The Kinlet woods in the early 20th Century

In 1919, much of the Kinlet Estate was offered for sale, including extensive holdings in the Wyre Forest. The sale catalogue lists the individual coppices, their acreages and details of past and future fellings. The coppices were exclusively oak underwood and were worked on a 19-year cycle. Strikingly, this is identical to the cycle used by Philip Foley on his coppices in the Wyre Forest over 200 years previously. Foley’s wood was used very largely for charcoal; by 1919 it is likely that the market for this had shrunk considerably. Edwin George, in his recollections of work in the Wyre Forest just before the Second World War (The Forest is my Life), describes the main products of the coppices as being penny poles, rustic oak, refinery poles and pit-props, rather than the traditional cordwood for charcoal. He also recollected a 25-year coppice cycle, perhaps a move to encourage sturdier timber for the pit-prop market. In Mr George’s time, the standing timber in each coppice would be sold to one or two timber merchants who would be responsible for felling and extracting. Felling was still predominantly by hand; horses and lorries were both used to take removed the felled timber. A typical annual fall would be something like 50-100 acres of coppice. There was still significant demand for the bark from the felled trees.

In addition to the coppices, there were also a number of plantations. These were typically less than an acre on steep ground alongside streams which would otherwise be rough pasture, although there were some more extensive areas of plantation at Sturt in the Wyre Forest. For the most part the types of trees being grown in plantations are not specified, although at Baveney Wood there was a birch plantation and at Sturt most if not all of the 17acres of plantation were larch. There were just over 50 acres of plantation in the sale, compared to almost 1500 acres of oak coppice. There was also a considerable amount of hedgerow timber, although this was not quantified.

The Kinlet Estate Coppices in 1919

File Download:

Coachroad Coppice, 46.5 acres, Last felled 1901/2, Next fall 1920
Coachroad Coppice, 37.75 acres, Last felled 1902/3, Next fall 1921
Corbet's Park, 33 acres, Last felled 1902/3, Next fall 1921
Corbet's Park, 21.25 acres, Last felled 1903/4, Next fall 1922
Lawleys and Earnwood Coppices, 59 acres, Last felled 1903/4, Next fall 1922
Lawleys and Earnwood Coppices, 56.5 acres, Last felled 1904/5, Next fall 1923
Lawleys and Earnwood Coppices, 51 acres, Last felled 1905/6, Next fall 1924
Neenshill Coppice, 38 acres, Last felled 1905/6, Next fall 1924
Birchen Vallets, Broadhurst and Blackgraves Coppices, 57 acres, Last felled 1906/7, Next fall 1925
Maxfield Coppice, 45.5 acres, Last felled 1906/7, Next fall 1925
Birchen Vallets, Broadhurst and Blackgraves Coppices 39, acres, Last felled 1907/8, Next fall 1926
Malpass Wood, 28.5 acres, Last felled 1907/8, Next fall 1926
Birchen Vallets, Broadhurst and Blackgraves Coppices, 27 acres, Last felled 1908/9, Next fall 1927
Malpass Wood, 59 acres, Last felled 1908/9, Next fall 1927
Birchen Vallets, Broadhurst and Blackgraves Coppices, 32 acres, Last felled 1909/10, Next fall 1928
Whiteleasow Coppice, 24 acres, Last felled 1909/10, Next fall 1928
Bell Coppice, 17 acres, Last felled 1910/11, Next fall 1929
Breakneck Bank Coppice, 24.25 acres, Last felled 1910/11, Next fall 1929
Postenplain, 62 acres, Last felled 1910/11, Next fall 1929
Bell Coppice, 41 acres, Last felled 1911/2, Next fall 1930
Ben's Coppice, 21.5 acres, Last felled 1911/2, Next fall 1930
Postenplain, 21 acres, Last felled 1911/2, Next fall 1930
Fastings Coppice, 46 acres, Last felled 1912/13, Next fall 1931
Nailings Coppice, 26 acres, Last felled 1912/3, Next fall 1931
Bell Coppice, 50 acres, Last felled 1913/4, Next fall 1932
Coldwell Coppice, 41 acres, Last felled 1913/4, Next fall 1932
Coldwell Coppice, 38.75 acres, Last felled 1914/5, Next fall 1933
Furnace Mill Coppice, 14.5 acres, Last felled 1914, Next fall 1933
Breakneck Bank, 14 acres, Last felled 1915/6, Next fall 1934
Long Coppice , 40 acres, Last felled 1915/6, Next fall 1934
Breakneck Bank Coppice 41, acres, Last felled 1916/7, Next fall 1935
Long Coppice , 21 acres, Last felled 1916/7, Next fall 1935
Postenplain, 13 acres, Last felled 1916/7, Next fall 1935
Dinglespout Coppice, 47 acres, Last felled 1917/18, Next fall 1936
Hall of Hammonds Coppice, 12 acres, Last felled 1919, Next fall 1938
Nailings, 36.75 acres, Last felled 1919, Next fall 1938
Nailings Coppice, 19 acres, Last felled 1917/8, Next fall 1938
Station Coppice, 4.75 acres, Last felled 1919, Next fall 1938
Dinglespout Coppice, 9 acres, Cut by estate
Fastings Coppice, 11 acres, Cut by estate
Gibbonswell Coppice, 45 acres, Cut by estate