3-028-819 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Sketches in Epping Forest, 1871. 'Fairmead Lodge; Chingford Church; The Roebuck, Buckhurst Hill; View from Highbeech; Old Beeches near Loughton; Ambresbury Banks, an ancient British camp; Old Hornbeams, Snaresbrook; Queen Elizabeth's Hunting Lodge; Epping Old Church...The preservation of those portions which still remain of the great forest of Essex, within a few miles of the crowded east end of London, for the healthful recreation of the people dwelling in this "million-peopled city," is an object that has lately engaged much of public attention...There are few rural districts in England more abundantly filled with associations of historical interest, and few of greater natural beauty in the Home Counties...there are many groups or clusters of fine beeches...It is quite possible to enjoy the romantic sensation of losing your way in the woods, a few hundred yards from the railway station at Buckhurst-hill; and twenty minutes' walk from the train at Loughton will bring you to High Beech, where you may seek refuge in a leaf-curtained grove of the noblest trees, or may look forth, over three or four miles of woodland valleys, either towards Epping, or in the direction of Theydon Bois and Chigwell, or eastward to Chingford and Waltham Abbey'. From "Illustrated London News", 1871.