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Forest in Oxfordshire, England From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wychwood or Wychwood Forest is a 501.7-hectare (1,240-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north of Witney in Oxfordshire.[1][2] It is also a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade 1,[3] and an area of 263.4 hectares (651 acres) is a national nature reserve[4][5] The site contains a long barrow dating to the Neolithic period, which is a scheduled monument.[6]
Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
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Location | Oxfordshire |
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Grid reference | SP 337 170[1] |
Interest | Biological |
Area | 501.7 hectares (1,240 acres)[1] |
Notification | 1988[1] |
Location map | Magic Map |
In past centuries the forest covered a much larger area, since cleared in favour of agriculture, villages and towns. However, the forest's area has fluctuated. Parts cleared for agriculture during Britain's centuries under Roman rule later reverted to forest.[7] The existence of the ancient Wychwood is recognised by the authoritative Victoria County History, but the planned Volume XIX has yet to be completed.[8]
Wychwood is derived from an Old English name Huiccewudu meaning 'wood of a tribe called the Hwicce.[9] The Hwicce were the Anglo-Saxon people living in the area from some time in the 6th century until the assimilation of the Old English peoples into the wider Middle English society.[10]
Three villages take part of their name from Wychwood Forest: Milton-under-Wychwood, Shipton-under-Wychwood and Ascott-under-Wychwood. These villages, commonly referred to as The Wychwoods, used to be part of the Royal Forest of Wychwood.
Wychwood was formerly an extra-parochial area, in 1858 Wychwood became a separate civil parish, on 1 April 1949 the parish was abolished and merged with Cornbury Park to form Cornbury and Wychwood, part also went to Leafield.[13] In 1931 the parish had a population of 253.[14]
While Wychwood was a designated Royal Forest, royalty entrusted the management of the forest to loyal servants. The men in charge of the forest were called Foresters of Wychwood and, in later years, Keepers of Wychwood. Foresters were tasked with supplying the king with deer, wood, timber and charcoal. They were also charged with upholding the king's law by protecting the forest with the assistance of under-foresters, riding foresters and walking foresters. Foresters, together with verderers (judicial officers) could hold court and try offenders for both minor and major offences. The office of Forester of Wychwood was until 1361 held by the family of de Langley, seated at the manor of Langley in the parish of Shipton-under-Wychwood.[15] They were followed by the Earls of Warwick until 1499. Management was then given by the kings as favors to courtiers for life, among them were Robert Dudley (Earl of Leicester), Sir John Fortescue (Chancellor), Lord Clarendon (Chancellor) and George Spencer, the 4th Duke of Marlborough.[16]
Some of the land that had been cleared for agricultural use was purchased by the Woodland Trust, and re-planted with native English deciduous trees creating Shillbrook Wood, a 9-acre (3.6 ha) site near Bampton, and Eynsham Wood, a 13.37-acre (5.41 ha) site near Eynsham.[17][18]
Since the late 1990s there has been a resurgence of interest in the history and identity of the Wychwood, exemplified by the founding of the Wychwood Project, now known as The Wychwood Forest Trust.[19] Since 2000, the Wychwood Forest Trust has held an annual Forest Fair at a variety of locations within the old Wychwood boundary. This is a better-behaved revival of the traditional fair that was closed down in 1856 because of rowdy behaviour.
The modern Wychwood Forest Fair is centred on rural skills, heritage crafts, local communities and countryside traditions. It attracts a large number of visitors even in bad weather.
The Oxford University Historical Re-Enactment Society, also known as the Wychwood Warriors, is a reenactment group that recreates aspects of Saxon life in Wychwood during the Dark Ages.[20]
Fragments of the ancient forest survive, one on the Cornbury Estate near Charlbury retaining the name 'Wychwood'.[21]
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