A resume of the development of the Croft estate from the 14th century to present.
1304. Hugh Croft complains to the Leominster assizes that several tenants of his powerful neighbour Roger Mortimer had felled growing trees in 12 acres of his wood in Croft in which they have grazing rights. TNA JUST1/1331
1318. Inquisition Post Mortem following the death Hugh Croft refers to the settlement there as the “hamlet of Croft” which included the main house worth 7d per year, two carucates of land (about 200 acres) valued at £4 per year, 40 acres of woodland “from which there is no profit unless it is felled”, 4 acres of meadow worth 4s and the proceeds of the local court 30s a year. TNA C134/57/19 [note absence of any mention of a castle]
1505. Sir Edward Croft, sheriff of Hereford, is described as “of CroftCastle” of which Leland in c1540 wrote was ‘ditched and walled castle-like’implying a status house rather then a real castle. His son Richard had over 4000 acres of land in 16 Herefordshire manors when he died in 1562. Richard’s son Sir James Croft was MP for Herefordshire and Privy Councillor but the Croft home farm was fairly modest judging by the inventory of his chattels at his death in 1591: 48 cattle, 120 sheep and 56 pigs and £30 worth of grain. E178/7084
1517 Accounts for GatleyPark submitted to the crown by Sir Edward Croft (1466 - 1546) refer to a number of woods within the park including “Lynehamvalet” and “Byrchinvalet”indicating that the southern boundary of GatleyPark included present day Croft Estate’s Lyngham Vallet and Bircher Coppice. GatleyPark was crown land at this time with Sir Edward as keeper and accountant. It was later acquired freehold by the Croft family. ‘Vallet’ means coppice. SC6/HENVIII/1410. 9 Henry VIII [1517]
1523 Complaint by Richard Croft that John Redyng sub-prior to Leominster Priory had “despoiled and made waste in his woods” and had “sold trees to diverse persons in Luctonswode”. Abstract of state papers Henry VIII quoted in “The House of Croft” by OGS Croft 1949 page 51.
c1568 Croft vs Gresman 1558 – 1579 Court of Chancery pleadings whereby Sir James Croft knight (1518-1590) takes action against two yeomen for felling “all manner of wood and underwood” in his “lands, tenements and wood commonly the Old Park lying in the parish of Croft”. The yeomen claimed they had an agreement with Richard Croft (as above and James father)to fell 20oak trees growing upon a pasture “adjoining ground or wood commonly called the OldPark”.TNA C3/36/85. [Fields called ‘OldPark’ on Croft Tithe map abut NW side of Tylers Vallet 1km south of Croft Castle so this may be an older but quite different park from the present one.]
1586. William Camden’s Britannia, English translation edition by Edmund Gibson 1722: “More to the south [from Richards Castle] is CastlePark wherein is a large Camp, with two great ditches, call’d the Ambry: from it is a lovely respect [sic]”
1614 from “A copy of Sir Herbert Croft note of his conveyancesHRO F76/III/173”
“An indenture between me and Sir James Scudamore... I grant to them for 60 years my house of Croft with appurtenances and all the demesne land of the manor of Crofte with appurtenances excepting my new park and all my timber trees and in like sort the house and demesne land of Luston and Gatley Park situate lying and being in Aymestrey, great timber trees growing in and upon the said park and demesne only excepted..”
[This is the first known reference to the present Croft park although the landscape was likely to have been already quite heavily treed.]
1614 “Attorney-General v. Sir Herbert Croft” Crown case which includes a brief survey of some woods on the Croft estate including “Woodland called Lynham Vallett and Birchin Vallett alias Bird Vallett.”TNA E134/12Jas1/Hil21 [This latter is probably Bircher Coppice].
1645. Herbert Croft,royalist bishop of Hereford, inherits Croft after his brother is killed during the battle of Stokesay.In 1676 his son inherits “all that Castle Manor and Park of Croft”. [Croft ‘castle’ is considered to have been damaged or destroyed during the Civil War but rebuilt following restoration of Charles IIand the resurgent fortunes of the Croft family. The chestnut avenue and many of veteran oaks are considered to date from this era.]
1716 An indenture from Sir Herbert Croft refers to “all that park or parcel of land near adjoining to said castle” and names the following woods “Birchey coppice”, “Oaken coppice”, “Lynnen Coppice” and “Lucton Vallett”.
[This reference was to prove vital when the Forestry Commission tried to remove Oaker and Bircher Coppice from the Herefordshire Ancient Woodland Inventory, see below]
1754Taylor’s map of Herefordshire depictsCroftParkwith a park pale encompassing the Ambrey and continuous towards the vicinity ofCroft castle. Taylor describes the area as “Croft Ambrey and Park”. See map sequence.
c1765- 1798. “A map of the Croft Castle Demesne”. This is the earliest known plan of the Croft estate showing the Ambrey, Fishpool Valley and the present park as one parkland entity with scattered tree symbols of 272 acres with a further 116 acres of scattered trees west to Lucton Wood and 20 acres of pasture and wood just east of the castle. Map shows the castle,fish pools, roads, fences and a lime kiln and distinguishes between park, woodland, pasture and arable. At this time Croft is reckoned to have had 420 acres of ‘rough wood pasture’ which is consistent with the acreage of park and wood pasture on the map (total 408 acres).
1797, January. Advertisement in the Hereford Journal of the sale of “a large quantity of remarkable fine oak and other timber, now growing, consisting of about 4,000 oaks, a considerable part of immense size... in the woods, park, farms and lands at Croft Castle”.
[It is not known how many were actually sold and felled but the advertisement gives a good idea of just how well treed the estate was at this time.]
1799. Croft estate acquired by Somerset Davies II who embarks on a re-design of parts of the estate, including the conversion of some of the wood pasture to woodland and plantation. However much of theabove 18th century plan remains fairly similar to the 1840 tithe map so the make over may have been restricted to the vicinity of the castle.
1799 map of the parishes of Luston and Bircher delineating“Oaken Coppice” and “BirchenCoppice” much as they are now, also delineates “High Wood Bank” between the fishpools and Bircher Common. [This map also helped clarify the status of these woods].
1805. Brayley and Britton, The Beauties of England and Wales,Vol VI p559
“An extensive Park ranges on an eminence to the North from Croft, the north-western part of which is a British Camp, with a double ditch and rampart, called Croft Ambrey:the prospect from this site is very extensive and grand.” [From this description the park is essentially as mapped in the late 18th century].
1808. Williams, J. The Leominster Guide.
“Croft, Shobdon, Hampton and Brampton Bryan are famous for their large and majestic oak trees which exceed in dimension those that grow in any part of the kingdom”.
[A touristic hyperbole of the time but demonstrating that Herefordshire parks were considered an important element of the county identity].
1818 Sale details of the Croft farm show it had 900 sheep, 50 cattle, 18 horses and 30 pigs.
1858-1859. Kevill-Davies papers [HRO 098LC/5479]. Accounts (mostly auctions) of coppice, oak, ash and other standards in woods in Croft and other Kevill-Davies manors.
For example:
Lucton Vallet: 193 standards and 73 poles were sold for £38 [average 2/10d per tree]
Birches Vallet: 215 standards and 83 poles were sold for £28 [average 1/10d per tree]
Lucton Vallet: 265 ash trees were sold for £635 [£2 8s per tree].
Lynham Vallet: 12 lots of coppice auctioned although just 2 were sold: 213 lugs [2.2 acres] selling for £32 17s [£15 10s/acre].
Oaker Coppice: 7 ½ acres of coppice in 8 lots for £14 12s/acre.
[These woods adjoining the park were, as most woods, in active traditional coppice with standards. The idea (in the current plan) that retaining the current conifer stand for many decades has ecological benefit is wrong. Kevill-Davies had inherited the Croft estate by marriage from the Somerset-Davies family.]
1867. A Handbook for Travellers in Gloucestershire Worcestershire and Herefordshire p154.(John Murray publisher.) “In the park is an encampment with a double ditch and rampart, the prospect from which is extensive and grand, comprehending in its circuit 13 counties… The park contains trees of remarkable size..”
1925 FC is granted a lease of 192 hectares of the Croft Estate for 198 years (i.e. to 2123). Lyngham Vallet felled as well as the whole area between School Wood to the west, Croft Ambrey to the north and the edge of Bircher Common to the east, to be planted up with conifers, and most of the old oaks and chestnuts were subsequently ring barked. Common Wood on thenorth-west flank above the Lugg valley similarly leased, felled and coniferized. [see 1946 RAF aerial photograph]
1936 The Dudley-Stamp Land Utilisation Survey (LUS) classifies the Ambrey and Croft park at “wood pasture, rough grazing or heath” (yellow on the map) but shows it with conifer symbols indicating that it was still recognisably semi-natural at the time of the survey – the conifers would have been 7 or 8 years old.
1940. In the winter of 1940/41 there was an ‘ice storm’ over north and west Herefordshire which damaged many of the Commissions new plantations including some of those at Croft. Alternate rain and freezing winds produced build up of ice on the branches and twigs leading to extensive damage to trees throughout the region. The effects of this unusual meteorological phenomenon are mentioned in the 1953 census of woods (below).
1952. Massingham H.J. The Southern Marches, Hale 1952. Massingham was the first to publicly express his opposition to the Commission’s management of Croft. In his book he wrote (page 244) “Before planting its beggarly spruces … it had ring barked these massive oaks, so that one by one they had died as they stood, surrounded by this ragged regiment of coniferous conscripts that had supplanted them….” He concluded of Croft (page 245): “There could hardly have been a more telling example not merely of the wastefulness and ecological ignorance of covering this highland of hardwoods with mean spruces but of the more general policy of imposing a purely industrial will upon our heritage of natural resources.”
1953 Census of woods. This gives details of all the stands in woods in Herefordshire for this and includes both FC and private woods. See map sequence for compartment maps and associated data for Croft estate.
1957. National Trust (NT) acquires Croft Estate including the area managed by FC. Under a listing of “Estimate of annual income” the income from the FC lease is £60 which works out at 31p per hectare per year for the 192 leased hectares. The leasehold rent was not indexed linked so FC are renting the Croft Estate essentially for free. [Annexe 1 to the Reports Committee agenda 42/57. Report by Colin Jones 1st February 1957 reference HJFS/PL/364/C].
The FC Croft estate leasehold now comprises the Croft block 127 ha (NT), Common Wood 20 ha (Mrs Hodges), Bircher Coppice 30 ha (NT), Oaker Coppice 39 ha (NT) and Yeld Wood 39 ha (owner of Woodcock Hall)= total 286 ha.
1985. Broadleaves Policy becomes part of national forestry policy to be implemented by the Forestry Commission. For the first time the importance of ancient woodlands and plantations on ancient woodland sites (PAWS) arerecognised. “These woods are irreplaceable and should not lose their natural characteristics”.
1986 English Heritage registers the Croft Castle, gardens and parkland including the Ambrey, Fishpool Valley and 90 hectares of the FC woodland up to the edge of Bircher Common as grade II listed (see map).
1989. Fretwell, Katie.A. CroftCastlePark: Management for Restoration Discussion Paper. This is the first in-depth study of the park and its history. Includes the recommendation:“Ideally the whole of the conifer woodland would eventually be removed, making a return to the open expanse of pasture woodland.”
1995. Forestry Commission district office based in Rugeleyissues a draft Forest Design Plan for Croft, commenting upon which the English Nature conservation officer Helen Stace wrote “It is disappointing to note the Forest Design Plan largely maintains the status quo of the area as a block of conifer dominated woodland.” Letter to Mr. Rogers of Forest Enterprise Marches District (9/2/1995).
On 9/3/1995 there was a meeting at Croft with National Trust, English Nature, Council for Protection of Rural England, Diana Uhlman (daughter of Major Croft who donated the estate to the nation) and HWCC who all opposed the plan which is defended byIan Hickman district forest manager. Hereford Times carries an article in which CPRE and Diana Uhlman appeal to the commission to start restoring the estate and not to plant an imminent clear fell with conifers. This is ignored and the plan is approved and carried out by FC almost unchanged.
1998. Nichols, A. Butterfly Conservation. Croft Estate/Bircher Common.
Recommendations for the enhancement of the lepidoptora interest, especially the High Brown Fritillary, include “The phased reduction of the conifers in the woodland on the Croft Estate.”
2001. After felling 20 hectares of mature conifers on the NW flank of Croft estate, FC plant 17 hectares of it with Douglas Fir despite much natural regeneration, surviving woodland flora and the only remaining fragment of semi-natural Lime on the whole estate.
2003. English Nature’s local team puts the case to extend Fishpool Valley SSSI to include most of the FC plantations between the Ambrey and the open grassland north of the castle. This pSSSI (potential SSSI) is currently deferred for future consideration. However EN states in its submission that “The future survival of the interests at this site would be enhanced by consolidation of the various elements of the site. Ideally this would involve reversion of the conifer plantations, secondary woodland and arable within the bounds of the area to wood pasture, including the reintroduction of grazing”. p21.
2004. Owen, N of the Debois Landscape Survey Group. CroftCastle: Historic Landscape Survey, commissioned by the National Trust. The most recent and detailed review and survey with recommendations for the whole estate including that managed by FC.
“Forestry; This is the area where most conflicts occur and where the greatest loss to the historic landscape has occurred: inappropriate species, loss of open ground, loss of views, destruction of pollards, damage to earthworks from forestry operations, FC plantations are a major factor in the shortage of water supplying Fishpool Valley pools, pollution of the pools due to run-off from forestry tracks and silting up of pools…The lease to Forestry Commission has taken important areas of the historic landscape out of the Trust’s control and resulted in what amounts to divided ownership.”Historic Landscape Survey: p vii.
And “These plantations now completely block all views between the castle, and the landscape around the castle, and Croft Ambrey.”
“Forestry plantations are nearing commercial maturity bringing the possibility of radical change (and improvement) to the landscape to the north of the castle.”Chapter 1, p8.
“A particular issue concerns the management and future of the conifer plantations in Croft Wood and the veterans trees that remain there… In the longer term the possibility of conversion back to wood pasture needs to be considered. Lyngham Vallet should be considered for restoration to native woodland.”Natural History & Hydrology: 6.1 p21.
“Restore parkland and wood pasture in areas that have been converted to continuous woodland. This applies particularly to the Forestry Commission plantations..” 6.2 p25.
“seek to terminate the FC lease .. begin the process of conversion to wood-pasture and native woodland..” 6.3 p26.
2004. Croft is ranked second in importance after Moccas in the county for indicator beetle species and fifth for West Midlands region. “Revision of the Index of Ecological Continuity as used for saproxylic beetles.” English Nature Research Report 574 by Keith Alexander.
2005.Jim Knight, Parliamentary Under-Secretary Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs unveils a new forestry policy that
“ancient woodland, veteran trees and other native woodland is adequately protected, sustainably managed in a wider landscape context, and is providing a wide range of social, environmental and economic benefits to society…..This policy represents a significant change in emphasis for forestry activities in England by placing native and ancient woodland at the heart of forestry policy. The policy will make a significant contribution to several Government targets and policies, in particular the Government's biodiversity strategy for England, and will also help fulfil international commitments and statutory obligations. The Forestry Commission will work in close alignment with Natural England partners to ensure effective and coherent delivery of the policy.” Hansard 29 June 2005. FC launches “Keepers in Time” policy to enact this commitment including a commitment not to plant conifers in FC managed woods deemed to be of ancient origin.