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: New forest
New Forest: hand fasting in a woodland glade
Recently I was invited to a hand fasting wedding ceremony that took place within a leafy glade in the New Forest*. The weather was perfect, as dappled sunlight showered through the canopy of beech, ash and oak trees. A gentle … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest
Tagged Anglo Saxon, betrothal, Braveheart, bride, Celtic, ceremony, groom, hand fasting, Hollywood, Mel Gibson, Middle Ages, New forest, Oberon, Old Norse, Prince Albert, Queen Victoria, Romantic Period, sylvan, tyng the knot, wedding, William Wallace
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New Forest: the celebrity snake catcher
July 1st marks the anniversary of the death of one of the New Forest’s most famous residents. Born in March 1840, in Emery Down, Lyndhurst, he was named Henry but in later life became more popularly known as Harry ‘Brusher’ … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest
Tagged adder, Balmer Lawn, Brockenhurst, charcoal burner, Country Life, Emery Down, Harry Brusher Mills, London Zoo, New forest, Railway Inn, snake, Snakecatcher, Vipera berus berus
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New Forest: foals and fawns
Regular visitors to the New Forest will, hopefully, by now have had a chance to see some of the pony and donkey foals that are currently to be found roaming on the Open Forest. They are charming little additions to … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest flora & fauna
Tagged baby deer, cattle, commonable animals, commoners, deer, donkeys, fallow deer, fawn, foal, Forestry Commission, muntjac deer, New forest, pigs, ponies, red deer, roe deer, royal hunting, sheep, sika deer, Verderers, wildlife
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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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New Forest: wildlife that bites, stings and kicks!
The New Forest is internationally important because of its mosaic of habitats, which contain many rare and endangered species. Traditional management practices, particularly commoning, have conserved the ecological diversity of the Forest. But for all its beauty this is not … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest flora & fauna
Tagged adder, bears, bees, bite, biting insects, broom, Cytisus scoparius, donkey, elder-tree, Geranium robertianum, herb robert, kick, ladybirds, lice, Lyme borreliosis, Lyme’s Disease, New forest, pony, Public Health, Sambucus nigra, sting, ticks, wasps, wolves
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New Forest: chalybeate springs and aquatic things
I was watching visitors paddling in one of the many Forest streams recently and it made me reflect on the distinctiveness of the watercourses on the New Forest. The New Forest contains streams, ponds, and mires, as well as coastal … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest flora & fauna
Tagged amphibians, Bog, chalybeate, Eyeworth Pond, Fritham, Hampshire Avon, Hirudo medicinalis, invertebrates, Latchmoor Brook, leeches, Mire, New forest, pollution, Shultze Gunpowder Factory, smokeless gunpowder, spring, stream, wildlife
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New Forest: Eclipse – the son of Marske
In the month of May, just under 250 years ago, began the career of the most celebrated racehorse of his day and one of the most famous Thoroughbred horses in history. Foaled in 1764, Eclipse was a mean tempered colt … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest pony
Tagged Bisterne, breeding, Duke of Cumberland, Earl of Abingdon, Eclipse, foal, George II, George Stubbs, Georgian, guineas, mares, Marske, New forest, New Forest pony, Racehorse, racing, Ringwood, Spilletta, stallion, stud, Tattersalls, Thoroughbred
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New Forest: stallions vs geldings – boys will be boys!
Regular visitors to the New Forest will be aware that at the moment (updated May 2017) the stallions have been set loose to run with the free-roaming mares, causing much excitement among the herds of semi-feral ponies. Generally speaking the New … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest pony
Tagged biodiversity, bull, Byelaw, castrated, colt, courtship, filly, gelding, herd dynamics, mare, New forest, Open Forest, pig, pony, sheep, stallion, territory, Verderer
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New Forest: stallion areas 2015
Each year stallions are released onto the Open Forest to run with the free-roaming mares to sire the next generation of New Forest pony. The stallions are carefully selected by the Verderer’s of the New Forest, the Commoners’ Defence Assocation and … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest pony
Tagged Commoners Defence Association, New forest, New Forest Pony Breeding & Cattle Society, stallion, Verderers
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New Forest: the first cuckoo of spring
(Posted 27 April 2015). Those people, who like me, rise early in the morning cannot have missed over the past few weeks the melodious symphony of the dawn chorus. The sound of bird song is much more noticeable from March … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest flora & fauna
Tagged breeding season, cuckold, cuckoo, Cuculus canorus, Dawn chorus, Downton Cuckoo Fair, Edmund Spenser, folklore, luck, messenger of spring, New forest, spring chorus, springtime, St. John's Day, St. Tiburtius Day, superstition
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