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To quote Richard Jefferies from his
essay on Buckhurst Park - "This wild tract of Ashdown Forest bears much resemblance to Exmoor;
you may walk, or you may ride, for hours and meet no one; and if black game were to start up it would not surprise you in the least.
There seems room enough to chase the red stag from Buckhurst Park
with horn and hound till, mayhap, he ended in the sea at Pevensey. Buckhurst Park
is the centre of this immense manor. ........... Here and there a house stands, as it seems, alone in the world on the Forest ridge,
thousands of acres of heather around, the deep weald underneath - as at Duddleswell,
a look-out, as it were, over the earth. Forest Row, where they say the courtiers had their booths in ancient hunting days;
Forest-Fold, Boar's-head Street,
Greenwood Gate - all have a forest sound; and what prettier name could there be than Sweet-Haws?
Greybirchet Wood, again; Mossbarn, Highbroom, and so on.
OutÂlying woods in every direction are fragments of the forest, you cannot get away from it;
and look over whatever gate you will, there is always a view. ........ Clouds drift over;
it is a wonderful observatory for cloud studies; they seem so close, the light is so strong,
and there is nothing to check the sight as far as its powers will reach. Clouds come up no wider than a pasture-field,
but in length stretching out to the very horizon, dividing the blue sky into two halves;
but then every day has its different clouds - the fleets of heaven that are always sailing on and know no haven"
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This site is dedicated to presenting the
records of the Weald of Kent, Surrey and Sussex that are more than
70 years old and in the public domain. It was launched in May 2003 and is
continually being updated with more information
about the Weald as it becomes available
from transcriptions of Census data, Parish
records, Pictures, Photographs, Maps, Books and
many other documents.
Thanks also to over
four hundred people who have kindly contributed
much additional information to the site.
Such contributions are welcome from all by
E-mail
or by using a form.
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