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: smuggler
New Forest: C19th daring marauder or domestic cottager?
Every so often I am passed little gems of information that shine a light into the recesses of time and illuminate the characters of those Forest dwellers long since past. One such item is from a newspaper article printed in … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest
Tagged brandy, C18th, carter, cottager, deer stealer, Forester, furze, keg, marauder, New forest, peasant, pig, Queen Victoria, Royal Agricultural Society, smuggler, swine, turf, vegetable, Westminster Abbey, wood-cutter
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New Forest: tales of the unexpected
As most people know, All Hallows’ Eve or Halloween celebrations have their origins in a festival for the dead that involved rituals to remember and pay respects to dearly departed loved ones, saints or martyrs. These rituals included observances such … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest
Tagged All Hallows, Beaulieu Abbey, free traders, ghost, graves, Halloween, highwayman, Holmesley Enclosure, New forest, occult, smuggler, spectre, supernatural, tales of the unexpected, undead, zombies
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New Forest: encroachers and embezzlers
Visitors to the New Forest are often delighted with the Olde English charm of its cottages, farms and former labourers dwellings. With an abundance of thatched roofs and cottage garden planting schemes, the quaint and pretty villages are the semblance … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest
Tagged Commissioners, embezzlers, Embezzling, encroachers, Forestry Commission, hovel, New forest, New Forest Act 1877, Office of Woods, Rural Rides, smuggler, squatter, thieves, vagrant, Verderer, William Cobbett, Woodgreen
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Smugglers in the New Forest.
The more I learn about the ancient system of commoning the more I realise that it has always been a very pragmatic way of life. The commoner’s intimate knowledge of the Forest and their canny resourcefulness enabled many, who often … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest Commoner, New Forest pony
Tagged black economy, booty, Commoner, commoning, contraband, Customs, Excise, free trading, Gentlemen of the Night, legend, New forest, pack pony, packhorse, pony, smuggler, smuggling, tax
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