Statement of Significance for Hatfield Forest
Historical significance
“Hatfield is of supreme interest in that all the elements of a medieval Forest survive: deer, cattle, coppice woods, pollards, scrub, timber trees, grassland and fen, plus a seventeenth-century lodge and rabbit warren. As such it is almost certainly unique in England and possibly in the world …….The Forest owes very little to the last 250 years ….. Hatfield is the only place where one can step back into the Middle Ages to see, with only a small effort of the imagination, what a Forest looked like in use.” Oliver Rackham, 1976.
Hatfield Forest was declared a Forest, in the early 12th century, when Fallow Deer were introduced and it was part of the great Forest of Essex. Its function was the supply of deer for the King’s table, for the parks of gentry near and far, and for the occasional ceremonial hunt.
It is the continuity of use by commoners and owners, which has ensured the long-term survival of the Forest in its present traditional form.
It is a truly remarkable place, as an example of a land-use system and vegetation pattern dating from early medieval times, which is still intact and functioning today.
It also has a particularly well-documented and researched history. It is a superb and unique case study in historical ecology and landscape history.
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Due to the lack of ploughing there are many hundreds of earthworks, which indicate man’s activities over the centuries from well before it was declared a forest right through to modern relics from the Second World War. The Houblon family provides another layer of history, with the introduction of a designed landscape adapted by Capability Brown in the 18th century. The Lake and Shell House, with the ornamental trees made the Forest an extension of their landscape park.
The Buxton family had the foresight to save the Forest in 1924 and donate it to The National Trust who hold the land in perpetuity and protect the Forest from over-development within and resist the pressure of development in the surrounding area, including the airport and housing development. The gift was given subject to fox hunting and camping for scouts and guides being allowed to continue.
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Ecological significance
The Forest extends over 424 hectares, including Wall Wood and Woodside Green. It has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a National Nature Reserve. It is located in northwest Essex, and is an oasis in a landscape dominated by agriculture, M11 and Stansted Airport.
The ecology is in notably pristine condition, only little affected by recent and destructive land use practices, making it one of the largest areas of land in East Anglia which has not been ploughed in historical times. These habitats provide a direct link and continuity with the primeval vegetation cover of Britain and its invertebrate inhabitants.
The ancient coppices and wood pasture are likely to be managed relics of the original wildwood and are now extremely rare providing a last refuge for much rare and specialized wildlife, including dead-wood beetles and fungi, hole-nesting birds and bats, which also have a requirement for unimproved pasture.
The ancient trees, often in excess of 600 years old, created by traditional management practices, are like magnificent living sculptures, peaceful giants worn and fragile from centuries of seasons and use. They encompass much of what is significant about the Forest and each is unique both in shape and in the ecosystem it supports.
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Significance as a place for people
For the estimated 250,000 annual visitors, Hatfield Forest is an area of unspoilt countryside, where one can enjoy peace, quiet and tranquillity away from the crowds, traffic and bustle, a welcome respite from the pace of 21st Century working life. It has no organised leisure, thus enabling people to walk and reflect on the wonders of nature without the pressure to “do” something.
It provides a safe haven for children to learn, play games and explore the wide, open spaces and natural adventure playground. It attracts a huge range of people doing a wide variety of activities all through the year including walking, fishing, horse riding and cycling. It is large enough to find places where one has never been before, to be alone and to see surprises all year round.
There are opportunities to see and enjoy wildlife including deer, birds, wildflowers and fungi. The landscape is varied and interesting, forever changing with many different colours. There is the lake and meandering stream; there are rides and coppices, pastures with grazing animals and ancient trees, providing a superb outdoor classroom where children and adults can research and learn about the countryside, management, wildlife, art and history.
In addition to management for conservation and recreation, the Forest remains, as it always has been, a productive working landscape. Traditional products from the woodland management such as firewood, hazel poles and sawn timber are still sold, contributing towards the costs of managing the Forest, keeping alive local markets, the important habitats and the historical integrity. Other income to pay for managing the Forest comes from the charges made to visitors for parking and income from the café, which only makes up around half of the total cost. Grants, donations and produce sales make up the balance.
The Forest is a place of living history, evidence of which abounds wherever you look.
Machinery may have replaced hand tools and visitors have replaced commoners, but walking through a coppice or past a tree that has been re-pollarded, is to walk through a thousand years of history. The continuation of the traditional practices of grazing, coppicing and pollarding are vital to conserve the habitats, the Forest’s landscape and its cultural significance for future generations of people and wildlife.
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