Legends of St Leonard's Forest

These are the chief points of interest:

Myths and legends

St Leonard of Limousin: The forest is named after St Leonard (AD c485-559). He was a nobleman turned abbot and then hermit who was given as much land as he could ride around on a donkey in a day as a reward for his prayers for the safe delivery of the son of Clovis the Frankish king. Leonard set up a monastery in the Limousin region of France, which was visited by Richard I while on crusade. This led to the story that St Leonard came to England. Local legend says that St. Leonard's hermitage was in the forest although this seems extremely unlikely.

Dragons: St Leonard is reputed to have slain the last dragon in England. A Saxon chronicle mentions that "monstrous serpents were seen in the country of the Southern Angles that is called Sussex". St. Leonard was injured in his fight with the monsters, and Lilies of the Valley grew where his blood fell (an area is still called the Lily Beds). He requested that snakes be banished and the nightingales which interrupted his prayers be silenced. However, other tales maintain that dragons were still around in August 1614 as a pamphlet was published with the title "Discourse relating a strange and monstrous Serpent (or Dragon) lately discovered...two miles from Horsam, in a woode called St. Leonards Forrest" (see the image). The dragons are remembered with a sculpture in Horsham Park, carved benches in the Forest and a pub at Colgate which we'll visit.

Mick and the Devil: In the Forest the places named 'Race Hill' and 'Mick's Cross' remember one Michael Mills, a local braggart, some say a smuggler, who, having encountered the Devil in the wood, challenged him to a race. Mick won the race, and thereby got to keep his soul.

Landscape and wildlife

Geology: St Leonard's Forest is at western end of the Wealden Ridge. The ridge is formed of alternating Cretaceous Period sandstones (which resist erosion to form the high heaths) and clays (which erode to form the ravines called 'ghylls' or 'gills'). Some beds contain iron which was used in the iron industry in the 16th century and remembered in the name Hammer Pond.

Wildlife: The Forest is a mixture of heathland, broadleaf and coniferous forest. All three species of British woodpecker might be seen and heard, plus chiffchaffs and redstarts if the autumn has been mild. Likewise, mild autumn weather might bring out butterflies such as the comma and peacock on the broad paths and glades.

History and economy

Rabbit mounds: Rabbits, imported by the Normans, failed to thrive in the cool, damp British climate, so warreners built mounds warmed by fires for them. They appear as long 'pillow mounds' up to 80 metres long. So extensive was this industry that the Forest was called 'The Great Warren' for a time.

Mine pits: Especially in the 16th and 17th centuries, the High Weald was the centre of Britain’s iron industry. At its peak, it produced almost all the cannon and cannonballs for wars such as seeing off the Spanish Armada. Mine pits were dug to extract the iron ore and they litter this part of the Forest.