Hainault Forest, Essex

Hainault Forest was part of the Forest of Essex, a former royal hunting ground which provided venison to the King’s table as far back as 1030AD. It is thought to have been given special status as a protected forest during Henry I’s reign in the 1130s. Sadly, it lost its royal designation in the 1600s. But it wasn’t until the 1850s, when an act of Parliament ordered the felling of more than 100,000 trees in Hainault Forest. Today, Hainault is a mix of ancient woodland, ancient wood pasture and country park. It has one of the greatest concentrations of ancient hornbeam pollards in Europe, with some perhaps dating back to the early 1600s.