What is a forest?

Written by Luke Quenby, Community Forester, Forest of Marston Vale Trust

Posted 28th July 2025

What is a forest? - It’s a question we often get asked, being the ‘Forest of Marston Vale’. Many people associate the word forest with a thickly wooded and dense area of trees as far as the eye can see, but as with many things in the English language, there is a bit more to it than that. 

Anyone who has visited the New Forest in Hampshire, probably one of our more famous forests in the UK, will know that there are huge areas of open space and heathland, as well as fields, farms, town and villages. The word forest derives from the Old French Forest or forès, denoting "forest, vast expanse covered by trees". However, forest was first introduced into English as the word denoting wild land set aside for hunting, without necessarily having trees on the land. Possibly a borrowing, probably via Frankish or Old High German, of the Medieval Latin foresta, denoting "open wood". 

So, it seems that forest is an old-fashioned word used to denote an open area for traditional royal hunting grounds, and it so happens that a lot of these areas contained woodlands within them.  

The importance of coppicing 

These woodlands would have often been managed in a coppicing system. Coppicing is an ancient form of managing woodlands. Generally speaking, all broadleaf species can be coppiced, and as long as the growing conditions are ok and the browsing pressure isn’t too high, they will regrow from the base, sending up multiple stems with great vigour to grow on. These bases are known as stools, and some of the oldest stools in the country are over 1000 years old and still being cut today. 

Coppicing is the practice of cyclically cutting the stems of a broadleaf tree close to the ground, is an ancient form of managing woodlands.

Image: coppicing at Holcot Wood, located near Brogborough and Cranfield 

One of the most well known and favoured species for coppicing is Hazel, which is what we predominantly have in Holcot Wood, but Ash, Oak, Lime, Sweet Chestnut, Hornbeam, Alder, Birch and Willow are also well-known species undergoing this kind of management.

 
Below, you’ll find details on a number of tree species, their coppicing cycles, and their typical end uses - to give you a better sense of what each was traditionally used for:

Geographical influences 

Many of these types of wood have geographical strongholds, although Hazel is popular nationwide, and they can all appear all over the country. Sweet Chestnut for example, generally believed to have been introduced by the Romans from Central Europe, is very popular in the southeast due to the higher sunshine hours and warmer climate. Oak coppice is more popular in the livestock rich areas in the north and west of the country, where the bark would be stripped to be sold into the leather industry and the actual timber would go on for secondary processing. Hornbeam was the wood of choice pre the industrial revolution for cogs and gears in mills, having the hardest wood of any tree found in Europe. The name Hornbeam derives from old English of ‘horn’ meaning hard and ‘beam’ meaning tree. It is also very popular for firewood and charcoal due to its high calorific (energy producing) value.  

Industry and woodland: a symbiotic history 

A lot of symbiotic relationships with other centres of industry often emerged, Sweet Chestnut being prevalent in the southeast which is where most of the hops were grown, giving a ready market for the coppiced poles. Alder, a favoured riverbank tree, also has remarkable durability when submerged in water (but very little out of it) and is the wood of choice for any riverbank work. Oak coppice was often found around areas of brewing and leather processing. Hornbeam could often be found growing in areas where there was a lot of water or windmills.  

All of this gives rise to the question, were the ancient woods we see today managed for the benefit of the industries, or did the industries naturally evolve and gravitate towards the woodlands because of the raw material available? A kind of chicken and egg scenario, but what we do know is woodland management in one form or another, and either intentional or fortuitous has been being practiced for thousands of years. 

Historically, many place names derive from the woods that were growing around them, and it is quite common to see a tree name or reference in a place name. In our own area there is Wootton, which used to be known as ‘Wood Town’ as well as Wood End. Copse (small woodland) and Hurst (meaning surrounded by wood / trees) are two of the most popular parts of place names, and there is also often a nod to the associated industries in a place or even surname (Cooper, Fletcher, Underwood, Woodman, or just Wood!) In certain areas of East Sussex Alder is referred to as ‘Napolean’s Wood’, due to the high quality of charcoal it produced which in turn went on to be used to make first rate gunpowder for use in the Napoleonic wars. 

Diversify and management within the woods

Within a single wood it is not uncommon to find a multitude of species being grown and methods of management being used. Sweet Chestnut on the sandy, lighter soils, Hornbeam on the heavier, clay soils. Hazel scattered throughout, Oak standards, Alder and Willow in the wetter areas near streams, rivers, lakes and valleys. Birch, as a true pioneer species, cropping up in recently cleared areas and Lime growing along the rides where it could reach its full height potential. As well as this there would be areas growing prime Oak in rows and softwoods. Often you will also see ‘marker trees’, trees in ancient woodlands of a totally different, and often evergreen species such as Holly or Yew, growing at a crossroads or ride entrance within a wood, like a living signpost. There is a great marker Oak tree in Holcot, far bigger than the rest, on the crossroads of an overgrown old ride in the Hazel area. 

Guided walk by Community Forester, Luke Quenby at Holcot Woods.

Oak tree towering into the sky at Holcot Woods.

Bluebell in spring in an ancient woodland

Learning from the past 

What we can see is that our ancestors knew a lot about soil types, growing conditions, species choice and wood uses, many centuries before the invention of interactive maps, tools and technologies that make life easier for the forester of today. Woods were places of great industry, and vital sources of fuel and materials for local trades, and nothing went to waste. While we are now used to woodlands as generally being places of quiet enjoyment and recreation, a few generations ago they were places of great activity and work. 

Whilst there may not be the call for raw materials, skills and crafts associated with woodlands today that there once was, coppice products have been enjoying a resurgence for some time. As we become more aware of single use plastics and carbon footprints and the impact of our everyday activities on the environment, woodland and coppice produce play a part in helping reduce the burden of fossil fuel-based produce.  

Our ancestors had the right idea and approach to woodland management, and as we move through the 10-year plan of restoring Holcot Wood, we are already beginning to see the changes and differences within the woodland. The Hazel and Ash are being felled to restart the coppice cycle, with the wood being processed for hedge laying materials, bean poles, charcoal and wood fuel and the light, even at this time of year, is filtering nicely through the canopy. The veteran Oaks have been released from competing underwood to allow them to thrive and many of the Hazels have been left with a single stem uncut for layering. We've seen the positive effects on the ground flora and also as the Hazel reaches thicket stage, there will be a myriad of nesting sites for birds and associated biodiversity gains.