Heart of Oak: the C18th naval timber crisis and the New Forest.
Gale Pettifer
- Region:
- South East
- Notice Period:
- Short (maybe less than one month's notice)
- Type:
- History, Professional, Rotary, NADFAS, WI, U3A, Probus, etc
- Fee:
- Paid
- Category:
- History
- Updated:
- 13th November 2023
- Tagged:
- History | New Forest | Eighteenth Century | Government
During the eighteenth century there was a widely held belief that Britain was suffering from ‘a great Scarcity of Timber’ and more particularly ‘that Sort of which our ships are constructed’.
The belief led to proposals for the New Forest, in Hampshire, to be enclosed for timber production and the remainder to be sold by public sale. But was this scheme based on modern history’s first instance of ‘fake news’?
This informative and entertaining talk reveals how changes in the relationship between Parliament and the Monarchy, during the reign of George III, exposed corruption, abuse, and incompetence in the management of the Crown lands and, as a result, just how close the New Forest, one of Britain's most iconic landscapes, came to being lost to future generations.
Format: Illustrated talk with slides. Length: approximately 45 mins + Q&A
Views: 2517 | Enquiries: 20About Gale Pettifer
Gale Pettifer is a writer and history lecturer, with an interest in political and environmental history. She is a practicing New Forest commoner with the ancient Right of Pasturage, meaning she can depasture cattle, ponies and donkeys onto the unenclosed New Forest, in southern England. Her speaking credits include the Chalke Valley History Festival; the Land, Environment, Economics and Policy Institute (LEEP), Exeter; the Royal Southern Yacht Club; and The Spring Arts & Heritage Centre, Havant.
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