The Wood that Built London

Event Information

The writer, journalist and historian C. J. Schüler will give an illustrated talk about his latest book The Wood that Built London, out now in paperback. 

It is hard to imagine that the busy townscape of South London was once a great wood, stretching almost seven miles from Croydon to Deptford or that, scattered through the suburbs, a number of oak woods have survived since before the Norman Conquest, providing green space for local residents and a vital habitat for small mammals, birds and insects.

Drawing on historic documents, maps and environmental evidence, the book tells how the wood was intensively managed for a thousand years, providing timber for construction, furniture and shipbuilding, and charcoal for London’s blacksmiths, kilns and bakeries. It charts its ecology, ownership and management, the gradual encroachment of the metropolis, and the battles fought by campaigners to save what remained.

The Wood That Built London is published by Sandstone Press.

Contributors

Chris Schüler
C. J. Schüler is a freelance writer, journalist and cultural historian. His previous book, Along the Amber Route: St Petersburg to Venice (also from Sandstone), an epic travelogue through Eastern and Central Europe, was hailed as ‘timely and powerful’ by the Financial Times, shortlisted for Stanford Dolman Award and longlisted for the Wingate Prize.

He has written on literature, travel and the arts for The Independent, The Tablet, the Financial Times and the Daily Telegraph. A former staff member with the Rough Guides and The Independent, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in 2011.

www.cjschuler.com

Location

The Gallery, 70 Cowcross St, Farrindon, hosted by CPRE London