Odd shaped wood

[old'un]

I was looking at google maps about the area where my grandparents came from (Suffolk) and noticed this odd shaped wood, does anyone know why its this shape, thought at first for driven birds but the drives would be to close together.

Odd shaped wood….https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.2290253,0.6090962,1984m/data=!3m1!1e3

Thanks.

[ditchman]

looks like an aboreteuam.............

[enfieldspares]

Hearse Wood.

My son went stalking on one estate in Suffolk where the trees were planted to resemble a view of the battle line at the sea action at La Hogue of 1692. The estate bearing that same name.

Edited January 31, 2023 by enfieldspares

[old'un]

My grandparents came from Barrow and I have looked before at the area on google maps and never noticed it, the shape just seems odd, also the fields are very small, the biggest field only measures 175mtr x 85mtr, it’s almost as if it was done for some purpose.

[B725]

At Hardwick Hall there is a very long line of tree's known as the wine glass, they had been deliberately planted that way you can now only see it properly from the air. There is a few trees slightly lower than the rest as they had been cut back for the army/ Airforce during WW2 

[old'un]

10 minutes ago, B725 said:

At Hardwick Hall there is a very long line of tree's known as the wine glass, they had been deliberately planted that way you can now only see it properly from the air. There is a few trees slightly lower than the rest as they had been cut back for the army/ Airforce during WW2 

Just found a bit about the grounds around Saxham Hall and it said that Lancelot (capability) Brown was responsible for the design of the grounds, the layout of the wood could be part of his design???

[bluesj]

Hearse Wood, I think (but could be wrong) that a hearse was a sort of coffin or structure around a coffin.

May be someone is buried there.

 

[stockybasher]

Maybe a means of sheltering horses / individual groups of horses from wind/weather (obviously from many years ago).  There is a lot of horse activity I think in the adjoining meadows to the North, plus an exercise ring near the house etc.

[B725]

48 minutes ago, old'un said:

Just found a bit about the grounds around Saxham Hall and it said that Lancelot (capability) Brown was responsible for the design of the grounds, the layout of the wood could be part of his design???

Brown did a lot of landscaping for the wealthy, what I find fascinating is a lot of the woodland he planted would eventually only be seen and understood from above .

[johnphilip]

1 hour ago, old'un said:

My grandparents came from Barrow and I have looked before at the area on google maps and never noticed it, the shape just seems odd, also the fields are very small, the biggest field only measures 175mtr x 85mtr, it’s almost as if it was done for some purpose.

In the medieval  / middle ages  around villages  there used  to lots of small fields  they were usual owned  by  different  families  . Most had there own field each  to grow crops  etc.  There are still parts  of the country were you can still see these  areas  of  small field  , I am from Teesdale originally   there  are  small. Fields  there .

[jeffgg]

Looks like a Tudor Rose shape  

[7daysinaweek]

My hypothesis

The trees were taken from the inner aspects of the wood over time as to maintain the integrity of the perimeter from wind destruction. A bit like loosing a tooth, once it has gone the adjacent ones are risk of failing.

More likely conjecture the more I think about it.

[NatureBoy]

Being on an estate possibly old decoy lakes. Plenty had that layout.  NB

[manthing]

The wood could just be a green folly rather than a stone one.

Rich landowners were strange like that.

[Jim Neal]

My guess is the clearings are made for deer stalking purposes.  What's interesting is if you look at the surrounding arable land it has plenty of cover plots worked and ready for drilling.  I thought initially it's set out like a game shoot but, zooming in on that strange wood plus all the surrounding woods etc, there's absolutely no evidence of release pens or any other signs of the woods or covers being drives.  You'd see clues from above like feeders, scratching shelters, grain hoppers, etc.... unless it's a shoot that's kept ultra-tidy, which is pretty much unheard of!  The cover plots might well be stewardship rather than game covers.

[henry d]

👽🛸

[old man]

13 hours ago, jeffgg said:

Looks like a Tudor Rose shape  

👍

[Penelope]

On 31/01/2023 at 22:17, NatureBoy said:

Being on an estate possibly old decoy lakes. Plenty had that layout.  NB

That's what I thought before I looked at the image. Doesn't have the right shape, though.

[Penelope]

On 31/01/2023 at 19:15, jeffgg said:

Looks like a Tudor Rose shape  

It does indeed look like a rose, more so the single petals of the Yorkist or Lancastrian rather than the double 'Tudor' petal.

Henry Tudor's marriage to Edward IV's daughter, Elizabeth, combined the two opposing roses into the one Tudor rose.

[wymberley]

On 31/01/2023 at 17:35, bluesj said:

Hearse Wood, I think (but could be wrong) that a hearse was a sort of coffin or structure around a coffin.

May be someone is buried there.

 

Felt sure that you’d go on to mention ‘barrow’ in view of the nearby hill.

[RyanMc]

Interesting things you find looking at the aerial images on Google Maps, you find all sorts when looking over permission grounds etc. We have a lot of ancient forts here on the Island of Ireland, the most interesting is the Emery Celtic Cross in County Donegal...

Google Maps