Into The Woods

A thousand years after William the Conqueror first set his sights on it, the New Forest exerts the same fascination that captivated a king

- Natasha Foges

There’s nothing new about the New Forest. Far from the spindly saplings that the name conjures up, this is a vast swathe of ancient woodland carpeting 566 square kilometres of Hampshire and Wiltshire.

Designated a royal forest by William the Conqueror, it was once used as a hunting ground for deer. It’s thought that the king forced the inhabitants of 36 parishes out of their homes to create this royal playground, a decision he perhaps came to regret: a number of family members, including his successor William Rufus, lost their lives here, as 17th-century writer Richard Blome described: “This wicked act did not long go unpunished, for his Sons felt the smart thereof; Richard being blasted with a pestilent Air; Rufus shot through with an arrow; and Henry his Grandchild, as he pursued his Game, was hanged among the boughs”.

You can visit the Rufus Stone, marking the spot where William Rufus was felled, but no traces of the “pestilent Air” that did for his brother remain. These days, the New Forest is all fresh air and soul-soothing expanses of unspoilt woodland and heathery plains. It’s one of the few areas of the country where the ancient landscape has remained more or less intact, and a drive through the area yields plenty of pleasing animal encounters: ponies trotting unhurriedly across roads, cattle grazing on grassy verges, deer skittering across the road at dusk. The forest is theirs; they have been here for centuries, after all.

All of which makes an idyllic setting for a weekend in the country. Within easy reach of London – just an hour and a half by train – the area makes a great escape from the Big Smoke. Walk scenic moorland and windswept cliffs, explore pretty villages and cosy up in country pubs.