Alice Holt Forest
Encyclopedia
Alice Holt Forest is a former royal forest
in Hampshire
, situated some 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Farnham
, Surrey
. Once predominantly an ancient oak forest, it was particularly noted in the 18th and 19th centuries for the timber it supplied for the building of ships for the Royal Navy
. It is now planted mainly with conifers. The Forestry Commission
took over the management of the forest in 1924, and a research station was set up in 1946 in the Alice Holt Lodge, a former manor house. The forest is now part of the South Downs National Park
, which was established on 31 March 2010, and it forms the most northerly gateway to the park.
in AD 984, whose See (or Diocese) had rights over the forest, and was responsible for the land on behalf of the king. It is suggested that the name then became corrupted, with the name Alfsiholt being found in documents before the Norman Conquest (and later in 1169), followed by Alfieseholt in 1242, Halfyesholt in 1301, Aisholt in 1362/63 and finally Alice Holt in 1373.The second part of the name is derived from the Old English holt, a wood or thicket, usually a managed wood of a single species.
Other, less plausible, suggestions have been made that Alice could be a corruption of alor, Old Englisn for alder, or ysel, Old English for ash, referring to the ashes left in the woods by the once numerous Romano-British pottery kilns.
. It lies in the Gault clay vale that separates the chalk ridge which runs between Farnham and Alton from the malmstone (Greensand) hills or "hangers" (from the Old English hangra, wood on a steep slope) around Binsted. It occupies a low plateau with steeply sloping edges where deposits of stony Pleistocene drift, the remnants of ancient pre-glacial river terrace of the "Proto-Wey", overlie the heavy, wet Gault.
Alice Holt Forest was noted for the oak woodlands that grew on its thick Gault clay. In the 18th century the celebrated naturalist, Gilbert White
, who lived nearby at Selborne, contrasted Alice Holt with the adjacent Woolmer Forest
. He noted 'Though these two forests are only parted by a narrow range of enclosures, yet no two soils can be more different; for the Holt consists of a strong loam, of a miry nature, carrying a good turf, and abounding with oaks that grow to be large timber; while Woolmer is nothing but a hungry, sandy, barren waste', consisting 'entirely of sand covered with heath and fern...without having one standing tree in the whole extent'.
The forest is now mainly planted with conifers. According to the Forestry Commission, Alice Holt Forest Park today covers 851 hectares (2,102.9 acre) of mainly Corsican pine but approximately 140 hectares (345.9 acre) of oak, planted in 1815, still remain. Some broad-leaved species have also been reintroduced as part of a regeneration programme.
: the warm, wet phase which followed the retreat of the last Ice Age in Britain, some 7000 years ago. Occasional Mesolithic flints show early hunter-gatherers utilised the Forest, and although there are a few Iron Age
tumuli (burial mounds), the area seems to have been sparsely populated prior to the Roman period, on account of its unsuitability for farming.
Extensive kiln sites and associated claypits exist, which date from the Roman occupation of Britain
. The local antiquary General A.G. Wade performed large-scale investigations in the 1930s and 40s. These indicated that the Forest and surrounding areas were one of the most important centres for the industrial-scale production of domestic ceramics in Roman Britannia, supplying up to 60% of all pottery found in excavations at Staines and London and being transported across south-east England throughout the period from AD60 to the early 5th century, when industrial pottery production ceased shortly after the departure of the Roman legions. Alice Holt gives its name to a particular diagnostic pottery style from the Romano-British period, Alice Holt Pottery, a coarse grey sandy ware which has a particularly rough finish.
The area was subject to Forest Law (together with nearby largely treeless Woolmer Forest
) from the time of William the Conqueror and remained a Royal Forest thereafter.
The forests of Alice Holt and Woolmer, only separated by a narrow belt of cultivated and meadow land, were usually considered as one forest from at least medieval times, having been under the same administration from time immemorial and being managed by a single lord warden, and indeed were once known as the Royal Forest of Alice Holt and Woolmer.
Throughout the Middle Ages there are incidental documentary references to the deer (both red and fallow) and timber in the joint forest, but the first detailed survey was made in 1635, and this showed their total area to be 15493 acres (6,269.8 ha); this was said to have been much the same as in the year 1300, though in earlier times the forest may have been considerably larger. Little had changed when a further survey was made in 1790, although by then 6799 acres (2,751.5 ha) were privately owned.
From the 1770s onwards Alice Holt and Woolmer forests were required to devote themselves primarily to producing oak for the Royal Navy
, though they had been neglected and their trees were past their prime. The Lieutenant of the Forest was dismissed in 1811 and four years later the Office of Woods initiated a massive re-planting programme on 1600 acres (647.5 ha) of Alice Holt, all oaks. Records of traffic in oak timber during the Napoleonic wars indicate that the logs were taken not to Portsmouth, the nearest port, but 10 miles (16.1 km) overland to the River Wey
at Godalming
, Surrey, whence they were shipped or floated down to the Thames dockyards in London.
Many of the oaks planted in 1815 were still there 100 years later, but many were then felled during World War I
. Replacement of the oaks by conifers took place between the two world wars, and accelerated in World War II
. When the Forestry Commission
took over Alice Holt, Woolmer and other Crown forests in 1924, Alice Holt had become much reduced in extent, covering 2142 acres (866.8 ha), and Woolmer was slightly smaller.
On 31 March 2010 Alice Holt Forest, along with the rest of the western Weald
, became part of the South Downs National Park
.
Recently Alice Holt oak has been used to build a replica of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre
in London
.
s, environmental change
and wood fuel
s.
, now regards Alice Holt Forest as a national centre of excellence for cycling, and it has been used as an example best practice for projects elsewhere.
Royal forest
A royal forest is an area of land with different meanings in England, Wales and Scotland; the term forest does not mean forest as it is understood today, as an area of densely wooded land...
in Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
, situated some 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Farnham
Farnham
Farnham is a town in Surrey, England, within the Borough of Waverley. The town is situated some 42 miles southwest of London in the extreme west of Surrey, adjacent to the border with Hampshire...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
. Once predominantly an ancient oak forest, it was particularly noted in the 18th and 19th centuries for the timber it supplied for the building of ships for the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
. It is now planted mainly with conifers. The Forestry Commission
Forestry Commission
The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for forestry in Great Britain. Its mission is to protect and expand Britain's forests and woodlands and increase their value to society and the environment....
took over the management of the forest in 1924, and a research station was set up in 1946 in the Alice Holt Lodge, a former manor house. The forest is now part of the South Downs National Park
South Downs National Park
The South Downs National Park is England's newest National Park, having become fully operational on 1 April 2011. The park, covering an area of in southern England, stretches for from Winchester in the west to Eastbourne in the east through the counties of Hampshire, West Sussex and East Sussex...
, which was established on 31 March 2010, and it forms the most northerly gateway to the park.
Toponymy
The first part of the name, Alice, is believed to be most likely derived from Ælfsige, Bishop of WinchesterBishop of Winchester
The Bishop of Winchester is the head of the Church of England diocese of Winchester, with his cathedra at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire.The bishop is one of five Church of England bishops to be among the Lords Spiritual regardless of their length of service. His diocese is one of the oldest and...
in AD 984, whose See (or Diocese) had rights over the forest, and was responsible for the land on behalf of the king. It is suggested that the name then became corrupted, with the name Alfsiholt being found in documents before the Norman Conquest (and later in 1169), followed by Alfieseholt in 1242, Halfyesholt in 1301, Aisholt in 1362/63 and finally Alice Holt in 1373.The second part of the name is derived from the Old English holt, a wood or thicket, usually a managed wood of a single species.
Other, less plausible, suggestions have been made that Alice could be a corruption of alor, Old Englisn for alder, or ysel, Old English for ash, referring to the ashes left in the woods by the once numerous Romano-British pottery kilns.
Geology and ecology
The Forest is situated in the western WealdWestern Weald
The western Weald is an area of undulating countryside in Hampshire and West Sussex containing a mixture of woodland and heathland areas.It lies to the south of the towns of Bordon, Haslemere and Rake and to the west of the town of Pulborough. It includes the towns of Liss and Petersfield on its...
. It lies in the Gault clay vale that separates the chalk ridge which runs between Farnham and Alton from the malmstone (Greensand) hills or "hangers" (from the Old English hangra, wood on a steep slope) around Binsted. It occupies a low plateau with steeply sloping edges where deposits of stony Pleistocene drift, the remnants of ancient pre-glacial river terrace of the "Proto-Wey", overlie the heavy, wet Gault.
Alice Holt Forest was noted for the oak woodlands that grew on its thick Gault clay. In the 18th century the celebrated naturalist, Gilbert White
Gilbert White
Gilbert White FRS was a pioneering English naturalist and ornithologist.-Life:White was born in his grandfather's vicarage at Selborne in Hampshire. He was educated at the Holy Ghost School and by a private tutor in Basingstoke before going to Oriel College, Oxford...
, who lived nearby at Selborne, contrasted Alice Holt with the adjacent Woolmer Forest
Woolmer Forest
Woolmer Forest is a former medieval royal hunting forest. It lies within the western Weald in the South Downs National Park, straddling the border between east Hampshire and West Sussex. Covering an area of some , it is both a Special Area of Conservation and a Site of Special Scientific Interest...
. He noted 'Though these two forests are only parted by a narrow range of enclosures, yet no two soils can be more different; for the Holt consists of a strong loam, of a miry nature, carrying a good turf, and abounding with oaks that grow to be large timber; while Woolmer is nothing but a hungry, sandy, barren waste', consisting 'entirely of sand covered with heath and fern...without having one standing tree in the whole extent'.
The forest is now mainly planted with conifers. According to the Forestry Commission, Alice Holt Forest Park today covers 851 hectares (2,102.9 acre) of mainly Corsican pine but approximately 140 hectares (345.9 acre) of oak, planted in 1815, still remain. Some broad-leaved species have also been reintroduced as part of a regeneration programme.
Archaeology and history
A few finds of Paleolithic tools indicate the use of the area by Old Stone Age hunters during previous inter-glacial periods, but the Forest as we know it originated in the Atlantic periodAtlantic (period)
The Atlantic in palaeoclimatology was the warmest and moistest Blytt-Sernander period, pollen zone and chronozone of Holocene northern Europe. The climate was generally warmer than today. It was preceded by the Boreal, with a climate similar to today’s, and was followed by the Sub-Boreal, a...
: the warm, wet phase which followed the retreat of the last Ice Age in Britain, some 7000 years ago. Occasional Mesolithic flints show early hunter-gatherers utilised the Forest, and although there are a few Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
tumuli (burial mounds), the area seems to have been sparsely populated prior to the Roman period, on account of its unsuitability for farming.
Extensive kiln sites and associated claypits exist, which date from the Roman occupation of Britain
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
. The local antiquary General A.G. Wade performed large-scale investigations in the 1930s and 40s. These indicated that the Forest and surrounding areas were one of the most important centres for the industrial-scale production of domestic ceramics in Roman Britannia, supplying up to 60% of all pottery found in excavations at Staines and London and being transported across south-east England throughout the period from AD60 to the early 5th century, when industrial pottery production ceased shortly after the departure of the Roman legions. Alice Holt gives its name to a particular diagnostic pottery style from the Romano-British period, Alice Holt Pottery, a coarse grey sandy ware which has a particularly rough finish.
The area was subject to Forest Law (together with nearby largely treeless Woolmer Forest
Woolmer Forest
Woolmer Forest is a former medieval royal hunting forest. It lies within the western Weald in the South Downs National Park, straddling the border between east Hampshire and West Sussex. Covering an area of some , it is both a Special Area of Conservation and a Site of Special Scientific Interest...
) from the time of William the Conqueror and remained a Royal Forest thereafter.
The forests of Alice Holt and Woolmer, only separated by a narrow belt of cultivated and meadow land, were usually considered as one forest from at least medieval times, having been under the same administration from time immemorial and being managed by a single lord warden, and indeed were once known as the Royal Forest of Alice Holt and Woolmer.
Throughout the Middle Ages there are incidental documentary references to the deer (both red and fallow) and timber in the joint forest, but the first detailed survey was made in 1635, and this showed their total area to be 15493 acres (6,269.8 ha); this was said to have been much the same as in the year 1300, though in earlier times the forest may have been considerably larger. Little had changed when a further survey was made in 1790, although by then 6799 acres (2,751.5 ha) were privately owned.
From the 1770s onwards Alice Holt and Woolmer forests were required to devote themselves primarily to producing oak for the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
, though they had been neglected and their trees were past their prime. The Lieutenant of the Forest was dismissed in 1811 and four years later the Office of Woods initiated a massive re-planting programme on 1600 acres (647.5 ha) of Alice Holt, all oaks. Records of traffic in oak timber during the Napoleonic wars indicate that the logs were taken not to Portsmouth, the nearest port, but 10 miles (16.1 km) overland to the River Wey
River Wey
The River Wey in Surrey, Hampshire and West Sussex is a tributary of the River Thames with two separate branches which join at Tilford. The source of the north branch is at Alton, Hampshire and of the south branch at both Blackdown south of Haslemere, and also close to Gibbet Hill, near Hindhead...
at Godalming
Godalming
Godalming is a town and civil parish in the Waverley district of the county of Surrey, England, south of Guildford. It is built on the banks of the River Wey and is a prosperous part of the London commuter belt. Godalming shares a three-way twinning arrangement with the towns of Joigny in France...
, Surrey, whence they were shipped or floated down to the Thames dockyards in London.
Many of the oaks planted in 1815 were still there 100 years later, but many were then felled during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Replacement of the oaks by conifers took place between the two world wars, and accelerated in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. When the Forestry Commission
Forestry Commission
The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for forestry in Great Britain. Its mission is to protect and expand Britain's forests and woodlands and increase their value to society and the environment....
took over Alice Holt, Woolmer and other Crown forests in 1924, Alice Holt had become much reduced in extent, covering 2142 acres (866.8 ha), and Woolmer was slightly smaller.
On 31 March 2010 Alice Holt Forest, along with the rest of the western Weald
Western Weald
The western Weald is an area of undulating countryside in Hampshire and West Sussex containing a mixture of woodland and heathland areas.It lies to the south of the towns of Bordon, Haslemere and Rake and to the west of the town of Pulborough. It includes the towns of Liss and Petersfield on its...
, became part of the South Downs National Park
South Downs National Park
The South Downs National Park is England's newest National Park, having become fully operational on 1 April 2011. The park, covering an area of in southern England, stretches for from Winchester in the west to Eastbourne in the east through the counties of Hampshire, West Sussex and East Sussex...
.
Recently Alice Holt oak has been used to build a replica of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre
Globe Theatre
The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, and was destroyed by fire on 29 June 1613...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Environmental designations
The forest is a designated Site of Interest for Nature Conservation. Part of it is dedicated as a research area, used for studies into subjects such as forest carbon dynamicCarbon cycle
The carbon cycle is the biogeochemical cycle by which carbon is exchanged among the biosphere, pedosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the Earth...
s, environmental change
Environmental change
Environmental change is defined as a change or disturbance of the environment by natural ecological processes, and is described in the following articles:*Climate change*Environment...
and wood fuel
Wood fuel
Wood fuel is wood used as fuel. The burning of wood is currently the largest use of energy derived from a solid fuel biomass. Wood fuel can be used for cooking and heating, and occasionally for fueling steam engines and steam turbines that generate electricity. Wood fuel may be available as...
s.
Recreational facilities
The forest is one of the Forestry Commission's most popular destinations, attracting over 290,000 visitors a year. Its facilities include a cafe, natural spaces and outdoor play structures for children to explore, cycle hire, and over 8 miles of waymarked trails for walking and cycling. Horse-riding is permitted in some parts of the forest. A notable success has been the Cycling for All project, which provides opportunities for people of all ages and abilities to improve their health and well-being through cycling. The Forestry Commission's project partner, the CTCCyclists' Touring Club
CTC and the UK's national cyclists' organisation are the trading names of the Cyclists' Touring Club.CTC is the United Kingdom's largest cycling membership organisation. It also has member groups in the Republic of Ireland...
, now regards Alice Holt Forest as a national centre of excellence for cycling, and it has been used as an example best practice for projects elsewhere.
External links
- Forestry Commission's Alice Holt Forest web page
- Alice Holt Woodland Park
- Alice Holt trail map
- Alice Holt Forest (CTC - National Cyclists' Organisation)