It has been said that ‘suffering leaves no mark on the countryside’. Ashdown Forest’s modern appearance as a tranquil and protected habitat belies its history, which is one of conflict and power struggles over many centuries. After an outline of earlier unsuccessful attempts to enclose Ashdown, this illustrated talk will focus more particularly on the struggles during the Victorian and Edwardian periods when foresters, commoners, conservationists and wealthy newcomers pushed for control over Ashdown’s depleted resources. In fact, contentious issues remained throughout the 20th century through to the present, and to fully appreciate today’s somewhat uncertain situation, one must look to the Forest’s history.

The event will conclude with an opportunity to hear about and listen to some extracts from oral histories gathered in 2005-06 through the Ashdown Forest Heathland Project, which have recently been digitised as part of the British Library’s Unlocking Our Sound Heritage project.

Brian Short is Emeritus Professor of Geography at the University of Sussex, and has a particular interest in landscape, regional and local history. He edited The Ashdown Forest Dispute: Environmental Politics and Custom, which was published by the Sussex Record Society in 1997.

Esther Gill is Project Manager for the South East Hub of Unlocking Our Sound Heritage, which is based at The Keep. This three-year project will digitise sound recordings from across the region, including those of The Keep’s partners.

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By: Martin Wingfield
Last updated: Wednesday, 5 June 2019