Epping Forest is a unique and ancient woodland, some 12 miles long from Manor Park in the south to Epping in the north. Within the Forest, fallow deer and muntjac deer roam freely and are a delight to visitors lucky enough to spot a glimpse of these beautiful and wild creatures.
Epping Forest has held a long association with deer. In times when the pleasures of the chase were the favourite recreation of the Sovereign, Epping Forest became a much favoured royal hunting ground. and a number of deer parks were formed in and around the Forest; the hunt grandstand of Queen Elizabeth’s Hunting Lodge still stands today at Chingford.
The City of London became the Conservators of Epping Forest in 1878, but the gradual loss of interest by the Crown for hunting in the Forest eventually led Queen Victoria to relinquish all Royal hunting rights in 1882.
In the 1950s, concerned by declining numbers of deer within the Forest, the City of London Corporation, as Conservators of Epping Forest, created a Deer Sanctuary to ensure that this important species was protected. Since this time the deer population has thrived: sustainably managing the deer also helps to prevent a drop in the condition of the deer themselves due to over-population.
As a result, the City of London are now offering Epping Forest venison for sale at the Epping Forest Visitor Centre, The View, and the money generated from the sale of Epping Forest venison will go straight back into protecting the Forest, which is a Registered Charity.
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