The New Forest

The New Forest, one of Britain’s oldest medieval forests – is now tagged as an area of outstanding beauty, heritage and one of the United Kingdoms treasured National Parks. As you venture your way into the New Forest, it becomes very apparent that this beautiful place is unique on so many levels – from the way the wildlife peacefully interact with the locals and visitors to the delightful range of scenery and landscapes – which changes from season to season.

You’re in the New Forest – one of the must see natural sights of beauty on any visit or holiday to England. A visit or holiday within the New Forest can be special for multiple reasons. Small towns like Lyndhurst, Brockenhurst and Burley are a joy to explore, there are numerous forests, heaths and wildlife to explore in the vast spaces between villages and there are a number of additional attractions, theme parks, gardens and wildlife centres dotted in and about the park area.

The New Forest encompasses an area of 150 square miles, and within the space there are ancient woodlands, heathlands that are blanketed by gorse and age old valleys.

As you explore, you’ll uncover picture perfect, quaint English villages – the type with narrow winding lanes and quaint little cafes and tea-shops, you’ll see horses, ponies, cows and many other animals and birds just frolicking in the landscape either side of you (and sometimes on the roads). You’ll also get the chance to take on some wonderful walks and treks that dissect rivers, streams and more. It’s why New Forest is one of the most wonderful natural places in Southern England, and why over seven million people come to visit every year.

A Brief History About The New Forest…

It’s been discovered that settlers to the New Forest can be traced back to the Bronze age, where they cut through woodland to cultivate crops. This is one of the reasons for the distinctive and varied landscapes – where you can see woodland on one side of the road and heathland on the other. The heavy farming conducted by these bronze age settlers resulted in the heaths so devoid of any trees to this day.

The actual “New Forest” was created in the late 10th century when William The Conqueror wished to create a hunting area (hunting being highly prevalent at the time as a royal sport).

Later on, around the 17th century, the Bucklers Hard village was founded in order to use timber in nearby areas in order to produce naval battle ships. This placed a tremendous strain on the timber reserves and woodland in the New Forest and it wasn’t until 1877 that the New Forest Act was introduced to preserve timber in the forest.

It wasn’t until 2005 that New Forest officially became an official National Park – and the number of visitors to this beautiful natural place of beauty is increasing year on year.