Forests and Sea Power: the Timber Problem of the Royal Navy, 1652–1862

Abstract

FROM comparatively early times the woods of England received attention from the Governments of the day. At first the statutes enacted were directed primarily to stem the wasteful destruction of woodlands, as, for example, the Statute of Enclosure of 1482, applicable to the Royal Forests, Chases, etc. In the following century the Statute of Woods (1543) prescribed rules upon which woods should be managed, usually as coppice with standards. This was an outcome of the seizure of Church lands by Henry VIII.; but nevertheless, up to the Restoration in the succeeding century, very large clearances of woodlands took place. During these centuries of our history, the English woods were chiefly called upon to supply the requirements of the population for various classes of material in local demand. During the two centuries ensuing from Cromwell's day, 1652 to 1862, the Government's chief interest in the woods of the country lay in the latter's dependence upon them to furnish the chief supplies in large timber required by the Navy.

Forests and Sea Power: the Timber Problem of the Royal Navy, 1652–1862.

By Prof. R. G. Albion. (Harvard Economic Studies, Vol. 29.) Awarded the David A. Wells Prize for the Year 1924–25 and published from the Income of the David A. Wells Fund. Pp.xv + 485. (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: Oxford University Press, 1926.) 21s. net.