Our history at Alice Holt

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Alice Holt Forest

Alice Holt Forest is a very popular visitor destination, attracting over 300,000 visitors a year. We have over 8 miles of waymarked trails for walking, running and cycling all set within 247 hectares of beautiful forest. Our facilities include a cafe, open spaces, outdoor play structures including Gruffalo sculptures for children to explore, as well as cycle hire, wellbeing and fitness activities at our Activity Centre. For the thrill seekers, we have GoApe Treetop adventures!

A black and white photo of log piles beside a track in Alice Holt Forest

Iron Age to the Middle Ages

In the 1st Century BC Iron Age inhabitants began to make pottery at Alice Holt and when the Romans arrived in AD 60 they expanded these potteries into a major industry. The potteries were extensive and economically important giving rise to wealthy settlement in the area. All the materials required for a pottery industry were readily available at Alice Holt, including clay, water, and fuel for the kilns. Pots from Alice Holt have been found in London and as far afield as Brittany.

In Saxon times some of the forest was cleared for farming and local people grazed their animals in the woods, resulting in a mix of dense and open woodland with open spaces between.

In the Middle Ages Alice Holt became a Royal Hunting Forest and strict laws governed it, controlling the rights of local people within the forest.

1600s to 1800s

During the Tudor and Stuart period there was great demand for timber, mainly for shipbuilding but also for great buildings, and by 1635 the forest was in a poor state. In 1655 Charles II had the forest replanted and it was left for 100 years before any significant timber extraction took place.

By 1788 Alice Holt was again depleted of substantial timber owing to the demand for shipbuilding material during the Napoleonic Wars. In 1812 the Enclosure Act allowed the enclosure of 1600 acres of forest which was replanted with oak between 1815 and 1825. There were red deer in the forest until 1815 but they were removed when the Inclosures were created. Today roe deer are common in the forest.

Two people using a saw to cut the ends of timber logs
A black and white photo of a tractor carrying logs on a trailer from Alice Holt Forest

The 1900s

The Forestry Commission took charge of Alice Holt Forest in 1924 to increase the home-grown timber supply by planting trees, mainly quick growing conifers. Timber supplies were limited and in demand after the First World War, and at this time only five percent of the UK was woodland. 

In the 1960’s an Arboretum was created in Lodge Inclosure by researchers studying plant progeny and genetics. A fascinating collection of specimen conifers and broadleaves from around the world can now be seen.

Alice Holt today

A small part of the forest is now designated as a nationally important Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) for its wildlife. Sustainable forest management ensures that the entire forest is managed with consideration for wildlife, and we’ve begun to restore much of the native woodland that has been lost through various phases of deforestation. This work includes the gradual removal of conifers within broadleaf woods and the encouragement of the natural regeneration of our native tree species.