Why did William the Conqueror create a forest in 1079? How have ponies, pigs and commoners shaped its landscape for a thousand years? What are the ancient Common Rights of Marl, Estovers and Turbary? In this book, historian Gerald Ponting reveals one of Britain’s most lovely medieval landscapes. From heathland and mires to inclosures and ancient woodlands, with smugglers, snakecatchers, verderers and forest keepers, the New Forest remains a living mosaic of history, ecology and tradition.