The New Forest

A descriptive guide to a Hampshire royal forest that blends historical survey—from Saxon and Norman origins and forest law—to accounts of landscape, settlements, and customary practices. It explains the forest’s boundaries, administrative roles (wardens, keepers, verderers, woodward), and rights such as grazing and wood-taking, and records how venison and naval timber demands shaped land use. Interspersed are travel-sketch vignettes of villages, bridges, churches, and coastal points, and reflections on changing management and preservation of commons, flora, and wild life illustrated by drawings and local anecdotes.