of deer are allowed to breed in the wilder and less frequented portions
if the forest, and these add much to the charm of some of the umbrageous
by-paths when one suddenly disturbs a quietly grazing group. Queen
Elizabeth's hunting lodge, which adjoins the Forest Hotel at Chingford,
is a restored three-storied and much gabled building, constructed of
plastered brickwork and framed with oak. It seems that the building
originally had no roof, but merely an open platform, from which one
could obtain a good comprehensive view of any sport going on in the
vicinity. The lodge has now been made the home of a museum of objects of
antiquity discovered in the forest. The special points of Epping Forest
which should be included in a long day's ramble are Connaught Water, a
lake near Chingford; High Beach, an elevated portion of the forest
possessing some splendid beeches; the earthwork known as Loughton Camp,
which probably belongs to pre-Roman times, and Ambresbury Banks, towards
Epping. This camp is said to have been the last fortress of the Britons
under Boadicea. From here they are believed to have marched against the
Romans to receive the crushing defeat inflicted upon them.
[Illustration: A GLADE AMONG THE BEECHES IN EPPING FOREST.]
HAMPTON COURT
=How to get there.=--South-Western Railway. Waterloo Station.
=Nearest Station.=--Hampton Court.
=Distance from London.=--15 miles.
=Average Time.=--3/4 hour.
1st 2nd 3rd
=Fares.=--Single 2s. 0d. 1s. 6d. 1s. 2-1/2d.
Return 2s. 9d. 2s. 0d. 1s. 10d.
=Accommodation Obtainable.=--"Castle Hotel," "Mitre Hotel," "The
King's Arms Hotel," "Greyhound Hotel," etc.
=Alternative Route.=--By steamboats from London Bridge, etc., during
the summer months.
Within a few hundred yards of the Hampton Court station on the London
and South-Western Railway stands the magnificent palace of Hampton
Court, originally erected by Cardinal Wolsey for his own residence, and
after his sudden downfall appropriated by his ungrateful master Henry
VIII. for his private use and property.
The approach from the station lies through a pair of finely designed
wrought-iron gates to the north frontage of the palace, erected by
Wolsey himself. This front is all in the fine red-brick architecture of
the period, with quaint gables, small mullioned windows, and a
collection of moulded and twisted red-brick chimneys of wonderfully
varied designs. The en
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