Editing Ashdown Forest (section)

==History==

===Brief history===
<!--  [[File:AshdownForest1.jpg|thumb|right|Various trees in Ashdown Forest]] -->
{{more citations needed|section|date=May 2021}}

Ashdown Forest came into existence as a Norman deer hunting forest in the period following the [[Norman Conquest]] of 1066.

At the highest points of the Ashdown Forest are the remains of several Barrow Mounds dated by the University of Sussex to the late Iron Age. At the nearby Pippingford Army Training Area there is a large hilltop settlement mound that is a Class A Listed Protection Ancient Monument site. The site includes Iron Age stock and hunting enclosures with recent finds of leaf-cut flint arrow heads dated to the middle Bronze Age period now on display in the East Grinstead Museum. (2013). The Hilltop hunting settlement is thought to have been constructed by the local Wealden Chieftain named Crugh who was gifted lands by his High Wealden Chieftain Uncle who lived at Marks Cross in East Sussex.<ref>The Conservator's of Ashdown Forest Newsletter 1987.</ref>

Prior to the conquest, Ashdown seems simply to have been an unnamed part of the vast, sparsely populated, and in places dense and impenetrable woodland known to the Anglo-Saxons as ''Andredes weald'' ("the forest of Andred"), from which the present-day [[Weald]] derives its name. The Weald, of which Ashdown Forest is the largest remaining part, stretched for {{convert|30|mi|km}} between the chalk escarpments of the [[North Downs|North]] and [[South Downs]] and for over {{convert|90|mi|km}} from east to west from Kent into Hampshire.<ref>Brandon (2003), Chapters 2 and 6. Note that the Saxon prefix ''Andredes'' was probably derived from ''Anderida'', the name of the Romans' stronghold at [[Pevensey]].</ref>

Ashdown Forest is not mentioned in the [[Domesday Book]] of 1086 but, as part of the forest of Pevensel, the sub-division of the Weald that the Normans created within the [[Rape (county subdivision)|Rape]] of [[Pevensey]], it had already been granted by William the Conqueror to his half-brother [[Robert, Count of Mortain]]. This rape was strategically and economically important, extending as it did inland northwards from the English Channel coast towards London, and was guarded, as was the case with the other six Sussex rapes, by a castle. It was awarded to Robert, along with several hundred manors across England, in recognition of his support for William during the [[Norman conquest of England]]. Two important conditions applied to a forest like Pevensel: the king could keep and hunt deer there, while the commoners – tenant farmers who had smallholdings near the forest – could continue to graze their livestock there and cut wood for fuel and bracken for livestock bedding.

1095 – death of Robert de Mortain. Ashdown is then held by the lords of Pevensey Castle – a succession of high status members of the Norman and Plantagenet aristocracy, including several queens of England – for most of the next 200 years.

1100–1130 – Ashdown Forest is first referred to by name when Henry I confirms that monks can continue to use a road across the forest of "Essendone". The monks' claim that they have held the right since the Conquest implies the area was known by this name at least as far back as then.<ref>Small (1988), p. 156.</ref>

1268 – in the reign of [[Henry III of England|Henry III]], Ashdown Forest is vested in the Crown in perpetuity. The forest was subsequently used for deer hunting by [[Edward II of England|Edward II]], who built a hunting lodge near Nutley that was later to be used by John of Gaunt.

1282 – first documentary references to the forest pales appear in accounts prepared by a ranger recording the costs of timber that have been cut;<ref>Victoria County History of Sussex, Volume II, p. 315.</ref>

1372 – [[Edward III of England|Edward III]] grants the "Free-chase of Ashdon" to his third son, [[John of Gaunt]], Duke of Lancaster.<ref>{{cite web|title=Plea Rolls of the Court of Common Pleas; National Archives; CP 40/541, year: 1396|url=http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT6/R2/CP40no541a/bCP40no541adorses/IMG_0151.htm|quotation=entries 4 & 5, asserting his hunting rights|website=Aalt.law.uh.edu|access-date=16 December 2017}}</ref>  It becomes known as Lancaster Great Park. The park then reverts to the Crown along with the rest of the Duchy of Lancaster after John of Gaunt's death in 1399. But for the next 300 years, until 1672, the forest is still referred to as ''Lancaster Great Park''.

1662 – Lancaster Great Park is ''disafforested'' by Charles II, giving free rein to the Earl of Bristol to make 'improvements'.

1693 – Ashdown Forest (the former Lancaster Great Park) is divided up, and it assumes its present-day shape. Just over half of it – in portions of widely varying sizes, but with the largest ones tending to be located towards the centre of the forest – is allotted for 'inclosure and improvement' by private interests. The rest is retained as common land for use by those local landowners and tenants who possess rights of common.

1881 – the commoners of Ashdown Forest reach a successful conclusion to their defence of a lawsuit brought by the Lord of the Manor which contested the nature and extent of their rights of common on the forest (known as the "Great Ashdown Forest Case").

1885 – the [[Commons Regulation (Ashdown Forest) Provisional Order Confirmation Act 1885]] introduces bye-laws to regulate and protect the forest, and a Board of Conservators is established.

1984 – a significant part of the forest was set a blaze by a local school boy, Anthony Martin. Eight fire engines were called to the scene and the fire was controlled.{{citation needed|date=May 2021}}

1988 – the freehold of the forest is acquired by East Sussex County Council from the executors of the Lord of the Manor, forestalling the possibility that the remaining common land of the forest would be broken up and sold off into private hands.

===The 1693 division of Ashdown Forest===
During the 17th century, under both the Stuart monarchy and during the [[Interregnum (England)|Interregnum]], there were repeated proposals to ''inclose'' (enclose) and develop the forest. Under James I and Charles I parcels of land were sold off piecemeal. During the Interregnum the condition of the forest deteriorated so much that by the time of the [[English Restoration|Restoration]], in 1660, it was in a state where "the whole forest [is] laid open and made waste".<ref>Straker (1940), p. 124.</ref> Attempts to enclose and improve the forest (for example, by introducing rabbit farming, or sowing crops) were however strongly opposed throughout by the local commoners, who claimed rights of common on the forest, having exercised them "from time out of mind", as well as by neighbouring estates who claimed right of pasture there.

In 1662 the forest was granted to one of [[Charles II of England|Charles II]]'s closest allies, [[George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol|George Digby]], Earl of Bristol, and it was formally disafforested to allow Bristol a free hand to improve it. His attempts to do so were however frustrated "by the crossness of the neighbourhood";<ref>Christian (1967), p. 2.</ref> the fences he erected were thrown down and the crops he sowed were trampled by cattle. He defaulted on his rental payments to the Crown and left. Subsequent Lords of the Manor suffered similar opposition from the commoners. Compromise proposals were made to divide up the forest that would leave sufficient common land to meet the needs of commoners, while giving the rest up for improvement.

These unresolved tensions came to a head when, in 1689, a major landowner and 'Master of the Forest', [[Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset|Charles Sackville]], 6th [[Earl of Dorset]], brought a legal suit against 133 commoners in the court of the Duchy of Lancaster. The court decided to appoint commissioners to divide up Ashdown Forest's {{convert|13,991|acre|ha}} in a way that would meet the needs of both defendants and plaintiffs. The commissioners made their award on 9 July 1693. They set aside {{convert|6,400|acre|ha}}, mostly in the vicinity of farms and villages, as common land, where the commoners were granted sole right of pasturage and the right to cut birch, alder and willow (but no other trees). The commoners were however excluded forever from the rest of the forest, about 55 per cent of its area, which was assigned for "inclosure and improvement" (though substantial areas had already been enclosed by then, so in such cases the decree was merely confirming the status quo).

The land award of 1693 is largely responsible for shaping the map of Ashdown Forest today. The common land is highly fragmented and irregular in shape, broken up by many private enclosures, large and small. It tends to lie on the periphery of the forest near existing settlements. Some of the largest enclosures, such as [[Hindleap Warren]], [[Prestridge Warren]], [[Broadstone Warren]] and [[Crowborough Warren]], mostly lying towards the centre of the forest, were used for a time for intensive rabbit farming. Some of these enclosures have today acquired interesting uses: [[Pippingford Park]], in the very centre of the forest, occupied by the army in 1939 as a defence against [[Operation Sea Lion]], remains an important military training area,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pippingford.co.uk/history.html |title=History &#124; Pippingford Park |access-date=23 September 2012 |archive-date=13 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121113220047/http://www.pippingford.co.uk/history.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>  Broadstone Warren is a scout camp and activity centre,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.broadstonewarren.org.uk/|title=Broadstone Warren Scout Site & Activity Centre |access-date=23 September 2012}}</ref> while Hindleap Warren is an outdoor education centre.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.londonyouth.org.uk/|title=London Youth - Supporting and challenging young people to become the best they can be.|website=Londonyouth.org.uk|access-date=16 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160128202444/http://londonyouth.org.uk/|archive-date=28 January 2016|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Although the 1693 land award envisaged enclosure and improvement for profitable gain, the land it allotted to private exploitation has in fact largely remained uncultivated; this has helped Ashdown Forest to retain the appearance of being an extensive area of wild country that is so valued today.<ref name="auto">Hinde (1987), p. 66.</ref> That said, there is nevertheless a visible contrast between the areas of common land, maintained by the conservators, which are predominantly heathland, and the extensive privately held lands, which are generally either quite heavily wooded or cleared for pasture.

===The Great Ashdown Forest Case===
In 1876-82 a renewed challenge to commoners' rights became known as the ''Great Ashdown Forest Case'', one of the most famous legal disputes of Victorian England.

On 13 October 1877 John Miles was seen on the forest cutting ''litter'' (heather and bracken for livestock bedding and other uses) on behalf of Bernard Hale, his employer and the owner of a local estate, by a keeper, George Edwards. Edwards was a well-known and unpopular local man who was acting as the representative of the Lord of the Manor of Duddleswell, [[Reginald Sackville, 7th Earl De La Warr]], who owned the land on which the forest stood. In a test case,<ref>Short (1997).</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://theweald.org/bk.asp?bookid=srs080998|title=The Weald - Books, directories, magazines and pamphlets|website=Theweald.org|access-date=16 December 2017|archive-date=4 January 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090104130342/http://theweald.org/bk.asp?BookId=srs080998|url-status=dead}}</ref> the Earl challenged the right of Hale to cut litter. Hale, who claimed ownership of his estate made him a commoner of the forest, argued that he was entitled to send his men onto the forest to cut and remove bracken, fern, heather and other plants. The Earl maintained that the commoners' rights of pasturage and herbage granted under the 1693 decree only entitled them to graze their animals on the commons.<ref name="auto"/> At the end of a protracted and complicated legal case, the court ruled against the commoners, who included some of the wealthiest landowners in Sussex. They appealed, and their appeal was upheld in 1881, but only on one ground, that it had been a long-standing practice for commoners to cut and take away litter from the forest, and they were therefore entitled to continue to do so under the [[Prescription Act 1832]].

Resolution of the case in favour of the commoners led directly to today's framework of forest governance, with the passing of the first Ashdown Forest Act in 1885 and the establishment of a board of conservators for the forest.

===Formation of the Board of Conservators{{anchor|Commons Regulation (Ashdown Forest) Provisional Order Confirmation Act 1885|Ashdown Forest Act 1937|Ashdown Forest Act 1949|Ashdown Forest Act 1974}}===
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Commons Regulation (Ashdown Forest) Provisional Order Confirmation Act 1885
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act to confirm the Provisional Order for the Regulation of Ashdown Forest, situate in the parishes of East Grinstead, Hartfield, Withyham, Buxted, Maresfield, and Fletching, in the county of Sussex, in pursuance of a report of the Land Commissioners for England.
| year                  = 1885
| citation              = [[48 & 49 Vict.]] c.lvi
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 16 July 1885
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = Ashdown Forest Act 1949
| repealing_legislation = 
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = amended
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Vict/48-49/56/pdfs/ukla_18850056_en.pdf
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Ashdown Forest Act 1937
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act to alter the constitution of the Conservators of Ashdown Forest to confer further powers upon the said Conservators and to provide for contributions towards their expenses by certain authorities and for other purposes.
| year                  = 1937
| citation              = [[1 Edw. 8 & 1 Geo. 6]]. c. lii
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 1 July 1937
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = Ashdown Forest Act 1974
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = repealed
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Edw8and1Geo6/1/52/pdfs/ukla_19370052_en.pdf
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Ashdown Forest Act 1949
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act to provide for the vesting in the Secretary of State for War of certain lands in the county of Sussex forming part of Ashdown Forest and for the acquisition and addition to the forest of other lands in exchange therefor to make provision for the use of the forest for the purposes of military training and for other purposes.
| year                  = 1949
| citation              = [[12, 13 & 14 Geo. 6]]. c. xlvii
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 30 July 1949
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = Ashdown Forest Act 1974
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = repealed
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Geo6/12-13-14/47/pdfs/ukla_19490047_en.pdf
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Ashdown Forest Act 1974
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act to alter the constitution of, and to incorporate, the Conservators of Ashdown Forest; to alter the arrangements for meeting the expenses of the Conservators; to amend or repeal enactments relating to the Conservators and the forest and to confer further powers upon the Conservators; and for other purposes.
| year                  = 1974
| citation              = [[List of Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1974|1974]] c. xxi
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 31 July 1974
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = {{ubli|Ashdown Forest Act 1937|Ashdown Forest Act 1949}}
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = 
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = current
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/1974/21/pdfs/ukla_19740021_en.pdf
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
Following the conclusion of the Ashdown Forest case, a board of [[conservators]] was established by act of Parliament in 1885 to oversee the forest bye-laws, including the protection of commoner's rights. More acts of Parliament followed, which further refined the governance of the forest, culminating in the Ashdown Forest Act 1974.

===Sale of the forest into public ownership===
In the 1980s the Lord of the Manor, [[William Sackville, 10th Earl De La Warr]], offered Ashdown Forest for sale direct to the local authority, [[East Sussex County Council]], if they would buy it; otherwise he would probably sell the forest piecemeal on the open market.<ref>Willard (1989), p.167.</ref> On 25 November 1988 this threat to split up the forest was averted when, with the benefit of donations from many sources, including the proceeds of a public appeal, East Sussex County Council purchased the freehold of Ashdown Forest from the executors of the Earl, who had died the previous February. The freehold was then vested by the council in a newly created charitable trust, the Ashdown Forest Trust.