The Gallery
Learning about and practising commoning on the New Forest.
In medieval times a forest meant an area preserved for royal hunting, and not a wooded area as it does today.
The Agisiter ensures welfare standards of the free-roaming animals are maintained.
The ‘architects’ of the New Forest.
The New Forest landscape supports many species of plants, insects, birds and mammals. It should be valued as a reserve for nature.
One of many gatherings where Commoners can exchange news, information and knowledge.
Pannage season is part of the ancient commoning rights and a popular tradition.
Traditional management practices, particularly commoning, have conserved the ecological diversity of the Forest.
Tag Archives: Lyndhurst
New Forest: some stallion stories
To celebrate the New Forest pony breeding season, which runs from Monday 14th May until Monday 18th June*, and is when licensed stallions are released to run with the free-roaming Forest mares, I thought that I would take a look … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest Stallion
Tagged aggressive, Agister, agricultural show, animal, breeding, Eclipse, foal, Hampshire, horse, horseflesh, horsepower, kicked, Lymington, Lyndhurst, mail coach, mare, Marske, money, pets, pony, prize, Salisbury, Southampton, stage coach, stallion
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New Forest: old records show crime and lies do not pay
Every now and then I get the chance to sit down and read the newspaper as part of my job. Quite often though, the newspaper in question dates from the eighteenth or nineteenth centuries. These historical broadsheets make fascinating reading … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest
Tagged coney, constable, court, crime, criminal, defendant, disorderly, drunk, eighteenth century, Georgian, lies, Lyndhurst, magistrate, New forest, nineteenth century, Oryctolagus cuniculus, Petty Sessions, poach, police, rabbit, shoplifter, trespass, Victorian
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New Forest: medieval dog maiming
I was interested to learn recently that the New Forest has more visitors per square kilometre than any other national park (7.5 visits/km2), and that dog walking was the most common reason for visiting the New Forest throughout the year.[1] … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged canine, Charta de Foresta, claws, Commoners Charter, dogs, expedited, Forest, hunting, lamed, law, lawed, Lymington, Lyndhurst, Magna Carta, maimed, mastiff, Museum, New forest, paws, poaching, terrier, toes, Verderers, walking, William Conqueror
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New Forest: celebrating a Victorian Christmas
The traditions of Christmas that many of us enjoy, such as sending Christmas cards, bringing fir trees into our homes and decorating them, and eating turkey, were not observed prior to the nineteenth century. Queen Victoria and her husband, Albert, … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest
Tagged Carol, Charles Dickens, Christmas, custom, decorations, festive, fir tree, Hampshire, handbells, Lyndhurst, minstrel, mulled wine, mummer, New forest, party games, Postmaster, Queen Victoria, sober, Tradition, troupe, Victorian
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New Forest: the hunters and the hunted
The history of the New Forest is very closely intertwined with that of hunting. Indeed, it was for that very purpose that the New Forest was established nearly a thousand years ago. Royal hunting favoured red deer but also extended … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest
Tagged assizes, bloodhound, Bolton's Bench, carriage, chaise, deer, Deering's Town, Derby, equipage, fox, foxhound, hare, hog, hunted, hunter, Lyndhurst, New forest, omnibus, pig, robbery, Royal Buckhounds, stag, stealing, Winchester
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New Forest: jingling matches and donkey races
The New Forest has always enjoyed a close association with the monarchy. During the eighteenth century it was a favourite destination for George III, who would often stay with his family before moving on to the seaside town of Weymouth. … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest customs
Tagged Blindman's Buff, Crown Inn, donkey race, eighteenth century, Fair, George III, Golf Club, Jingle Match, London, Lord Warden, Lyndhurst, Lyndhurst Racecourse, New forest, newspaper, pony sales, Southampton, sports day, women jockeys
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New Forest: harvesting holly for Christmas.
Last month (posted December 2015), as I made my way into the New Forest to check on my free-roaming ponies, I came across several contractors harvesting holly for the Christmas trade. This winter activity has long been a legitimate part … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest customs, New Forest pony
Tagged butcher, Christmas, Evergreen, harvesting, holly, ivy, Lymington, Lyndhurst, New forest, pony, railway, seagull, Victorian, Workhouse
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New Forest: the model township of 1709
In the summer of 1709 boats packed with refugees began to arrive in England. These ‘Poor Palatines’, as they became known, were the first of over 10,000 Germans to arrive between May and November of that year. Displaced by war, … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest
Tagged 1709, Attorney, Black Death, colony, Court of Claims, cultivation, Daniel Defoe, Foreign and Protestants Naturalization Act 1708, German, Government, Great Plague, husbandry, immigrant crisis, Lyndhurst, model township, naturalisation, New forest, Poor Palatines, protestant, Rhine, shilling, Solicitor General, township, xenophobia
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New Forest: fence month
William the Conqueror, who is credited with establishing the New Forest in the 11th century, was a keen huntsman and created laws of venison and vert to protect his quarry and its habitat. The forest laws that he introduced were … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest Commoner
Tagged Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, Charter of the Forest, commoners, commoning, Court of Verderers, deer, Deer Removal Act, fence month, Forest Law, Justice in Eyre, Lyndhurst, New forest, New Forest Act, Orders and Rules of the New Forest, quit rent, wild beasts, William the Conqueror
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