Hack Fall Wood, otherwise known as Hackfall, is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, or SSSI, of , lying north-east of the village of Grewelthorpe, North Yorkshire, England. During the 18th century it was landscaped in the picturesque style by landowner William Aislabie, who created views by engineering streams and pools, planting trees and building follies. J. M. W. Turner and William Sawrey Gilpin painted it, and pictures of it featured on Catherine the Great's 1773 Wedgwood dinner service. Some 19th century writers called it "one of the most beautiful woods in the country."
Following 20th century clear-felling and natural regeneration of trees, the Woodland Trust purchased the property in 1989. The site was designated as an SSSI in the same year. Together with the Hackfall Trust and the Landmark Trust, the Woodland Trust restored footpaths, conserved the remaining follies and managed the wildlife habitat according to its SSSI status.
The woodland supports varied wildlife, including many birds, animals and flowering plants, plus more than 200 species of liverworts and mosses, and two rare creatures: the beetle Platycis minutus and the lemon slug, which lives only in ancient woodland. The site is now listed as a Conservation Area, and as Ancient Semi-Natural Woodland (ASNW). The woodland is open to the public and has many summer visitors, although the only public facility is a car park.
Site history
There is local evidence of earlier settlements in this area. There are prehistoric earthworks at Magdalen Hill, the name Camp Hill suggests a Roman encampment, and the name Grewelthorpe implies Danish settlement. It is possible that the name Hackfall derives simply from haggen, an Old Norse word associated with tree felling, and the fall of water through the Hackfall Gorge.
Hack Fall Wood is a Grade I listed Historic Garden. The listed follies on the site are Mowbray Point Ruin, Mowbray Castle, the Rustic Temple, and Fisher's Hall. Fisher's Hall is dated 1750, and named after William Aislabie's gardener.
Follies
Landscaping
In previous centuries the area which is now designated an SSSI was called Hackfall. John Aislabie (1670–1742) of Studley Royal Park, who had been responsible for the formal-style landscaping of Studley Royal and Fountains Abbey, purchased this land in 1731. He bought it for its timber, and perhaps also for its lime kiln, the coal pits near Limehouse Hill, sandstone quarries for repairing Ripon Cathedral, and the sawmill. His son William Aislabie (1700–1781), with an eye to the sublime aesthetic, landscaped the site in a natural, picturesque style with follies, an artificial waterfall, temples and grottoes among the trees, and the kinds of views and glades which were fashionable at the time. Aislabie used the Banqueting House, now known as the Mowbray Point Ruin, to entertain friends, and in the 19th century this became a tea room for tourists, when Hackfall was the property of Lord Ripon and available to those could pay for entry. Mowbray Point may have been designed by Robert Adam, and is now a holiday cottage controlled by the Landmark Trust.
"Nineteenth century writers hailed [Hackfall] as one of the most beautiful woodlands in the country;" J. M. W. Turner and William Sawrey Gilpin painted here. Hackfall is mentioned in William Wordsworth's Guide to the Lakes, and in works by Arthur Young and Reverend Richard Warner. It was pictured on five or six items of Wedgwood's 944-piece Frog dinner service of 1773, made for Catherine the Great.
Hackfall before the felling
Felling
In March 1933 after the National Trust failed to purchase it due to lack of funds, timber merchant John Green bought the wood, and most of it was clear-felled, then partially replanted with conifers. By 1937 Hackfall was a commercial farm and woodland, then during World War II it was allowed to degenerate, and fell prey to vandalism. Some features, including wooden buildings, were lost during the 1930s and 1940s, including cascades, weirs, benches, seats, a pair of summerhouses, and two items called the Sentry Box and the Tent. The wood was, however, allowed to regenerate naturally until the 1980s, and a small part still remains of the Sandbed Hut near Limehouse Hill, and the entrance Gate Pillars.
Restoration
When the property was offered for sale in 1987 and a threat of commercial development was noted, the Hackfall Trust was formed to raise funds for restoration of the landscaping. In 1989 the Woodland Trust purchased it on a 999-year lease, "restoring footpaths and woodland walks, conserving the various follies, managing the fragile habitats."