Whinfell Forest - History

History

Whinfell Forest has existed since at least 1203 when it "formed part of King John's grant of the Barony of Westmorland to Robert de Veteripont". In 1283 it was divided between Isabella and Idonea, daughters of Robert II de Vieuxpont. It is frequently mentioned in the diaries of Lady Anne Clifford (1590-1676) as she travelled in the area visiting Brougham Castle and Appleby-in-Westmorland.

Whinfell Park was at the core of the forest. Its proximity to Inglewood Forest meant that it was mentioned in court documents relating to disputes between the two areas. The park contained two frequently-mentioned landmark trees: the Harthhorn Tree and the Three Brother Tree. The harthorn tree had a hart's horn embedded in it. The Three Brother Tree was the sole survivor of three unusually large oaks called the Three Brethren. The site of the Harthorn Tree is marked on old maps. The name "Three Oaks" is used within the Center Parcs site. By 1779, the park had been divided into farms by enclosure.

Today, the forest forms part of the Lowther estates. A large part of it is designated by Natural England as Ancient Replanted Woodland.

Read more about this topic:  Whinfell Forest

Famous quotes containing the word history:

    We are told that men protect us; that they are generous, even chivalric in their protection. Gentlemen, if your protectors were women, and they took all your property and your children, and paid you half as much for your work, though as well or better done than your own, would you think much of the chivalry which permitted you to sit in street-cars and picked up your pocket- handkerchief?
    Mary B. Clay, U.S. suffragist. As quoted in History of Woman Suffrage, vol. 4, ch. 3, by Susan B. Anthony and Ida Husted Harper (1902)

    The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.
    Karl Marx (1818–1883)

    All history attests that man has subjected woman to his will, used her as a means to promote his selfish gratification, to minister to his sensual pleasures, to be instrumental in promoting his comfort; but never has he desired to elevate her to that rank she was created to fill. He has done all he could to debase and enslave her mind; and now he looks triumphantly on the ruin he has wrought, and say, the being he has thus deeply injured is his inferior.
    Sarah M. Grimke (1792–1873)