History
Hainault Forest is one of the remaining sections of the former Forest of Essex in England. Epping Forest and Hatfield Forest are other remaining examples. The forest belonged to the abbey of Barking until the dissolution of the monasteries; it extended northwards to Theydon Bois (bois, "woodland"), east to Havering-atte-Bower, on the south to Aldborough Hatch, and westwards to Leytonstone. In a survey made for Henry VIII in 1544 its extent was some 3,000 acres (12 km2).
The forest land was condemned as waste by an Act of Parliament, 1851, disafforested, the deer removed, the old growth forest cut down, and the land divided for building lots, for a growing London. This was deplored by Sir Walter Besant in his works on London: the forest is also the setting for his novel All in a Garden Fair.
Read more about this topic: Hainault Forest Country Park
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