Epping Forest is an area of ancient woodland which straddles the border between Greater London and Essex. A casework request was submitted by David Kenny Heritage Officer (Countryside Stewardship Service), Partnerships Team, East Region. He stated that City of London staff based in Epping Forest have recently acquired high resolution lidar coverage of the forest, revealing for the first time a glimpse of the landscape that lies beneath the trees. They have little professional expertise in interpreting lidar data and need support in doing so. At the same time they have substantial interest from a body of volunteers who would be willing to ground truth features in the landscape. This request is for support in interpreting the data and providing the council, its officers and the volunteers with early an insight into what might have been revealed so that they can embark on a programme of survey and investigation aimed at compiling a less partial understanding of the historic landscape. The proposed small project will assess the archaeological features within Epping Forest by: " Undertaking aerial investigation and mapping using high resolution lidar to identify, map, record and better understand the archaeological landscape within Epping Forest " Undertake research into the archaeology of Epping forest " Providing outreach - training to Epping Forest project volunteers in Aerial Investigation and Mapping techniques/presentation of project results The project will be carried out by Daniel Hunt (Investigator, Aerial Survey team, Historic England). It will contribute to Historic Corporate Plan (2023-26) by 3B allowing more people to discover, help save and protect the historic places they care about and 3C, ensuring our partners, including local authorities have the skills and knowledge they need to effect positive change and 6A Our people have the skills, knowledge and resilience to perform well where they are most needed and get things done easily. The results of the project will help visitors to Epping Forest better understand, enjoy and appreciate the forest and its history. The project produced a combined total of 206 monument records for Essex and Greater London HERs, with 183 new records and 24 amendments. This represents a significant increase in the number of known archaeological sites which will greatly assist CoLC and the HERs in the management of their heritage assets. The recorded monuments date from the Iron Age to the Second World War, with the majority of features dating to the post-medieval period (139 in total). The most common features of this period are related to the extraction of sands, gravels and clays, along with medieval and post-medieval hollow ways.
Daniel Hunt (Thu,) studied this question.