New Forest Holiday Accommodation |
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The New Forest was originally commandeered in 1079 as a deer hunting area by the king, William the Conqueror. As Duke William of Normandy, he had successfully invaded England in 1066. The New Forest is a beautiful area, but it is not "natural" in the sense of untouched by man. The Forest has been moulded by the fads of monarchs since William, and the changing priorities of the Crown over the last 900 years: deer; timber for naval shipbuilding; commercial timber production; recreation. |
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As well as providing a visually remarkable and historic landscape, the ecological value of the New Forest is particularly great because of the relatively large areas of lowland habitats, lost elsewhere, which have survived. The area contains several kinds of important lowland habitat including valley bogs, wet heaths and deciduous woodland. |
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| Three species of snake inhabit the Forest. The adder is the most common being found on open heath and grassland. The grass snake prefers the damper invironment of the valley mires. The rare smooth snake can be found on sandy hillsides with heather and gorse. Numerous deer live in the Forest but are usually rather shy and tend to stay out of sight when people are around. Fallow deer are the most common followed by red deer. There are also smaller populations of sika deer and Muntjac. |
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| Why has the New Forest survived? In a simple practical sense, it has survived because the soils are impoverished. It was an infertile "waste" when William brought it under Forest Law; it is still an infertile waste. As well as most of the New Forest district of Hampshire, it takes in a small corner of Test Valley district around the village of Canada, and part of the Salisbury district in Wiltshire south-east of Redlynch. |
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