On the verge of the forest, as it is now circumscribed, are three
considerable lakes, two in Oakhanger, of which I have nothing particular
to say; and one called Bin's, or Bean's Pond, which is worthy the
attention of a naturalist or a sportsman. For, being crowded at the
upper end with willows, and with the carex cespitosa, it affords such a
safe and pleasing shelter to wild ducks, teals, snipes, etc., that they
breed there. In the winter this covert is also frequented by foxes, and
sometimes by pheasants; and the bogs produce many curious plants. (For
which consult Letter XLI. to Mr. Barrington.)
By a perambulation of Wolmer Forest and the Holt, made in 1635, and the
eleventh year of Charles I. (which now lies before me), it appears that
the limits of the former are much circumscribed. For, to say nothing of
the farther side, with which I am not so well acquainted, the bounds on
this side, in old times, came into Binswood, and extended to the ditch of
Ward le Ham Park, in which stands the curious mount called King John's
Hill, and Lodge Hill; and to the verge of Hartley Mauduit, called Mauduit
Hatch; comprehending also Short Heath, Oakhanger, and Oakwoods--a large
district, now private property, though once belonging to the royal
domain.
It is remarkable that the term purlieu is never once mentioned in this
long roll of parchment. It contains, besides the perambulation, a rough
estimate of the value of the timbers, which were considerable, growing at
that time in the district of the Holt, and enumerates the officers,
superior and inferior, of those joint forests, for the time being, and
their ostensible fees and perquisites. In those days, as at present,
there were hardly any trees in Wolmer Forest.
Within the present limits of the forest are three considerable lakes,
Hogmer, Cranmer, and Wolmer, all of which are stocked with carp, tench,
eels, and perch: but the fish do not thrive well, because the water is
hungry, and the bottoms are a naked sand.
A circumstance respecting these ponds, though by no means peculiar to
them, I cannot pass over in silence; and that is, that instinct by which
in summer all the kine, whether oxen, cows, calves, or heifers, retire
constantly to the water during the hotter hours; where, being more exempt
from flies, and inhaling the coolness of that element, some belly deep,
and some only to mid-leg, they ruminate and solace themselves from about
ten in the morning till four in the afternoon, and then return to their
feeding. During this great proportion of the day they drop much dung, in
which insects nestle, and so supply food for the fish, which would be
poorly subsisted but from this contingency. Thus Nature, who is a great
economist, converts the recreation of one animal to the support of
another! Thomson, who was a nice observer of natural occurrences, did
not let this pleasing circumstance escape him. He says, in his "Summer,"
"A various group the herds and flocks compose;
. . . on the grassy bank
Some ruminating lie; while others stand
Half in the flood, and, often bending, sip
The circling surface."
Wolmer Pond, so called, I suppose, for eminence sake, is a vast lake for
this part of the world, containing, in its whole circumference, 2,646
yards, or very near a mile and a half. The length of the north-west and
opposite side is about 704 yards, and the breadth of the south-west end
about 456 yards. This measurement, which I caused to be made with good
exactness, gives an area of about sixty-six acres, exclusive of a large
irregular arm at the north-east corner, which we did not take into the
reckoning.
On the face of this expanse of waters, and perfectly secure from fowlers,
lie all day long, in the winter season, vast flocks of ducks, teals, and
widgeons, of various denominations, where they preen and solace, and rest
themselves, till towards sunset, when they issue forth in little parties
(for in their natural state they are all birds of the night) to feed in
the brooks and meadows, returning again with the dawn of the morning.
Had this lake an arm or two more, and were it planted round with thick
covert (for now it is perfectly naked), it might make a valuable decoy.
Yet neither its extent, nor the clearness of its water, nor the resort of
various and curious fowls, nor its picturesque groups of cattle, can
render this mere so remarkable as the great quantity of coins that were
found in its bed about forty years ago. But, as such discoveries more
properly belong to the antiquities of this place, I shall suppress all
particulars for the present, till I enter professedly on my series of
letters respecting the more remote history of this village and district.