Over half the woods in the Chilterns are ancient and have remained
wooded for at least the last 400 years. These woods also contain
many historic features of earlier land use as reminders of the
way our forebears used them.
Stumps with many vertical stems coming out of them are a sign
of coppicing techniques that were used to produced timber suitable
for firewood, charcoal, laths and hurdles. The Chilterns used
to supply much fuelwood for London.
Ancient beech pollards are a feature of some wooded Chilterns
commons.
Some of the pits in the woodland floor are the remains of sawpits,
used by foresters to saw trees into planks to make them easier
to remove.
During the 19th century Chiltern woods were full of bodgers,
the chair leg turners who made the components of Windsor chairs
that were assembled in local factories. They set up camps in
the woods but little evidence remains of the camps now.
