The Wood that Built London

Standing in the busy streets of South London today, it is hard to imagine that much of this suburban townscape was once a vast wood, stretching unbroken for almost seven miles from Croydon to the Thames at Deptford. The Wood That Built London charts the fortunes of the Great North Wood, recording its botany, ecology, ownership and management, the gradual encroachment of the metropolis, and the battles fought by locals and the London Wildlife Trust to save what remained.

This talk will discuss the documentary research into historic land ownership and management in the Medieval and Early Modern periods which draws on a wide range of primary sources, some never previously cited. Considered together, these scattered records combine to create a picture of the former extent of the wood, its ownership by religious bodies such as Bermondsey Abbey and the Archbishopric of Canterbury, and its management by rotational coppicing, which generated income for its owners over several centuries.  

Chris Schuler is the author of several books on history and landscape, a former Rough Guides staff member, and has written for The Independent, The Financial Times and the New Stateman, among others. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.