Manstolewood

Manstolewood
Location	Enley, Greater Lendert, Great Nortend
Established	1880

The Manstolewood is an area of woodland and royal hunting forest in the Greater Lendert hundred of Manstole to the north of Lendert-with-Cadell in Great Nortend. It is approximately 4,500 acres in size, shaped somewhat like a pear with the narrow end to the north-east. On the east it is bordred by the market town of Manstole. It is surrounded by mainly open countryside to the north and north-west, and by the suburban villages of Cookgreen and Marleyhoxton and Eston Manstole on the south-west and southern borders. Owing to its close proximity to Lendert-with-Cadell and its convenient accessibility, the Manstolewood has attracted many visitors from Lendert and surrounding towns since Henry VI opened the royal hunting forest of Manstolewood to the public in 1880. There is a visitors' centre in Manstole as well immediately opposite Manstole Town railway station. The Manstolewood lies in the shallow valley of the River Hame, several miles downstream from Allord and a further twenty miles from Royal Hameford. There are additionally several small brooks running through the Manstolewood.

Points of Interest

Manstolewoodmere in the summer.

Manstolewoodmere

The Manstolewoodmere is a large natural lake on the River Hame in the Manstolewood, whence its name derives. It is approximately 45 acres in size and has five small eyets (islands). Manstolewoodmere is the largest lake in the vicinity of Lendert. Public bathing became permitted in 1912 and since then it has developed into a popular summer bathing location for younger residents of Lendert-with-Cadell.

The Manstolewoodmere is also one of the three principal reservoirs feeding Greater Lendert, along with Walquick Water to the west and the Lacktonmere in the south.

Visitors' Centre

The visitors' centre in Manstole.

The Visitors' Centre in Manstole was built in 1970 to improve the experience of visitors to the Manstolewood. It provides maps and visitor information, and a carriage rank for reaching the Manestolewoodmere, three miles away.

Hunting Lodge

The Royal Hunting Lodge is a royal residence located in the Manstolewood. It was built in 1832 by Edmund VII for use as accommodation when state hunts occur. On such occasions, which occur severally throughout the year, large parts of the Manstolewood are closed to the public.

Verderers

As a Royal forest, the Manstolewood employs a team of professional verderers to care and maintain the forest, for both ecological and hunting purposes. They have been appointed by the Sovereign since at least the 14th century. As an unparished area, there are no parish constables appointed for the Manstolewood. Instead, the Verderers are empowered to act as constables within the bounds of the Manstolewood. They are also empowered to enforce the forest law.

Ecology

Bluebells in the Manstolewood.

Most of the Manstolewood is wooded, although there are areas of open pasture especially to the south and south-east where villagers exercise their right to lop wood. The predominant tree species in the wood are the oak (Quercus robur), beech (Fagus sylvatica), elm (Ulmus minor), birch (Betula pendula), ash (Fraxinus excelsior) and hornbeam (Carpinus betulus). Also represented are hollies, chequer rowans, maples, sycamores and limes. In the spring, there are numerous woodland flowers, including wood anemone, orchids, bluebells, primroses and daffodils. A number of rare fungi species also are found in the Manstolewood.

The verderers of the Manstolewood have a responsibility to maintain the forest. This includes the thinning of areas of the forest in order to improve their suitability for hunting. Pollarding is a common technique in the Manstolewood, as a way of maintaining a clear understorey whilst retaining tree-cover. This is practised both by the verderers as well as by inhabitants of the surrounding villages with the right of loppage.

A number of animal species are found in the Manstolewood, including the game animals fallow deer (Dama dama), red deer (Cervus elaphus) and wild boar (Sus scrofa). These are kept stocked by the verderers; however, they have become mostly naturalised. Domestic swine are commonly let into the forest to pannage for mast.