Timber and wood need to be distinguished. In the industrial period many
timber forests were replaced by recyclable coppice growth though
standards (timber) could be combined with this. I think industry
conveted to coal for economic reasons rather than a shortage. Certainly
timber shortage may have affected vernacular architecture in some
areas like Lincolnshire mud and stud though short tenancies may also
have prevented investment. The loss of forests is quite complicated- one
major factor was the relative "poverty" of the English crown and old
aristocracy who flogged forests off wholesale off to fund their
increasingl;y expensive life styles while they often had problems
increasing ancient customary rents. May have contributed to popularity
of fox hunting in England as opposed to boars and stags in France.
If boar hunting was banned in France and Belgium (no chance - if the
locals disn't shoot you the police or gendarmerie would) I am sure vast
areas of forest would disappear.
There are also shortages of consumer goods evident in peripheral areas
of the early modern world- see Ann Smart Martin's new book on Virginia
and my chapter on urbanism and marketing in Gwent County History III due
out in Feb And after writing more pot reports than I remember in the
last 25 years I can tell you pottery was pretty scarce in much of C16
Wales especially once you left the coast due to a alck of local
productiona nd difficult communications.
paul courtney
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