Assembling Enclosure: Transformations in the rural landscape of post-medieval north-east England

Abstract

originally crown officers but from 1877 have been responsible for the interests of commoners. Governance of the Forest is still complicated with the most modern layer of management being the National Park, now the statutory local planning authority, which overlaps with various local authorities. The National Park also has to interact with the Forestry Commission and the Verderers. Despite the potential for conflict, Hadrian Cook sees the National Park as being beneficial because of the need to manage the New Forest holistically. He is mindful of political threats to the forest, citing Government proposals to privatise Forestry Commission land in 2011. Other threats to the Forest’s ecology and historic landscape arise from visitor numbers, pressures on traditional management, inflated prices for local housing and land and harmful development. It remains a challenge to conserve what Hadrian Cook calls a ‘largely open access national treasure’.