8. Was proclaimed a royal forest in 1079

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Following the , the New Forest was proclaimed a , in about 1079, by .

It was used for royal hunts, mainly for deer. It was created at the expense of more than 20 small and isolated ; hence it became ‘new’ as a single compact area.

9. Was recorded in Domesday Book in 1086

Domesday Book- Author; Andrews, William- Wikimedia

The New Forest was first recorded as Nova Foresta in in 1086, where a section devoted to it is interpolated between lands of the king’s and the town of ; it is the only forest that the book describes in detail.

12th-century chroniclers alleged that William had created the forest by evicting the inhabitants of 36 parishes, reducing a flourishing district to a wasteland.

However, this account is thought dubious by most historians, as the poor soil in much of the area is believed to have been incapable of supporting large-scale agriculture, and significant areas appear to have always been uninhabited.

10. Two of William the conquerer’s sons died in the forest

King William 1- Author; National Portrait Gallery- Wikimedia

King William I, commonly known as William the Conqueror was the first , reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087.

Two of William’s sons died in the forest: sometime between 1069 and 1075, and in 1100.

Local folklore asserted that this was punishment for the crimes committed by William when he created his New Forest.