The New Forest and the Isle of WightWith eight plates and many other illustrations . ning, though conservative, influence of the forest law, and fromthat moment Beaulieu has a separate and dignified history, the humaninterest of which exceeds that of the forest itself. The resources andsplendour of this domain are such that it has, from the appointment ofits first abbot until the present time, maintained its position as animperium in imperio through all the tumults of history. It is of vastextent, yet the boundaries of the Manor Bank have never been broken or THE NEW FOREST 59 encroached upon.
The New Forest and the Isle of WightWith eight plates and many other illustrations . ning, though conservative, influence of the forest law, and fromthat moment Beaulieu has a separate and dignified history, the humaninterest of which exceeds that of the forest itself. The resources andsplendour of this domain are such that it has, from the appointment ofits first abbot until the present time, maintained its position as animperium in imperio through all the tumults of history. It is of vastextent, yet the boundaries of the Manor Bank have never been broken or THE NEW FOREST 59 encroached upon. Backed by the forest and bounded by the sea, fertilein corn, in wine—the remains of its terraced vineyards and the house ofthe winepress still survive—and inclosing nearly the whole of a splendidtidal river, it could exist as an independent whole, alike in beauty,position, and natural resources. Whether in mortmain—the deadhand of the Church—or in private possession, its resources have beenconsecutively in the power of a single owner, who has enjoyed a prestige ^.-•M-^. Jlcjcr/lnstei, Bcaulieu Abbey. from its possession such as is not conferred by any domain of similarextent. The privileges granted to the abbots by King John, and con-firmed by charter after charter of his successors, were at least equal tothose enjoyed by the kings themselves, when the manor was part of theirforest. The abbey enjoyed every ordinary forest right, and some whichwere exceptional ; the abbots might hunt within the manor and followtheir game into the forest a bowshot beyond its boundaries ; their houndswere excepted from the provisions as to mutilation if found in the forest,and to this day the manor shares with only one other, that of Brocken- 6o THE NEW FOREST hurst, the privilege of feeding sheep in the forest. The Prince Abbots ofBeaulieu sat among the Lords spiritual in Parliament for 200 years, andafter the confiscation of their estates the prestige of the possession of themanor see
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Keywords: ., bookauthorcornishc, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookyear1903
