Hatfield:The Last Royal Hunting Forest

Hatfield Forest is an outstanding ancient woodland situated between the small villages of Takely, Hallingbury, and Bush End and is one of the oldest woodlands left in Europe. It is home to more than 880 ancient trees, with superb pollarded hornbeams and oaks and a variety of wildlife. There are a range of tracks that meander past the lake and through the leafy forest, grassy meadows and ancient natural habitats to explore. There are wonderful walks and nature trails in what was once a small, medieval royal hunting forest. It spans across West Essex into Hertfordshire and encompasses open grassland, coppiced woodland and marshland. The lake is popular for fishing, and you’ll find cattle and sheep grazing in the clearings. Hatfield Forest is unique in that it has survived intact, with written records over the last 9 centuries -not only by Kings, but landowners, tenants and peasants alike.
Ancient Settlers
The name Hatfield Forest comes from the Anglo-Saxon word Hoep-Field. Its modern meaning is 'heathfield'; 'Hoep' meaning heathland, and 'field' meaning not field, but open space in sight of woodland. The first inhabitants of this area were from the bronze/iron age. These communities of people built settlements to the north edge of the forest.The remains of an Iron Age farmstead called Portingbury Hills can still be seen in Beggars Hall Coppice, as a large rectangular mound surrounded by a wide ditch, and leading up to it nearby is another oblong, rounded mound, with a less noticeable ditch and Sherborne Brook somewhat enclosing it. In Roman times the area was used for farming, and the woodlands played an important part in supplying fuel, essential in local life for making bricks, iron, pottery, glass and for the villas baths. A farming village was excavated nearby, beside Takely village on the present site of Stansted airport when it was being built. In 1979 Roman pottery was found in Collin’s Coppice. Both the ancient churches of Great and Little Hallingbury next to Hatfield Forest are full of Roman brick, and thought to stand on the site of old Roman villas. The Roman road to Dunmow still passes the northern boundary of the forest. There have always been people living close by or within the forest. In fact one small hamlet called Wood End Green is inside the National Trust boundary nestled right on the Forest edge and the residents live a quiet life far from main roads.
The Forest covers just over 424 hectares of medieval woodland including Wall Wood and Woodside Green, and it has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a National Nature Reserve.
It boasts an extraordinary wealth of wildlife, including Green and Great Spotted woodpeckers, Golden plover, Nightingales, Warblers, Bullfinches, Redwings, Greenfinches, Chaffinches, Jays, Nuthatches, Long-tailed Tit, 56 Gadwall, Pochard, Tufted duck, Mallard, badgers, roe and muntjac deer. The lake, surrounded by dense greenery and lush marshes, attracts Teal, Marsh tit, Tufted Ducks, Mallards, nesting Terns in spring, and Great Crested Grebes.
Unusual plants and flowers can be spotted too. Look out in particular for Oxlip, Stinking Hellebore, Bog Pimpernel, Broad Blysmus, Bee and Pyramidal Orchids, Adders-tongue ferns, Self-Heal, St. Johns Wort, Great Mullein, Water Mint and other native species.
Perhaps the forest’s biggest wildlife attractions are the magnificent herds of Fallow Deer, some of which are descended from the original herd introduced to the forest by Henry I who declared it a Royal Hunting Forest in the early 12th century. It was part of the great Forest of Essex, which was at one point linked with Lea Valley, Epping and Hainault Forests and covered thousands of hectares reaching as far as the city of London. 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.
If you are quiet, you should be able to catch a glimpse of these shy animals in herds of up to 40 on the wide, open glades.
Royal roots
Hatfield Forest was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. It belonged to King Harold, passing to William the Conqueror after his defeat at the battle of Hastings.
Created as a royal estate by William the Conqueror, it was developed as a hunting park by Henry I in the 12th century. By 1737, the forest, as part of Hallingbury Estate, found its way into the hands of the Houblon family, who created the lake. The young Laetitia Houblon was responsible for decorating the lakeside Shell House, which is encrusted with delicate shells imported from the West Indies. Info leaflets are available at the car park kiosk, and guide books can be purchased during open hours at the tearoom giftshop beside the lake.

Yews, horse chestnuts and black pines were also planted in the forest, to accompany the well-established oak trees.

Some of the gentle giants are 1,200 years old, making the pollarded trees in the open parkland seem young at 600. The mossy, twisted tree roots claw at the rich smelling, damp earth where rabbits have been digging. The oldest oak in the forest can be found erupting from the creeping undergrowth in Collins Coppice, and the largest oak, massive at more than 16 feet in girth can be found off the beaten path deep in the south end of the forest beyond the scrub among veteran ash trees, ancient field maples and wizened hawthornes.

Rabbit catcher

The former route from Essex to London passes through Hatfield Forest, and is now an open stretch of parkland called London Road. Portingbury Hills is another area worth exploring – the low mounds and ditches are the remains of a small Iron Age settlement. Meanwhile, The Warren, sitting to the west of the lake, is a 17th-century rabbit warren and lodge, formerly occupied by the onsite rabbit breeder, who would have provided the rabbit meat and fur for the wealthy estate owners.

Hatfield Forest is still an important working forest today, providing venison, timber and grazing land. The weathered trees are an attraction in their own right. Their weathered ancient trunks, coiled roots and wonderfully climbable structures (using caution and common sense) have lived through centuries, in some cases even a millenium of human history.
If trees could only talk, just think of the stories these old-timers could tell us. Each time you visit, a surprise discovery is almost guaranteed to be waiting for you.
On my last foray to the forest with my son, we found an old cyder bottle that dates back to the1800s beside a massive fallen oak tree. Photography opportunities aplenty are waiting for any soul enthusistic and adventurous enough to explore and appreciate this wonderful place.
I hope you take the opportunity to visit this beautiful forest yourself.