The UK's Largest LOST Forest.

[@pwhitewick]

You can check out Sam's channel here: @SamWalksALot

[@BearsRights]

You forget about The First and Second World Wars, when imports were difficult and Britan needed timber for the trench they built.

[@davebinsweden]

That's a Subscribe to Sam's channel!

[@Gang-zy7lq]

I think that fencing paul is stop dear crossing like penned in but not pluss country park but the fence is eye saw

[@stuartbridger5177]

Hi Paul, right in my neck of the woods. I am sure that you came across the Wychwood Forest Trust in your research. They are a charity that looks after a number of nature reserves in the old forest area. They also promote rural crafts such as hedgelaying and dry stone walling. I work with the trust with the hedgelaying group. It is very true that a very significant part of the forest is under control of the Cornbury Park estate, with only one right of way crossing it. The big fences are as much to keep the deer in rather than us out. Worth a visit is ash avenue which leads from the hamlet of Wilcote down to the Lady Well spring, one of the ancient forest holy wells.

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

Forest simply meant an area under Forest Law. It didn't even need any trees. All of Nottinghamshire north and west of the river Trent was under Forest Law during the reigns of Richard I and John.

[@stevefairbanks835]

As mentioned I think that was dependent on era. Before the Norman’s barrelled up it was probably different

[@jontalbot1]

@@stevefairbanks835 What Domesday describes is Saxon land use so the forest was there before them. It simply meant an un enclosed area for hunting by the crown and aristocracy

[@broshmosh]

Whilst this is true, I don't think you'd have so many places "Under Wychwood" if there weren't trees present. As far as I know, "woods" did indeed refer to a wooded area, regardless of forest law. The fact that there are multiple places Under Wychwood miles and miles away from what is now Wychwood shows there is weight to this. Not to mention the records show the area was cleared for housing and agriculture; Wouldn't have to clear something that's just open fields, would you? Anyway you could just be mentioning this as a factoid rather than bringing it up to refute the findings; You can ignore me if so!

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

@broshmosh it was Wychwood Forest, wasn't it? The Forestisation of England reached its peak in 1215. In that year, the first Charter of the Forests was issued, and slowly, the area of land under Forest Law was reduced by the issuing of charters, leaving only small patches of woodlands known as Forests. Any village or town containing the name of a Forest, such as those in this video, we're either with that Forest or close by it. Different parts of Forests went by different names such as Ashfield, for example, which was, but no longer is, within the bounds of Sherwood Forest. Two towns, Sutton and Kirby, both have In Ashfield in their names to ensure that they are not mistaken for other locations.

[@josephturner7569]

Yeah. That and the Royal Navy.

[@leonardjackman354]

Another very interesting Sunday night video of my location.

[@TiptreeJams]

Another interesting and educational video. Many thanks to everyone involved.

[@davie941]

hello again Paul and oh cool Sam , great video, i was once told that you could once go from the bottom to the top of the UK from tree to tree without stepping on the ground because there was so many trees, well done and thank you 😊

[@blacksmith67]

As a Canadian, a forest that’s 13 miles square is staggering. In all seriousness, I love your content and the passion you have for the land and its history.

[@jonathanwhitehead2250]

Once again a really interesting video. I suspect the 2 mtr + fencing is to keep deer in. The Ordnance Survey map show a Deer Park at Cornbury Park Also, looking at the website for Cornbury Park suggests there is a deer park, so the fencing will be there to prevent deer escaping. . It could also be used on other areas of woodland to keep deer out and allow regen of new trees among the matures trees and these can grow free of damage from deer ensuring continuity of the tree population. Also I wonder if the name of the species ' Wych Elm is derived from the same name source you describe. When in old woodland, especially ash or oak, keep a look out for older trees with a very large trunk, but relatively small top. They look out of proportion. This can be a sign of historical coppicing. Keep up the excellent videos.

[@chrishughes1687]

That reply was perfect, saved me a lot of typing!!!

[@alun7006]

@@jonathanwhitehead2250 The rifle shot at ~5:35 would seem to support the deer theory!

[@therighthonsirdoug]

Rifle shot at 5.35? ​@@alun7006

[@MauriceHotblack]

Thank you for calming down on the cuts. Far more enjoyable pace.

[@Nastyswimmer]

You hit on the key point at 7:06 but seem to have missed it. A mediaeval forest was a royal hunting preserve - nothing to do with trees. Some forests were woodland, some had very few trees, most fell somewhere in between. Forget the idea of 182 square miles of trees, the Forest of Wychwood was a large hunting area with a wood at its centre from which it took its name (similarly, Sherwood Forest was 75% moorland with four small areas of woodland, one of which - the Shire Wood - gave the forest its name).

[@djdubls]

Very interesting. I'd love to see more woodlands regenerated across Britain. The lack of large expanses of native woodland where you feel that you're a great distance from modern society really stood out to me when I lived in the UK. It's one of the things that I missed about Australia when I lived in the UK, as our national parks are large expanses covered in native forest. Obviously different histories, but unfortunate nonetheless.

[@amandachapman4708]

Just as a random observation: there's a John Buchan story set partly in Wychwood. Wikipedia reminds me it's called The Blanket of the Dark.

[@radiosnail]

Lovely surprise to see dear old Sam. Best wishes to you both x

[@BillRicker]

TREES wen't strictly required for Royal Forest anti-poaching law, right? (And a "wood" meant more trees than a meadow, but didn't necessarily imply closed canopy.)

[@pwhitewick]

Good point yup. See also the New Forest.

[@HighWealder]

Yes, 'forest ' means a hunting area, Dartmoor is a forest!

[@highpath4776]

@@pwhitewick so , there are points where literally you cannot see the wood for the trees

[@alanrussell3739]

Brilliant, and very interesting as ever! Thank you.

[@jameswalksinhistory3848]

Totally enjoyed this Paul with the bonus of our friend Sam-I have of course posted this on my Facebook history group 👍👍

[@pwhitewick]

Awesome thank you!

[@zGJungle]

Really enjoyed this one, love your style of detective work and editing, detective work of things like this are thing I ponder to my self when seeing place names.

[@EventHorizon618]

Very interesting. I also have been disappointed by all the fences restricting public access

[@etherealbolweevil6268]

Private ownership - or theft depending on which side of the fence you are on.

[@WiltshireMan]

Very interesting Paul, atleast they have seen sense to halt the deforestation and what remains hopefully will remain !

[@pwhitewick]

Yup absolutely. I can't see anything else going. Just wish it was a little more like... Savernake for example.

[@leonardjackman354]

Another very interesting Sunday night video right on my doorstep.

[@davidberlanny3308]

Hi Paul, obviously filmed before Sam's sad news, always great to see her smile!! Lovely walk through the forest, I never really understood how the New Forest could be called a forest but the olden meaning was different. Great bit of witch triangulation, no wonder you had Sam at your side🤣🤣🤣 All the best

[@kevinfitzpatrick444]

I always thought Droitwich was so called more to do with the salt (as per Nantwich & Nothwich etc in Cheshire), but never clocked the other places in the area also have some form of Wych in the name. Unrelated side note, I like how your videos seem to be progressing further north

[@pwhitewick]

Haha... this gave me a noise bleed.

[@stephenreardon2698]

Having grown up in Worcester, this is also my understanding of Droitwich, the wich ending referring to the brine water & salt, as in Middlewich & Nantwich. This is certainly what I have seen in the town's museum & what other local attractions say. Droitwich was certainly in the Hwicce kingdom however, and its local council Wychavon, along with the names of other local settlements beginning or ending wych do have links to the Kingdom, if not necessarily, the forest. Speaking of lost forests you may want to look Arden just to the North in Warwickshire. This once might forest of Shakespearian legend stretching from Birmingham to Warwick & Stratford-on-Avon, is also a mere shadow of its former self. Also, if you're in the area you may want to look at what connects all the settlements around Worcester which include wick in their name. As well as the tiny hamlet of Wick itself, there are the much larger villages of Rushwick & Powick (of English Civil War fame), and the city suburbs of Henwick & Lower Wick. To entice you further, both Rushwick and Henwick have abandoned stations on the Worcester to Malvern line.

[@janwhite6038]

I agree.

[@madeupname2006]

I lived in Droitwich for a while and it was also my understanding that the "-wich" is salt-related, it being a very salt-related town. @pwhitewick On a related note, I'd be interested to know why the A38 deviates from the path of the Roman road a little to the north of Worcester, should the area ever strike your fancy.

[@highpath4776]

@@stephenreardon2698 Didnt Wick mean a dairy farm ?

[@samhklm]

I was surprised - I could read those road signs just like they were english. Thanks for another great episode of English county side history.

[@mattrishton]

Please do an entire series on England's lost forests like Arden and Wyre...

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

An9ak tree takes 300 years to grow, 300 years to live, and 300 years to die. Old oak trees often are hollow in the middle because of their long lives.

[@paulberen]

(They turn hollow at around age 400, and an Oak Tree trunk with a lot of branches is less prone to collapse or fall or getting blown over by wind, when it's hollow)..

[@fxdpntc]

Red Oak or White Oak? Pin Oak?

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

@fxdpntc the only species of oak native to the UK (English or pedunculate oak (Quercus robur) and sessile oak (Quercus petraea)) are beingvreferred to by this saying.

[@fxdpntc]

@@neiloflongbeck5705 Ok, that makes more sense. Our oak trees aren’t like that. Our Redwoods maybe.

[@ste2442]

This video is right up there with the best you’ve done this mate , great stuff. .

[@pwhitewick]

Thank you.

[@ste2442]

@@pwhitewick wish you’d come to the Merseyside area , some excellent and underrated areas to investigate .

[@janwhite6038]

And Kinver with its forests, rock houses, canal and water aeration stsrem by the Lock Pub and WW2 installations is worth a look

[@janwhite6038]

Paul have you ever been to the vanishing Bebere Island on the R.Severn? It's owned by British Waterways but the bridge to it, looks like a Telford bridge, is unmentioned. Archaeology was found there from Roman times. Bevere means beaver, but of course the beavers are long gone.

[@janwhite6038]

BEVERE Island* sorry I misspelled it

[@janwhite6038]

During a viking raid, the people of Worcester congregated on Bevere Island in a wooden fort. There is what looks to be a tumulii nearby on the river bank. Worcester Archaeology can't afford to investigate

[@WC21UKProductionsLtd]

I knew it was big, but not that big. That's immense. I need to go and compare that to the Forest of Bowland. Cheers Paul.

[@pwhitewick]

Do that Sir

[@paulberen]

@@pwhitewick Unfortunately the wych / wick / wich place names connection is probably not what it seems, around the -under-Wychwoods.. The similarity of the names doesn't say all of them were at one time one big 'forest' area, and the Doomsday Book '13 by 13 Miles' is big maybe, but really not that huge, and not as compared to other 'Forests' like Bowland, or New Forest(?) ...Wike / Wyke / Wich / Wick can also mean a high place? And a magical Whitewell Inn next to the River Ribble in The Forest of Bowland would be a perfect starting place to discover this 'forest' area. ...Sorry, but trying to make Nantwich a part of the under Wychwoods forest is a bit extravagant. Inspiring video though, as ever - these would be excellent for schools and Universities as 'keys' to look at conventional history in a questioning light, like for the Roman Roads structure and Hill Forts / Settlement locations.. The Roman name (by the way / in this context), for Winchester; next to famous Twyford Down forest, refers to the Belgian Tribe that set up a Kingdom in the area, as seen on one of the vids. This Tribe / Kingdom was one of the invaders and settlers into England who conquered and demolished Hill Fort Settlements when they arrived. Looking at the very extensive area of the real time, current time, Royal Forest connected to Windsor, terrain Royal owned, to Bagshot, to Farbborough, Aldershot, Sandhurst and beyond, looks a vast area, but now compared to the 13 miles by 13 miles of Doomsday Wychwood makes the 'biggest forest' title not so extravagant after all.

[@alun7006]

Fascinating stuff. Maybe one day we'll see some restoration of these lost forest areas as part of a wider re-wilding effort.

[@pwhitewick]

Yup, I hope so

[@lindamccaughey6669]

Really enjoyed that thanks Paul. This history is fabulous. Thanks for taking me along. Please take care

[@pwhitewick]

Many thanks Linda

[@smallsleepyrascalcat]

Fascinating History lesson. It's funny though how disapearing forests in the UK always have a connection to the Navy. 🤣

[@pwhitewick]

Odd isn't it.

[@christina3521]

Same with upper New England. Maine was apparently deforested by the early 19th century. Transcontinental rail later took trees from the Pacific NW for masts to those same shipyards.

[@sianwarwick633]

​@christina3521 don't forget us in Canada, trees for masts, maybe planking

[@Ezullof]

@@christina3521 Scotland and Iceland also were deforested to make ships. And, fun fact, the trees that were used to rebuild Notre Dame de Paris recently were initially also planted to make ships!

[@fxdpntc]

One of the reasons the American Colonies were such a valuable possession, was timber for ship building. Particularly around the Chesapeake Bay Area. I’ve read that White Oak was the best. Something to do with the density of the cell structure. After the Revolution, the Continental Congress built six frigates for the U.S. Navy. One is left. The U.S.S. Constitution in Boston. Old Ironsides. The U.S. Navy maintains a grove of White Oak trees in southern Indiana, specifically to produce wood, for any needed repairs to Old Ironsides.

[@paulinehedges5088]

That was very different and REALLY interesting. Sad that so much is private and not available for us to see bit hooefullyvtge owners are protecting the land and timuli for the next generation. Hello Sam too😊😊😊

[@theoztreecrasher2647]

Also sad to see the decline in typing standards these days. 🤔🙄

[@icewizzard666]

Awesome vid Paul, nice to see the area around there as I'm pretty sure one of my favourite breweries is amongst those places - Wychwood Brewery, probably a whole different video and context lol

[@paulberen]

Wychwood Witwood? ..Wychwood Brewery was at Witwood, nearby - believed to be closed down now?

[@RandallSlick]

Fascinating. Incidentally, one wonders what lies beyond those tall fences. Presumably something HMRC chooses to ignore.

[@paulberen]

Such fences are most likely to be for deer or pheasant containment, or sometimes military, but these are either obsolete, so rusting away, or much more secure.. HMRC are Her / His Majesty's Revenue and Customs? Their locations are office buildings in cities.

[@paulberen]

ps - ..see what you mean now, that someone is hiding something from HMRC.. Is there a tax on Trees? Or illegally imported trees, in Wychwood Forest? Illegal brewing, maybe, there are two wells - Cyder Well and Wort's Well here.. The apostrophe says it's a Mr Wort, involved; but Wort is also an Old English for 'plant' and specifically in a brewing process, supporting the Cyder Well, also in Wychwood Forest.

[@RandallSlick]

@@paulberen I wasn't implying that these were HMRC premises but rather that they contain something the owners might not wish prying eyes to see, including the HMRC. Of course, you're right in saying that they may well be for containment rather than exclusion. Only the drones can tell.

[@andrewlamb8055]

Fascinating …. The must be many more examples to look at in the uk … Sherwood comes to mind! Thanks Paul 👏👏👍👍😎⚔️👋

[@altair8598]

Enjoyed that. There is the montane Wych Elm of course, and etymologically there are other theories such as the relationship with Wick, Wich suffixes meaning 'farm', or even 'spring/well' depending on which (no pun intended) source one believes.

[@pras12100]

A large part of South-East London is built on the site of "The Great North Wood". Another Oak forest. People ask "North of what?" and it turns out that, at one time, it was owned by the Archbishops of Canterbury. They had a palace (country retreat ?) at Croydon.

[@sianwarwick633]

That's good to know

[@Ezullof]

That one is a lot more recent. Apparently it's 13th century at the earliest, but the full exploitation started in the 16th century and up to the 18th century.

[@richardmorgan9273]

Yes, according to Wikipedia the Archbishops of Canterbury owned the manor of Croydon. One of them was John Whitgift and there's a Whitgift School, Whitgift Centre and Whitgift Almshouses in Croydon.

[@highpath4776]

which give us apart from Upper Norwood and West Norwood the odd name that is South Norwood . The North Wood distinguishes the woods on the upper hills north of much of the Wandle and similar Valleys where the springs come out where Chalk meets clay to those to the South over and beyond to Addington and Woodmansterne and Caterham etc

[@paulberen]

@@highpath4776 Not much known about, but the first coal mining history was not 'up north' as commonly believed, but in Kent and Sussex and Surrey, between London and France. Likewise iron working was done here, and the last order of Kent Iron was the 100 Tons of, for the iron railings around St Paul's Cathedral. Wood and Charcoal being used in the process, this wiped out a lot of the woodland in this area. Weaving, incidentally, also began in Kent*, not up north, when a King brought over a Weaving Loom from Florence, and creating the Florin, the 2 Shilling coin, to match the Florentian currency. *Tenterden.

[@Darkwasthenightcold]

Great vid, thanks very much! Any chance of a deeper dive on Hwicce at some point?

[@pwhitewick]

That's a very good idea.

[@malcolmrichardson3881]

As you indicated, the remaining stub is Cornbury Park. in private hands, with maybe, restricted access at certain times of the year. There is a delightful lane which skirts the western edge of the Park, leading to the village of Leafield, which I have walked on a number of occasions. You were lucky to have only heard gunshots: on one occasion I was mistaken for a hunt sabotour, in a rather unpleasant encounter with one of the hooting and shooting tribe with hounds in full cry - and with police in attendance.

[@pwhitewick]

Wow, that sounds unnerving.

[@davidballoid2118]

Each individual should try to plant a tree for Arbor Day, it's important to have your Woodlands back!

[@theoztreecrasher2647]

Yep. And each environmentally conscientious individual should plant theirs right next to where they are creating their own greenhouse gases. That is right on the street in front of their own home, directly under the overhead power lines (or on top of the underground power, water and sewerage services) and within tree-fall distances of their roofs, vehicle storage and street access. The local Council once had a "Green Revolution" mental aberration - lasted all of 1 term but we're reminded of their legacy every storm season.

[@davidballoid2118]

@@theoztreecrasher2647 Be smart about where you plant it obviously. You'd want to plant fruit trees around your home as they stay small and pay you back in food you consume.

[@ShaunGourlay]

Coming from chipping norton myself, I'm really excited to learn new things about the area I live in.

[@RogerThat2021]

I always feel like I walk away, having learnt something from your videos . Great video Paul

[@robmiddleton44]

Really intersting video, I live in Evesham which is not far off the centre of the Hwicce area. Quite a few places near to me with the name "Wyche", possibly the most notably the Wyche cutting crossing the Malvern Hills. I'm struggling to name the author but there's a gentleman from Cheltenham who's devised a route called The Wyche Way from Broadway Tower to Kington which links up the Cotwold Way path to Offa's Dyke path.

[@stevecarter8810]

A tumulus, right? You see the word on maps sometimes. Tumuli would be the plural.

[@Ezullof]

I just assumed that it was one of these english words that had a singular/plural dictated by usage (like how octopus is just octopuses plural).

[@stevecarter8810]

@@Ezullof in which case it would be tumuluses. Octopus is a weird one because it's already a corruption of greek octopod so its plural could be octopodes (greek style) octopuses (English style, and what autocorrect suggests) or octopi (Latin style, and perpetrating the corruption) no objection from me whichever you choose, since they are all plurals. "An octopi" is too much for me though.

[@hannahcornell9056]

This was driving me slightly dotty. It’s like hearing “a dogs” or “a cats” instead of “a dog” or “a cat”. Seems pedantic until you realise how grating it is.

[@paulberen]

@@hannahcornell9056 A Tumulus is a Latin word anyway, meaning mound of earth, or small hill, so its plural is thus the Latin Tumuli. (taken to be Ordnance Survey who decided to use the word / (as used in England?), for a mound, or small hill - OS used the word to describe an unexcavated mound; while a Tumulus or Tumuli that were excavated were named Barrows, when the excavation showed that they were burial mounds. The source of the Latin Tumulus is the same for Tumultuous.

[@QALibrary]

A very interesting and informative video - thank you all for making these for us

[@eatsblades]

I love these videos and the way you delve into the history

[@natchaos5604]

Freeze @1:36 you can see the inspiration for Roald Dahl "glass elevator" about to land next to Charlie's cottage!!! 😊

[@JoanBermudez-d6l]

Though you touched on it in your video, you miss the significance of the word Forest. Forest means royal hunting ground. It doesn’t mean woodland. A forest contains any and all topographies, including for example clearings or ridings. Within a forest small settlements would still exist with land available to locals for agriculture. The Wychley in the video shows this. The suffix ley meaning pasture. As such wychwood forest specifies the area of woodland which was designated as forest. Thus preventing any spreed of agriculture or industry within the designated area without royal aproval. The loss of woodland would not mean the loss of forest. Woodland would be cleared to make ridings for example, which is where deer, boar would be killed. The equivalent of a modern shoot with prey driven into cleared areas to the awaiting hunters. In 1066 all the woodland of the English shires was declared forest by William. One of the first laws he passed, to claim ownership of all the beasts etc. effectively ending overnight the indigenous peoples practice of subsistence hunting in the woodland to bolster their farming produce. William's act forcing the people to buy food in the markets controlled and taxed by William. This is the grain of truth in the legend of Robyn Hode. That is Sherwood Forest is derived from Shire's Wood -> Shirwood -> Sherwood. For further evidence, if forest means woodland, it makes no linguistic sense to name an area wychwood forest. It's bathroom. Not bathroom room. Like other areas of England, Wychwood is an old local name that refers to that part of the shires wood (Shirewood or Sherwood as its become known during my lifetime) As an aside wych -> wich etc. does not specifically refer to salt production as some in the comments have stated. Its a term that refers to an area of industry as opposed to agriculture. As such, the area was known for some form of industry. Maybe salt production but considering the location I doubt it. Possibly charcoal making or some other industry associated to woodland. Northwich, Middlewich and Nantwich in Cheshire get their names from the salt industry of the past along the (then) tidal River Weaver. Middlewich being a newer settlement that grew up between Northwich and Nantwich (Nant meaning lower congruent with Nether) The video therefore discusses two distinct subjects, which may well be linked. 1. The clearing of the wychwood from that recorded in the Doomsday Book to its present size. What motivated the woodland clearance? Was it purely agriculture? Warfare? 2. The selling off of the forested land by the monarch. Was this a result of the loss of game animals caused by over hunting? By habitat loss? Resulting in more and more land deforested and opened up for increased agriculture and industry practices? Or was it part of a wider selling off and opening up of land by the Royal Estate as England grew in economic and military power. Shifted from a sustainable subsistence agro-hunter gatherer society to the capitalism of Roman Christiandom. The loss of the shireswood and the cultural genocide that accompanied it is the greatest of English tragedies little understood nor discussed. In 1065, the English shireswood sustained a population of subsistence farmers who sustainably hunted. We foraged for nuts, mushrooms, fruits and herbs. We hunted for deer, boar, fowl and fished for salmon and trout. We farmed root crops, bred sheep and goats for wool and milk along with our diary cows. We had meads for honey, becoming meadows for grazing cattle when the flowers died back. Our longbow was not a weapon of war. It was our principle hunting tool. Unique to us all, as long as we were tall, we had a bow from age 5 onward. Hunting and foraging was our principle source of food in 1065. All of that was lost in 1066 when William arrived and declared all the woodland of the shires (shirewood) royal hunting ground (forest). It took nearly 200 years of unrest for these ancient rights to be partially restored at Runnymead with the signing of Magna Carta and the Forest Charter, another 400 years and a series of civil wars before our ancient sovereignty was partially returned with the Bill of Rights 1689.

[@TheArtyninja]

This was an excellent, informative and rousing comment! Thanks!!

[@paulberen]

William '1066' clear-felled a mass of English woodland and irrigated to produce his industrialised agriculture plan. The most recent mass tree chopping occurred for World War One - much was simply clear-felled. And the same clear-felling, hedges included, was done for World War 2; usefulness of timber.

[@mattskalicky]

Completely fascinating. Thanks so much!

[@pwhitewick]

Our pleasure!

[@vidibites]

Great video. People go on about the Amazon rainforest (rightly so), however we stripped our forests 100’s and 1000’s of years ago. Shifting base lines mean people have forgotten we were once a woodland nation.

[@Sim0nTrains]

Really interesting video, shame about the private land signs.

[@pwhitewick]

Cheers Simon.

[@MrGreatplum]

Very interesting, Paul. I spent the first 10 years of my life living right by St Leonard’s Forest which again was many times its size originally. The usual suspects such as the navy, land clearances (and because it was in the Weald, charcoal burners) shrank the forest right down. I expect the fencing is there to either keep deer in or out.

[@pwhitewick]

Really never knew the Navy used so much!

[@SteamCrane]

@@pwhitewick HMS Victory displaces 3500 tons. A large part of that is wood.

[@shirleylynch7529]

Very interesting. Thank you.. very enthusiastic and enjoyable.

[@pwhitewick]

Our pleasure!

[@bertoltb1358]

Sometimes, you just see the wood for the trees. Great video, keep it up.

[@ghollidge]

Leicester has a road called, Wood Gate, but there isn't a wood there anymore

[@paul.Darling]

Thank you Paul, another great video

[@pwhitewick]

Cheers Paul

[@brianfretwell3886]

I spent some time there when working for the Post Office/BT International Telecomes at the training school at the then Leafield radio station. Trai to Charlbury (Ontercity 125 in later days Paddington - Birmingham via Worcester) then minibus to the training school. I did womder about the number of places with Wychwood in their names, but was really more interested in the pubs in Leafield village. Teens and early twenties are like that. 😆

[@iklone]

The "Forest of Arden" in Warwickshire was similarly enormous, bounded by Roman roads and still somewhat in existence during Shakespeares life (its where he set As You Like It). Today very little remains but its common is place names like Henley-in-Arden etc

[@josephturner7569]

I find the whole Wych, Hwicce, or Wicca thing etymology fascinating.

[@pwhitewick]

Me too!

[@josephturner7569]

@@pwhitewick I think that there are depths to plumb there.

[@toucheturtle3840]

You need to go Charlbury to find what’s left of the Wychwood Forest. You can try Bruern aswell.

[@philcollinson328]

A fascinating vid ..Thanks Paul & Sam.

[@pwhitewick]

Many thanks!

[@familylife3624]

The UK used to be covered in ancient woodlands , but when we started to become more agricultural living in villages lots of dense woodlands were cleaned for animals and crops

[@Bard_Land]

Last time I walked that path in the forest I saw a giant white stag the other side of the high fence.

[@ParanormalFun-i1i]

Fascinating and knowledgeable video

[@adrianbaker5916]

Wood for Ships, for the Navy? Hence why forest has shrunk

[@pwhitewick]

In essence, yes. But I feel it had died down a lot before then.

[@chriswatson7965]

A very good summary, and a typical example of the history of wilderness areas all of Britain. I would also like to add the the final death knell to the wooded areas of Britain came about with the industrial revolution with the enormous population explosion and increased demand for wood in both building and for burning. The over exploitation of the local resources was one of the prime driver for increased trade with the colonies around the world to meet the demand for wood. Not until well into the 20th C was there any significant interest in preserving or reclaiming the lost wilderness areas in Britain. It's coloured the modern perspective where you consider a wilderness area of 182 square miles as huge. 182 square miles is the typical predatory range of just one wolf pack. It's minimal. 5 square miles is not capable of supporting a native biosystem. Whilst Wychwood is probably the largest well documented loss of a wooded area, it's likely that it's not the largest overall as what happened at Wychwood happened right across Britain where there was very little interest or documentation of wilderness areas.

[@pwhitewick]

Cheers Chris. Yep good point.

[@tednruth453]

Caledonian forest, anyone heard of it? It's gone too, it was big, really, really big.😢(estimated to have been 15,000sq.km)

[@Ezullof]

I mean, it was really, really big... 7000 years ago when the climate was dry enough. Then it became too humid and too windy.

[@tednruth453]

@@Ezullof mmm not quite.

[@helenamcginty4920]

The Forest of Bowland hasnt had any substantial tree cover since the bronze age. It is moorland and farms. Beautiful though.

[@hobi1kenobi112]

There's also the Lune Forest in North Yorkshire which is literally anything but a forest now but must have been notable in its day to be called that.

[@kpace8605]

Yes Wychwood Forest was much bigger at one time.Wychwood Brewery is in Witney and it makes the famous Hobgoblin beer named after the supernatural spirit's that are supposed to live in the Forest.Its supposed to be haunted.👻🍺

[@phil2186]

Learning so much about the past from Paul. I wonder if he could help us out with the future?

[@BibTheBoulderTheOriginalOne]

...and you didn't even mention Wychwood Avenue in Coventry...

[@pwhitewick]

.....ooooh never knew!

[@michaelmiller641]

Or Wych cross in Sussex

[@robbliss7999]

Which is strange because Coventry falls under the Forest of Arden

[@paulberen]

@@pwhitewick Or the Wychwood Way part of Akeman Street right close to Wychwood Forest / Woodland.. Nearby are also Whiteoak Green, Holly Grove, Shakenoak Farm, Ashford Mill Farm, Notoaks Wood, Woodleys, Oaklands Farm and Woodstock.

[@cheech7900]

We’re an island, ships require wood. Lot of forests were wiped out by the expansion of the Royal Navy in the 16th 17th and 18th Century. Great Fire of London wiped out loads of buildings, we rebuilt with timber, even when we switched to Bricks the buildings retained timber frames.

[@plkangus]

Hwicce would seem to be derived from the Latin 'vicus'. Thanks for the video!

[@pwhitewick]

Ah wonderful. Thanks

[@Ezullof]

It's a bit of a mystery and honestly the latin etymology isn't convincing me at all (as a linguist specialized in latin). Phonetically it doesn't seem to work. It's extremely likely to be a germanic root. There's a chance that it's a germanic translation of a welsh/brythonic name, *maybe* through latin.

[@paulberen]

@@Ezullof Or Scandinavian or Normandy Norman French, with a sprinkling of French names in the area from 1066 onwards time, most likely..

[@paulberen]

(Philology means the record of study and research of the origins and sources and histories of words, names and place names).

[@jakegarvin7634]

OOH PAUL'S GETTING BACK OUT THERE GOOD FOR YOU MAYE

[@pwhitewick]

Evvveeeeeery week.

[@jakegarvin7634]

@@pwhitewick Ice cold

[@raedwulf61]

Beware the barrow-wights! Oh, and one is a tumulus, two or more are tumuli (toomoolee). It's important, no?

[@pwhitewick]

Oui

[@Anyone4music]

You had my undivided attention from the very beginning.

[@pwhitewick]

Why thank you.

[@jackm2293]

More power too you bro.

[@yutehube4468]

My dad told me years ago, at one time the UK had so much forest, a squirrel could go from London to the North of England without touching the ground. I'm not sure how far back that would need to be but I can believe it.

[@pwhitewick]

I am thinking early Neolithic. Thats a guess though!

[@Waschbars]

So interesting!

[@raphaelnikolaus0486]

If my Latin doesn't fail me too much, Tumuli denotes a plural, which the singular being Tumulus. So, if mappers have their terms right and mark something as "Tumuli", that would indeed suggest it was "quite a few" (as Paul put it).

[@raphaelnikolaus0486]

It would be the same logic as with Terminus - Termini. I have heard KZbinrs wrongfully speak of one Termini, and others even more wrongfully of several Termini's. It's like adding an S to the already pluralised word (most probably thus already ending in an S). However, I haven't checked on the word "Tumuli" or "Tumulus", hence I don't know its meaning.

[@Sally4th_]

That high fence is against deer, not humans.

[@raphaelnikolaus0486]

On the forest: Looking at the map @2:29, it seems that there are no big settlements in the place of that "smaller" stretch of the Whychwood up to that abandoned village and those called "under Whychwood" yet not being next to it; nore does there seem to be any actual farmland in place of the forest. That opens the question, whether it would be an idea, to re-forest it -- especially as we are living in a time of climate catastrophe/crisis, and reforestation is one key measure to limit the extent of the climate change. And as we are talking about a woodland that goes way back in time, I think we could consider it "Ancient Woodlands" (something that gives these things special protection, if I got that right -- re HS2 discussions). However, as you point out: the are once was populated, very back in the day -- so could it actually be considered "Ancient Woodlands"? I don't know the rules for that, if there are any. I'm just thinking of reforesting it to the "lesser" extent shown on said map (even reaching the "under Whychwood" villages and towns), for the sake of fighting/countering climate change, and designating the whole thing as "Ancient Woodlands" -- although it wouldn't be the whole thing, that'd be ancient, strictly speaking -- thus protecting them even more. As per landownership: I do share the irritation of forests sometimes or in part being privately owned. But on the other hand, there are forests used and operated commercially, so I guess there can be a reason for private forest ownership. Yet, this forest, I guess, is not a commercial one, so.... -- And, thinking about it, I'm not sure, whether here in Germany such commercially used forests aren't state-owned either (albeit probably by the Bundesländer, the federal states, and not the national governement level), so....

[@kubhlaikhan2015]

Know the area well. You've gotta love private forests because they are so pristine once you climb in. Just watch out for the odd gun shot and pikeys living in the bushes.

[@gerhardheydrich3146]

It never ceases to disgust me that there is so much of England that the English are barred access to - and I hated those ugly fences!

[@pwhitewick]

I was quite a disappointment. I fully expected this place to be like Savernake.

[@alun7006]

Right to roam now! ✊

[@paulberen]

@@alun7006 it says on maps that Wychwood forest is a Deer Park, so fences used to contain the Deer.

[@sus8e462]

Learned that one reason UK colonized North America was for new sources of timber once the forests were wiped out... I live in the NW US where clear cutting occurs, but at least from such losses as this, replanting is required--but the natural diversity is never recovered 😢.

[@fpvangel4495]

You learn something new every day, keep going Paul! I just uploaded a "guide" that may help your focus.

[@LKBRICKS1993]

Great video very interesting.

[@pwhitewick]

Thank you!

[@davidareeves]

My modern take, would be the all the wyche's took their wood broome's a flew away

[@davidrowley-ic6dx]

And there was me thinking this might be about the mysterious Forest of Arden … which must also have covered a large area to the northwest of Stratford. It’s another forest that is very difficult to put your finger on. 🤔 Any ideas on that one?

[@marklake4275]

I lived in Milton under Wychwood in the late 90s and early 2000s then moved to Witney till 2008 when I moved totally out of the area and now live in another forest, the Forest of Dean

[@davidosborne3440]

My aunt lives there, never knew this.

[@greenglowamour]

According to RobWords Wych (as in Norwich) means settlement

[@pwhitewick]

Yup, I think it can mean many things

[@Ezullof]

There's a Huuic (Hwyc), aspirated (as in "what"), meaning Hwicce (tribe, people, country) or hwicce (chest, coffin, ark) and there's a Uuic (non aspirated, as in "waiter") meaning something like "settlement, tradepost". The main way to know which is which is by looking at old maps. If there's a H it's the first one, if there isn't, it's the second one. One could also deduce it from phonetic rules when it's the second element in a word but it's complicated.

[@capt.bart.roberts4975]

There's Wychwood Beer brewery nearby.

[@SiCo-k1x]

Gr8 content as usual, however isn't Tumili, plural, tumulus, singular.

[@teecefamilykent]

Wychwood are you talking about?

[@pwhitewick]

I see you....

[@teecefamilykent]

@@pwhitewick you ain't seen me, right!

[@karinschild9020]

Wonderful; thank you :))

[@pwhitewick]

Welcome!

[@thedogfather5445]

Was it bigger than Lyme Forest, which covered Cheshire, Staffordshire and parts of Derbyshire?

[@pwhitewick]

You tell me dear Sir.

[@robertcoleman4861]

Thanks Paul.👍👍👍👍🍺🦘

[@pwhitewick]

No problem 👍

[@vidibites]

5:47 is that fence not a deer fence?

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

Then there's Ipswich, from the Anglo-Saxon for trading post.

[@Ezullof]

Which is, coincidentally, the same uuic as in Wychbold. And not the same huuic as in Wychwood.