Catalogue description Forestry Commission and predecessors: Director of Forestry for England, Correspondence and Papers, New Forest

Search within or browse this series to find specific records of interest.

Date range

Details of F 10
Reference: F 10
Title: Forestry Commission and predecessors: Director of Forestry for England, Correspondence and Papers, New Forest
Description:

This series comprises files illustrating the administration of the Forest and covers a variety of subjects from the building of roads and military manoeuvres to the hunting of squirrels and collecting of moss.

Date: 1666-1958
Held by: The National Archives, Kew
Legal status: Public Record(s)
Language: English
Creator:

Forestry Commission, 1919-

Office of Woods, Forests and Land Revenues, 1810-1832

Office of Woods, Forests and Land Revenues, 1851-1924

Office of Woods, Forests, Land Revenues, Works and Buildings, 1832-1851

Surveyor General of Woods and Forests, 1715-1810

Physical description: 511 file(s)
Access conditions: Subject to 30 year closure unless otherwise stated
Unpublished finding aids:

A subject index to these papers (OBS 1359) is unfit for production but a photographic copy of this index is available. Please speak to staff at the enquiry desk for the precise location.

Administrative / biographical background:

The New Forest was a Royal Forest as early as the reign of Canute and in 1079 William I greatly extended its boundaries and appointed it a place of sanctuary for the King's deer. From 1554 until the end of the eighteenth century the management of Royal Forests was the concern of a Surveyor General of Woods, Forests, Parks and Chases. From the 17th century up to the middle of the nineteenth century the chief interest of the Forests lay in its capacity to produce timber for the shipyards of Hampshire. The New Forest Act of 1877 was the first to make statutory provision for preserving the amenities of the Forest.

Have you found an error with this catalogue description?

Help with your research