Fields, Woods & Wild Things

The recently published Journal of the Essex Field Club for the year 2002/2003 contains a paper, written by Gerald Lucy, titled “Essex erratic boulders: a gazetteer”¹. An erratic is a large boulder that did not originate from its current position. During the Ice Age, the boulder would have been carried from its origin by a moving ice sheet and deposited on the melting of the ice in its present position. This would have occurred some 450,000 years ago.

The gazetteer notes that the vast majority of Essex boulders are sarsens and puddingstones, both extremely hard silica-cemented sandstones and conglomerates, respectively. The Essex boulders are distributed mainly in the northwest of the county (in the districts of Braintree, Chelmsford, Epping Forest and Uttlesford).

The search and recording of erratics in Essex has a history going back to 1830. The Journal paper, building on earlier recording, develops a gazetteer of known erratics in Essex. The list is limited to those boulders which are larger than approximately 150cm x 90cm x 45cm, following from the traditional measure of 5’ x 3’ x 1’6” used in the early recording. The quoted measurement records the size of that part of the stone that is visible. Generally, only those boulders that can be seen from the public highway are included. Often they are to be found in churchyards, and occasionally churches are discovered to have used a glacial erratic in their foundations.

One entry in the Journal records:
“Stanford Rivers
Hidden in the grass by the road near the entrance to St Margaret’s Church (TL 534009) is a sarsen (90 x 85).”

Are there more in the High Country?
We are able add one more to the list. An erratic sits outside Temple Cottage, near to Coleman’s Farm in Clatterford End, Toot Hill. The stone has been moved from the vicinity of Burrows Farm, about 300 metres to the north. The stone is visible from the bridle path. We have reported this to Gerald Lucy. Are there any more?

In 2005 Rob Brooks led a ten week course for the Ongar branch of the WEA entitled ‘The Royal Forest of Essex’. These notes were written by him, and are reproduced in his memory.

The Royal Forest of Essex
Introduction

At the outset, we need to be clear about the meaning of the term Royal Forest. In referring to an area as Royal Forest, we mean that Forest Laws placed restrictions on its use. The convention is to use capital letters here to distinguish this precise meaning from forest to denote a large wooded area. Hence Forest has a legal interpretation; this implies that the association with trees is coincidental … although not irrelevant!

The Norman kings introduced Forest Laws to preserve for themselves unhindered hunting of venison, venison being deer (roe, fallow and red deer) and wild boar. At the whim of the Norman kings, large areas of England were designated Royal Forest. The Forest Laws were restrictive and intentionally oppressive for those inhabitants living under them, and as a consequence the Laws were much resented. These laws were not part of Common Law, and a separate judiciary was required to administer them.

Some time after the Norman Conquest, the whole of Essex became a single Royal Forest, one of some seventy Forests to be so created. Essex was the largest. In the 13C., at their peak, the Royal Forest covered about one quarter of the country in large swathes.

In the course we will examine the history of the Royal Forest with particular reference to Essex. This history extends to the present day. Essex is fortunate in retaining remnants of Forest, notably the ancient woodlands of Hainault, Epping, including Wintry Wood to the north of Epping, Kingswood, near Colchester, and Writtle. Most notable is the wood-pasture of Hatfield Forest, which uniquely retains the traditional open pasture in a form close to that which probably existed in Norman times.

There are several themes running through the course. Apart from the changing structure and history of the Forest of Essex, these themes include the legal background to the Forest and the social consequences, the changing use of the Forest, including hunting, agriculture and timber production, and an appreciation of trees and their management.

At the end of the course, those attending will have established a broader understanding of the Royal Forest. Within a wider context, the course will provide the background necessary to enable attendees to develop a greater understanding of physical landscape features. It is hoped that the course will provide the framework for an enhanced, enthusiastic and developing appreciation of the English landscape using sources available.

The Royal Forest of Essex
Part 1.
Anglo-Saxon Essex

Objective

We need to look before the Norman Conquest to establish the position held by both woodland and the practice of hunting, and we will then be able to recognise the changes brought about through the Norman Conquest and the imposition of the Forest Laws.

In recent years, the Anglo-Saxons and their achievements have been undergoing some re-evaluation; for example, as presented in the autumn TV programme, Britain AD. The Anglo-Saxon system of local government through hundreds and parishes was probably without parallel in Europe. Two examples of Anglo-Saxon culture may be mentioned in passing, the Alfred jewel, held in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, and a portable sundial, residing in Canterbury Cathedral. The re-evaluation is being continued through the strong line of research of landscape historians and archaeologists.

Anglo-Saxon Woodland and Hunting

Woodland was of great importance to the local economy. Woodland provided timber for building and tools, and fuel for heating. Woodland beech and oak mast supported pigs and cattle. Honey would be a valued product from woodland.

Woodland also provided an area for recreation in the form of hunting. The laws of Cnut implied that areas for hunting were reserved and landowners were permitted to hunt on their own land. Techniques used in hunting would include hunting with dogs from horseback for royalty and hunting using nets for the commonalty. The practice of rearing animals both for food and for hunting is indicated by frequent reference in charters to a hagu or haia, meaning a hedge or fence; these words, Old English and Norman, respectively, were used to describe some structure either for the containment of animals, primarily deer, or for use in hunting game.

Alfred the Great is reputed to have excelled in the art of hunting. Edward the Confessor was aid to have enjoyed the sports of hawking and hunting whenever he had completed his devotions. There is a record of the king's huntsmen being fed and clothed, and being given presents, and at least for royalty, the practice of hunting appears well developed.

Anglo-Saxon Landscapes in Essex

There is evidence of Anglo-Saxon landscapes locally. The parishes of the Rodings, north of Chipping Ongar, of which there are eight remaining:
Beauchamp Roding,
Berners Roding,
Margaret Roding,
Leaden Roding,
High Roding,
Aythorpe Roding,
White Roding, and Abbess Roding,
formed an Anglo-Saxon estate. A ninth parish, Morrells Roding, has been absorbed within the parish of White Roding. Four churches existed in Rodings manors by 1086, and 16 separate manors are mentioned in Domesday. Eight parishes were in existence by 1250; maybe the parish church of White Roding took the role of a minster church within these parishes; but the evidence is not strong enough to support a firm conclusion.

St Andrew's, Greensted-juxta-Ongar, was traditionally thought to be of Anglo-Saxon date. This date has been progressively revised, making the church 'younger'. Recent dendrochronology results have determined a date of between 1040 and 1086; so the church might even be Norman … but at least the logs are Anglo-Saxon!

The date of St Andrew's now corresponds closely to the earliest recorded date of a deer park in England. A will of 1045 makes reference to a 'deer huge' at Chipping Ongar. The boundary of Ongar Great Park was about one mile west of St Andrew's. A partial bank, characteristic of such parks, is still in evidence. The park was about 5 miles in circumference and the bank, built to retain the deer, would have been a prominent structure of necessity.

The Norman Conquest

William I was a keen huntsman. Norman hunting traditions, added to an interest in the subjugation of the populace, resulted in William introducing Forest Laws, giving hunting rights to the king over large areas of England irrespective of land ownership.

The Royal Forest of Essex
Part 2.
The Norman and Angevin Kings

Objective

There are pre-conquest references that indicate the existence of hunting in England and there is some evidence that hunting was organised and included the rearing and management of deer. The Royal Forest is usually taken to be a Norman introduction. In this session, its development by the Norman and Angevin kings will be discussed. The extent of the Royal Forest increased throughout the period, eventually covering 20% of England. Essex was a Royal Forest, and the largest of the Forest areas in England.

Royal Forest

A Royal Forest is an area subject to Forest Laws. These were drafted to protect venison for the purpose of hunting. Areas designated Royal Forest were associated with poorer land. Woodland was needed for cover for deer, but apart from this requirement, there is no direct correlation of Forest with trees. However, the result of the Laws was to ensure that the king and his followers enjoyed a controlled, near monopoly of hunting.

Hunting was a tradition of the Carolingian kings. William I is quoted as loving "the tall deer as if he were their father". A Norman king was able to satisfy his desire for the hunt by designating a Royal Forest at his whim; the inhabitants, urged by severe penalties for transgressions, would be made aware that Forest Laws would be applied.

Forest Laws

The Forest Laws were intended to protect deer and provide an environment in which deer would flourish. There is no original version of the Laws from the reign of William I, and it must be anticipated that they evolved subsequently. The year 1184 was a watershed; the administration of the Forest needed attention and it was necessary to demonstrate that the Laws were not the whim of the king. In 1184, the Assize of Woodstock (also the Assize of the Forest) incorporated the fundamental Forest Laws.

Effectively, Forest Laws conveyed to the king Forestal Rights, the right to keep deer, to hunt, to fine transgressors and collect the fines. The landowner owned the soil, the timber and woodland, and the grazing, but commoners, also had established rights, for example rights to timber, often for particular purposes, and grazing rights. Of course, the King was a landowner, owning his estates within Forested areas, but the king might also license important landowners to hunt in their own private Forest, referred to as a chase, in exchange for revenue generated for the exchequer.

As may be expected, these Laws placed restrictions on inhabitants; for example, by restricting the development of land for agriculture or housing, because of the need to maintain the cover for the deer, through restrictions on the protection of crops because of the need to allow the free-running of the deer, and placing limits on the keeping of dogs. There were also many corrupt practices that caused conflict between the king and barons, coming to a head in the Magna Carta of 1215. The issue of the Royal Forest was sufficiently important to warrant four chapters within the charter.

Following John's subsequent rejection of the charter, and his death, the demands of the barons were revised and presented to the king, now Henry III, through the regent, in the Charter of the Forest of 1217. This charter, in 17 chapters, presents a broad summary of the grievances of the barons, and landowners and commoners, associated with the Law of the Forest. Perhaps it is significant that the charter does not request the complete rejection of the Laws, maybe in endeavouring to request what is judged to be achievable, but it does seek to outlaw some of the associated corrupt practices.

Punishments, Disafforestment and Revenue

Although it is (dubiously) romantic to think of heavy medieval punishments being meted out to transgressors, evidence for this appears to be scarce. It must have been realised that fines or amercements were more rewarding that gratuitous violence! What then could you do if you were afforested (deemed to come under the Forest Laws)? You could buy yourself out! There were a number of these, but in the Forest of Essex, the area north of Stane Street was disafforested by the Earl of Oxford in 1204 for the sum of 500 marks and 5 palfreys. This was a typical settlement, although the sums of money and the areas in other disafforestments varied considerably. Of course, the timing of these coincided with periods when the Exchequer was short of money, particularly around 1190, in the time of Richard I, and 1202, King John.

Administration

The Law of the Forest was a departure from Roman Law, which allowed the freedom to hunt on your own land. Forest Laws were not incorporated within Common Law and their imposition required a new and separate judiciary. The Chief Justice of the Forest headed the judiciary. In addition, a number of officials were required to police the Forest and manage the resources of deer, timber, and grazing.

The Royal Forest of Essex
Part 3
The Growth of Deer Parks

Objective

The development of the Forest System enabled and extended greatly the opportunities for courtly hunting of venison over wide areas of England. Parks for rearing and managing deer reflected this growth. The construction and maintenance of a park large enough to accommodate a herd of deer would have been an expensive undertaking. It is surprising that these parks were apparently so numerous, but still the value of deer meat was beyond price. Here we will look at the purpose and growth of the deer park.

Pre Domesday

There is one clear reference to a pre-Domesday park — that of Ongar Great Park but it would be strange if this park was unique. In the Domesday survey of 1086 a total of 37 parks are recorded but, surprisingly, Ongar Great Park is not one of those included. However, this total is probably confused by the use of different terminology within Domesday; for example, a park in Holt, Norfolk, is referred to as porcus (a pig) rather than the correct parcus. There is also uncertainty about the use of the words huga, haw, or hays to describe some pre- and post-Conquest landscape structures'.

Subsequent to Domesday, and certainly after 1200, state and court records become more plentiful. Lists of deer parks can be compiled through the seeking out of references to parks in medieval wills, charters and state records. The compilation of sets of these references has been advanced by a number of authors.
Medieval deer and deer farming are poorly documented in these records. (Was this because they were commonplace?) Commonplace or not, and despite the value of the meat, the endeavour was still just for the wealthy. The bank and pale, required to confine the deer, was expensive to maintain, and deer needed feeding during harsh winters.

Domesday Deer Parks

Of the 37 deer parks in England mentioned in Domesday, just one is in Essex — at Rayleigh. This entry is unusually descriptive since not only is a vineyard also noted there but the yield of the vineyard is also described. Other Domesday entries can be concisely descriptive in other senses; for example:
"Kingsley ('Cheshire): … and there is a hawk's eyrie and 4 enclosures for [catching] roe-deer. TRE it was worth 30s now 6s."

The Growth of the Deer Park

As noted above, Shirley (1867) concluded that there were more than 300 medieval deer parks in England at the height of their popularity. Cantor expanded the list so that over 100 were noted within the county of Essex. It is perhaps surprising that he current total for Essex currently stands at over 160.

The earliest reference to a particular deer park in the records provides a clue to the date of the foundation of the park, and usually also gives the ownership. By examining these first mentions, the trend in the growth of the deer park can be reasonably established … or is it just establishing the pattern of the growth of records?

It is well-known that Writtle possessed two deer parks:

Horsfrith Park: "Licence for Richard de Brus to impark his wood at Horsfrith, which is within the metes of the forest of Writele with his 'minds thereto pertaining, and to hold the same in fee-simple." June 7, Westminster, Cal. Pat. 1280

Chignal and Wrytle: "Licence, … , to Thomas de Weylaund to enclose and impark two groves in Chigenhale, Tany and Wrytele, containing 14 acres, and 16 acres of land there within the bounds of the forest of Essex." April 29, Westminster, Cal Pat. 1286

Thomas de Weylaund was one of those medieval personalities that lurched from success to penury and disgrace in no time at all. A member of the judiciary, he was accused of being an accessory to murder, fuelled by complaints of misconduct, during an absence of the king when abroad. He was tried, found guilty and given three choices, all of them unpalatable, he "abjured the realm", to return to England after several years in France.

The Rabbit and Rabbit Farming

The rabbit is a comparatively recent introduction into England. In 1240, the king was ordering rabbits from his lords. Pillow mounds, constructed to encourage burrowing, and present in both Epping and Hatfield Forests, are evidence of rabbit farming.

The Royal Forest of Essex
Part 4
Law and Order in the Forest

Objective

The maintenance of law and order in the Royal Forests required both a separate judicial system, because the body of law lay outside Common Law, and officials to administer the system, to police the Forest, and to dispense justice. Since the extent of the Forest at its peak amounted to around 20% of the land surface in England, these tasks proved often to be a burden for both citizens involved and judiciary. However, strict imposition of the law through fines and amercements brought rewards for the Exchequer.

The Chief Justice of the Forest

That the king invested the authority for the running of the Royal Forests in the hands of the Chief Justice of the Forest is maybe a simplification but it is convenient. The Chief Justice was responsible also for king's demesne woods within the bounds of the Forest. Henry II, maybe because of the wide duties involved, divided the position into two by appointing a chief justice for North of the Trent and one for South of the Trent. These posts had a long history and their abolition along with the posts of other Forest officials were terminated by an Act passed only in 1813.

Notable, early, and sometimes infamous, holders of the position included Hugh de Nevill, to be followed by his son John, and Robert de Passelewe . Robert de Passelewe ousted several Forest officials from their positions: John de Nevill was accused of serious offences and was removed from office, as was Richard de Montfichet from his position as Warden of the Forest of Essex. The deed returning the Forest of Waltham to the care of Richard is preserved in the Essex Record Office.

Warden of the Forest of Essex

Richard de Montfichet was the first holder of the title of Warden of the Forest of Essex. Richard died in 1205, and his son, also Richard, succeeded to the title in 1215 as of hereditary right, and on payment of £100. Richard led an eventful, 'medieval life', being stripped of his lands on two occasions but nevertheless recovering favour with the king both times. The tasks of Richard de Montfichet would have been various. Often quoted is the order from Henry III, sent from Marlborough on 3 December 1238:

"To Richard de Muntfichet: Contrabreve to cause to be taken in the forest of Essex, both within and without the king's park of Havering, 80 live does and 40 live bucks for the use of the count of Flanders, and to deliver them to Reynold Ruffus, the king's yeoman, and to cause to be made in his bailiwick such cages as shall be needed to put them in."

The Unpaid Officials

The responsibilities of unpaid officials were generally to audit and maintain the state of the forest. Regarders were knights, appointed by the king, to carry out the triennial regard of the forest. Twelve knights were appointed for each Forest. The regard involved a perambulation of the boundary of the Forest, noting purpresture, the encroachment of settlement into the Forest boundary. Appointment to this unpaid post, naturally unpopular with the inhabitants of the Forest, was often unwelcome.

Verderers reviewed the state of the vert, the cover for the deer. Destruction of the vert, particularly assarting, was noted and reported. The numbers of verderers varied depending on the size of the Forest - eighteen in the Forest of Essex in the 13C, and two in Rutland. Verderers are still active in Epping Forest. Agisters collected the agistment, the payment for the feeding of pigs on the beech and oak mast within the king's woods.

The Paid Officials

The paid officials of the Forest included hereditary foresters of fee, riding and walking foresters, and woodwards. The task of the foresters was to police the vert and the venison, often a dangerous task since poaching gangs might be large, assisted by dogs, and armed. Foresters were permitted to carry bows and arrows for their protection.

Woodwards were appointed by the owners of woodland within the Forest. It was a requirement that each wood should have a woodward to manage the veil and the venison; Should the post of woodward be vacant without good cause then the wood would be transferred to the king. Woodwards were not armed.

Courts

The setting and collection of the fees for agisting, feeding was set at the Swanimote or Swanimote. Preliminary hearings of trespasses occupied Attachment Courts, which were intended to take place every 40 days. Such courts dispensed small fines where appropriate but more serious cases were hear at the Forest Eyre before the Chief Justice. Special and general inquisitions were held into any death of venison or serious trespass involving the veil, preliminaries to the Forest Eyre.

The Royal Forest of Essex
Part 5
Forest Fieldwork

Fieldwork in local history has become firmly established over the last forty years since pioneering work at Leicester University. Quantitative techniques have been proposed and tested in a wide range of localities, placing the subject on an increasingly secure footing. Many excellent books express this growing confidence of the subject.

Dating of Trees

The contention is that the girth of a tree, when measured at a height of around 5 feet (variously 1.3m or 1.5m), increases at a rate of one inch per year. Applying to the period before a tree attains full maturity, this is valid for a wide variety of trees. However, it must be anticipated that this correlation between girth and age of a tree can only be a 'rule of thumb' since growth can be modified by local conditions of soil, drainage, and environment, and the management history of the tree - the growth of a tree is arrested following pollarding. However, the rule is convenient and non-invasive, and can be tested whenever a mature tree is felled, of course.

In Essex, the best concentration of ancient trees is in Epping Forest with a likely count in excess of 50,000 such trees. The remaining old woodland in Hainault Forest has many fine trees. Small groups and isolated trees of note are widely distributed in Essex.

Dating of Hedgerows

In a similar manner a rule of thumb has been established for the dating of a hedgerow. The technique depends on counting the number of different 'woody' species within a group of 30m lengths of the hedgerow. The age of the hedge in years is then the average of the number of species over the number of lengths in which the count has been made, multiplied by 100. So if the average number of species is 4.3, then the age of the hedge is 430 years. Minor improvements in the technique might involve discarding lengths exhibiting a low count (the section might have been replanted) and those with a high count (maybe the section formed part of a garden).

Place Names

The study of place names owes much to the English Place-Name Society. Recently, a national dictionary of place-names has been published. Involved in the dictionary, and notable in her own original work, is Margaret Gelling who has analysed place-names and the correlation of elements of those names with landscape features. A number of elements in these names apply to woodland or clearings; for example:
fyrhth(e) meaning 'land overgrown with brushwood' (e.g. Thrift Wood)
hangra 'sloping wood on a gentle slope' (Birchanger)
holt 'single species wood' (Hainault Forest, Bergholt)
hyrst 'wooded hill' (Buckhurst, Doddinghurst, Hawkhurst, Midhurst)
leah 'forest, wood, glade, clearing' later 'pasture', 'meadow'
sceaga 'small wood' (Bramshaw, Strumpshaw)

In total, about eighteen such elements can be identified with woodland and clearings, but some of these are regional and a few are rarely encountered.

Maps

Clearly maps are sources of considerable information although the amount of information and its accuracy depends very much on the date of their compilation. County maps date from the 16C, but being county wide they are 'pictorial' rather than an accurate representation of the county; for example, John Speed's map of 1610 of Essex depicts 49 (deer) parks, including Writtle Park but not Horsefrith Park.

Similarly, estate maps, often colourfully drawn, date from about 1560, but they should not be expected to be the result from an accurate survey. However, parish maps, which accompanied the tithe award assessment of around 1840, are generally well surveyed and detailed but the scale of the survey is variable from parish to parish. The tithe award assessment attempted to determine the award in terms of a financial contribution. Tithe maps are valuable since each field and wood is represented along with a record of the field name, owner, tenant, acreage and broad land use category.

The early Ordnance Survey maps exhibit great detail at 6" and 25" scales. Those at the largest scale show individual trees. Map analysis of the structures within a map can provide additional clues to the development of landscape features. Analysis of 'T-junctions' within a map can be used to suggest detail within the map, particularly when related to the relative dating of features.

Physical Landscape Features

Finally, there are those features still visible within the landscape. These include a wide variety of physical clues such as wood pasture, (uniquely) preserved at Hatfield Forest, banks, coppice banks, boundary banks, assarts or agricultural clearance, evidence of purpresture or encroachment, and evidence of the management of woodland trees, coppicing and pollarding, charcoal burning and even abandoned saw-pits.

The Forest of Writtle

The remaining woodland of the Forest associated with Writtle lies 5 miles South West of the village green. The woodland lies between lngatestone, and Fryerning and Highwood, and is north of Mill Green. Before the Norman Conquest, the manor belonged to Harold. There is a contemporary reference to a forester in the king's wood.

When the Royal Forest of Essex contracted, Writtle remained within the Forest as it was Crown demesne. Henry III granted the manor to Isabel de Bruys in 1241, but he still retained the hunting rights. At a Forest Court in 1250 Isabel, in a document claiming her rights, refers to the forest officials; foresters, verderers, regarders, as well as woodwards. The king recovered the manor when Robert de Bruys became King of Scotland, in so doing committing an act of treason. Within the wooded area are a number of indicators of human activity, including the remains of sawpits and brick kilns.

Mill Green Common

Mill Green Common has been invaded by secondary woodland (with much Silver Birch) to the South of the road passing The Viper. The remaining clearing opposite, where one can park, is now being colonised by gorse and heather in the absence of any grazing.

Mapletree Lane

Mapletree Lane leads North West for half a mile from Mill Green Common before turning South West in the direction of Park Farm, the lane continuing a Roman road to Chelmsford. The larger trees bordering Mapletree Lane are predominantly Oak, Sweet Chestnut and Hornbeam fill the coppiced, wooded area of Stoneymore Wood, to the East of this lane. 'Mature' coppice demonstrates the lack of recent, active management.

The remains of an earlier route way appears to be adjacent and parallel to East of Mapletree Lane. This route is double-banked with some aged trees growing on the bank.

Monk's and Barrow's Farm, Bedemannesberga and Assarted Land

The clearance to the North East of Mapletree Lane is an old assart, a clearance of the woodland for the purpose of agriculture. King Stephen in an undated charter made full provision for Robert the monk to live here within the Forest in a hermitage. A second monk was subsequently housed there, and the hermitage, known as Bedemann's Berg, was granted to the Abbey of St John the Baptist at Colchester. Certain forest rights were granted to the monks along with 4d. a day pocket money!

Some fragments of a wall, now lying on its side, scattered tiles and brick are all that remains of the hermitage. A 'holy' well has been recorded but a recent search could only locate it within 'a clump of bushes'.

Coppice Banks

The coppice banks close to the bend of Mapletree Lane define boundaries of the coppiced areas. Trees would be coppiced within these banked areas in sequence, the young shoots then being protected from the deer by a barrier made from brushwood laid on the banks. These areas in Writtle Forest are irregularly shaped , probably in order to accommodate the drainage pattern within the wood. The coppiced areas were cut in rotation and it has been estimated that there were around twenty, similar areas in Writtle, requiring a rotation cycle of about twenty years. Near to these banks is a pollarded oak tree, but pollards are very unusual for this woodland.

Ditched Enclosure

Further to the W of the main track, within Birch Spring, there is a ditched enclosure, about 80 metres by 100 metres in extent. The enclosure is regular and probably the site of early occupation. The structure is similar to Portingbury Rings in Hatfield Forest.

Moore's Ditch

Moore's Ditch is an extensive feature lying within Mill Green Common. It is a deep ditch about 300 m long. "Its function is obscure." The ditch is best viewed from the end nearer The Viper car park. Some gravel workings are also visible close by.

Writtle Park

Writtle Park lies between Writtle and Mill Green. There is no record of any licence to empark, implying that the date of the park is likely to have been earlier than 1200, and probably earlier than 1238, when the lordship of the manor was granted to Isabel de Bruys. In 1328, the length of the boundary of the park was stated to be 1½ leagues, and later surveys give the area as 300 acres; both these measurements compare well with the tithe award of c.1840. Some sections of the boundary bank are still evident.

Horsfrith Park

Horsfrith Park lies about 2 miles North of Mill Green. The licence to enclose Horsfrith Park was granted in 1280 to Richard de Bruys.

King John's Hunting Lodge

Writtle Hunting Lodge was built c. 1200, one of the many residences of the king to be built in the period. The lodge was entrusted to the care of the chief forester in 1217. Recorded royal visits to the Forest were scarce; Henry III visited Writtle in 1248 and Edward I is known to have visited in 1277 and 1305. The archaeology of the lode, as a result of excavations carried out in the period 1955-57, has been fully described.

Medieval Documentary Sources The Industry of the Forest

Close Rolls: Records of the Court of Chancery, so called because registered copies of letters and documents were closed with a seal; further copies were made and stitched together and stored in rolls.

Patent Rolls: Registered copies of documents issued by the Court of Chancery, over the period 1201 to 1946, relating to public business (grants, licences and privileges, for example). Those for 1509-47 are included in Letters and Papers (Foreign and Domestic) of the Reign of Henry VIII.

Pipe Rolls: Pipe Rolls are the annual accounts of Crown revenues, sent by the sheriffs to the Exchequer. The name derives from the manner of storage where they were rolled around rods or 'pipes' for storage. The earliest survives from 1130-31 but the continuous series begins in 1156.

Charters: Documents granting rights or privileges. A lord of a manor who wished to hunt in a park or chase would need to obtain a royal charter. Hence -

Charter Rolls: Records again from the Court of Chancery of royal grants of land or rights. The records cover the period 1199-1517.

Fine Rolls: Fine Rolls contain record of payments to the Crown for writs, grants, privileges, pardons, appointments, and orders sent to sheriffs.

Rolls of the Forest Eyre: These are printed in Select Pleas of the Forest.

Feet of Fines: Fines are copies of agreements between parties made before the king's justices. Fine is derived from fines or end. They served as a record of title being written on a sheet of parchment three times; the three copies were then cut, two pieces being given to the parties concerned and a third, from the foot of the sheet, tiled among the rolls of the Court of Common Pleas.

More detailed lists of medieval sources are available. Victoria County History of Essex is incomplete but is valuable for reference to primary, county sources.

The Industry of the Forest

The woodland vert within the Royal Forest provided:
• pannage from the oak and beech mast
• fuel derived from the underwood, after conversion to charcoal
• hedging from the brushwood
• poles from coppice woodland for fencing, tools, some housing etc.
• timber from woodland standards for housing, farm buildings, abbeys and ships, in addition to
• cover for the deer and the opportunity to hunt, and
• an income from amercements etc.

The king's demesne land situated within the Royal Forest usually housed a hunting lodge. The king, and his household travelled around the kingdom and such lodges provided convenient shelter. There is a correlation between the king's itinerary and Forest lodges.

The Royal Forest was carefully managed to provide reliable supplies of timber and venison over a long period. Hence, the hunting of deer was controlled with about ten per cent of the deer being taken yearly from a Forest. The supply of timber was also managed to enable output to be maintained typically over more than a century, and this is a considerable period to wait to realise an investment.

Barn Timber

Oliver Rackham has carried out a useful analysis in order to understand one aspect of the medieval timber economy - the construction of buildings. The analysis involves the measurement and counting of the structural timbers in the barn. The timbers are then roughly classified into representative groups. Since the timber was generally cut at the size required, thereby avoiding unnecessary working, an assumption can be made on the 'occupancy' of timber within the woodland. A final calculation allows an estimate to be made on the acreage of wood that is required to provide the timber to build a barn over a particular period of time. The Barley Barn at Cressing is chosen to illustrate the technique but data is quoted for other Essex barns in the paper.

Hunting

Any reflection on hunting should include three approaches; hunting by royalty, hunting by the king's huntsmen, and common poaching. Strangely, royal hunting may have been a rare occurrence, especially when considered in relation to the acreage of land under the Forest Laws. Accounts of hunting maintain a strong continental flavour. However the king employed professionals, equipped with packs of specialist dogs, and staff to run the packs. These huntsmen were both expert and highly organised.

The Decline of the Forest System

The decline of the Forest System reflects the changing fine balance of power between king and landowners. Disafforestment, notably in the decade around 1200, provided one means whereby the acreage under the Forest Laws reduced. King John continued to sell charters disposing of individual woods and manors.

The Charter of the Forest (1217) resulted in concessions being granted by the king. To determine the extent of the Royal Forest, a perambulation was initiated. Some surprising results were returned but Henry III's regent did not accepted the returns. The exercise was repeated the following year. The new returns were the same and were rejected similarly. A new Chief Justice, Hugh de Neville, tried again in 1224 to establish the boundary of the Forest but generally matters were shelved until the king came of age.

On 9 January 1227, Henry III came of age. Next day, orders were sent to sheriffs demanding foresters to show their warrant and regarders to perambulate again. Large areas, including within Essex, were reclaimed into the Forest. Geoffrey de Langley was an 'energetic' chief justice who tightened the grip of the courts on the Forest, but subsequently this grip weakened and Henry again resorted to raising money by selling huge amounts of timber. Opposition to the Forest system grew. In 1238, as a sop to the barons, the Forest Charter was ordered to be read out in full county court. During the war between Simon de Montfort and Henry III, the administration of the Forest again lapsed.

Edward I endeavoured to restore the system, taking a close interest in the Forest and even sitting in judgment at the Forest Eyre. The judicial system was now losing ground and intervals between the Eyre courts lengthened, meeting so rarely in some Forests that ample opportunity was given for transgressors to die before coming to court.

The Shrinking Forest

Further perambulations were held in 1277 and 1278, and it was again confirmed that the whole of Essex, south of Stane Street of course, was Forest. In 1300, the perambulation appeared to release more than half of the forested area but in 1306, Edward I again reinforced the Royal Forest by revoking the apparent disafforestation that the perambulation implied. After a period of almost continuous dispute with the knights, the king and his Chief Justice, Hugh Despenser, both died, and in the absence of control the Forest Law was ignored, hedges planted and deer hunted.

Edward III again sought to re-establish his Forest, but now no forest official was safe from the populace. The decline had reached a point of no return. The Forest Eyre was now cumbersome and unworkable. The decline of an effective legal system was almost complete. The comprehensive Forest Eyre of 1489-90 was not repeated for some 150 years. The varying in the extent of the Forest of Essex during this period are detailed in The Forest of Essex. The last Forest Eyre in Essex was held at Waltham in 1489. However, the use of the Forest changed, prompted by the timber crisis in the Royal Navy.

The Royal Navy Timber Crisis

For over two centuries, from the seventeenth century to the middle of the nineteenth century, the shipbuilding programme of the Royal Navy laboured under a perpetual timber supply crisis. The crisis originated in a shortage of suitable timber. Dry rot in ships, through the use of unseasoned timber, foreign wood, which could be relatively unseasoned, lack of ventilation and improper ship construction, was a recurrent problem. For most of this period, the timber crisis appears to be self-inflicted; the Navy Board permitting ships to be built from only four timbers - oak, elm, beech and fir, and even in the case of oak, Sussex oak was preferred, irrationally. Elm could be used below the waterline for the keel, for example, beech for the planking, fir for the mast and spars and oak was suitable for those areas of the ship alternately wet and dry. The serviceable larch was allowed in construction later in 1792.

'Compass' timber, hedgerow timber, was much prized, and the irregular shapes from these trees would build the knees and braces of the ship. It was this wood that was most scarce. However, the life of wood at sea was limited and ships were required to have extensive and regular refits to maintain them in a seaworthy condition. English oak lasted about 12 years, but some woods fared less well. Teak was the most durable and ships were sometimes manufactured in India. However, Napoleon was waging both military and economic wars against Great Britain, and foreign supplies were unreliable..

Quality control, administered by a 'timber taster', was an important step in the improvement of ships built in the six naval dockyards at this time. Advances in ship design and construction, the design and manufacture of guns, and in tactical seamanship contributed to the success of Nelson's daring strategy at Trafalgar (1805). To balance, the administration of contracts for timber did allow some corrupt practices to develop.

The Forest - to the Present Day

Introduction

In the sense that the Forest Laws of William I defined the whole of Essex to be within Royal Forest, some surviving evidence of the Forest may be anticipated anywhere in the county. Physical survivals are to be found in the landscape and woodlands of the county and within documentary archives. The most significant woodland survivals are to be found in Epping Forest, and Wintry Wood, and the Forests of Hainault, Hatfield, Writtle and Kingswood. In particular, the history of Hatfield Forest indicates its survival to be remarkable. The recent history of these woodlands is summarised here.

Hainault Forest

The Fighting Temeraire was said to be built from Hainault timber. The Crown owned most of the assets of Forest. In 1851 the Forest was enclosed by Act. Shortly after and with great speed, 92 per cent of the forest was destroyed. The remaining, original forest has preserved some ancient pollards. Some replanting has taken place.

Writtle Forest

The king was the owner of Writtle but in 1238, Henry 111 exchanged the manor of Writtle (and the manor of Hatfield) to Isabel de Bruys. Isabel had inherited from the estate of her father, the Earl of Chester. The king kept the Forestal rights, but became concerned about Isabel's maintenance of the vert.

In 1252, Isabel died and Whale passed to the hands of her son Robert, and thence to Robert the Bruce. By accepting the crown of Scotland in 1306, Robert I had committed high treason against Edward I, and as a consequence his English estates were taken back into the king's ownership. The wife of Robert the Bruce, Eleanor, was permitted to keep a one third interest in the manor of Writtle (and Hatfield) during her lifetime.

In 1327, Edward II gave Writtle and Hatfield to his sister Elizabeth, who had married Humphrey VIII de Bohun. Court fines were also ceded to him. In 1360, Edward III even allowed William de Bohun to hunt in Hatfield Forest. After political meddling, Thomas, Duke of Gloucester, had his lands confiscated. In 1421 Anne Stafford inherited their estates. Anne's son became Duke of Buckingham in 1444, the king passing to him Forestal rights in 1446. Writtle then ceased to be a Royal Forest. Writtle Forest came into the ownership of the Petre family in 1455 when Essex estates were being acquired.

Hatfield Forest

The earlier medieval history of Hatfield Forest runs a parallel course to that of Writtle Forest. The Duke of Buckingham was killed, alongside his son, at the Battle of Northampton in 1460. His estate passed to his grandson, Henry. Henry lost his head when he opposed Richard III, Henry's lands reverting to the king. Richard's reign was short. The new king, Henry VII, forgave Henry Stafford, restoring to him Hatfield, and Writtle.
The third Duke of Buckingham was the major landowner of England. In 1509 he tried to enclose the Forest but commoners objected and plans were checked. His fortunes declined suddenly when high treason, proved against him, resulted in execution.

Lord Rich was the next owner of the Forest, and of the Forestal rights, of Hatfield after Edward VI had promoted him to Chancellor of the Exchequer. The Barrington family had purchased Hatfield Priory, and believing they had a claim from Domesday to be hereditary woodwards of the local Forest, raised legal challenges to the Riches. An Act of Parliament was called upon to determine the rights and promote a compromise.

The Rich family sold their interest in the Forest to Lord Morley and the rest of their estate to the Barrington family in 1612. The 'ruffianly' rivalry between these two litigious landowners provoked disputes over the next two hundred years. Lord Morley, following the judgment of a corrupt Royal Commission, was permitted to disafforest Hatfield and claim the Forest for himself. The Vicar of Hatfield, in challenging this judgment, appealed successfully to the Inner Star Chamber. Following a pattern, the career of Lord Morley now declined and he became the fifth owner of the Forest to be convicted of treason and in 1649 his lands were confiscated.

Thomas Turnor owned the estate until 1729, when the Houblon family purchased Great Hallingbury and the Forest. Well-heeled, four of the Houblon family had founded the Bank of England. Strife between the Houblons and the Barringtons continued where Lord Morley had left off. Despite this early wealth, the Houblon family fortunes turned down and Hallingbury was vacated in 1909. In 1923, after his auction bid was mislaid, and after the Forest was sold to a timber merchant, Edward North Buxton purchased Hatfield from the successful bidder. In 1924, the Forest was given to the National Trust.

Epping Forest

A parliamentary act, the Epping Forest Act of 1878, transferred the management responsibility of the forest to the Corporation of London. The board of management was to consist of twelve members from the Corporation's Common Council and four verderers drawn from those living within the bounds of the Forest. Epping Forest was disafforested and the right of Queen Victoria to vert and venison ceased. Edward North Buxton was probably involved again in developing the management plan for the forest.

The Rabbit and the Medieval Economy

A proceeding from a court at Westwood near Dunwich (Suffolk) in 1442 illustrates the high status of the rabbit. In the autumn of that year, three Augustinian canons from Blythburgh Priory had been caught poaching rabbits with their own, specially reared, greyhounds - a flagrant display of the increasing worldliness of the religious orders. The outraged court officials fined them the substantial sum of 46s 8d, and also recorded that the operation had the express knowledge and support of no less a person than the Prior himself.

The Introduction of the Rabbit

The rabbit, unlike the hare, is a French introduction to the British Isles. In 1176, there were rabbits on the Scilly Isles. It is likely that there were rabbits on the Isle of Wight in 1225. Some rabbit bones have been unearthed at Rayleigh Castle, probably indicating that they had been buried in the first quarter of the 13th century. This does not mean that the rabbits were living here at the time, since their origin may have been the islands off the Essex coast, such as Foulness and Wallasey, both manors in the Honour of Rayleigh.

At this time there were many grants of warren established, but only occasionally do these grants mention the animals reserved to the owner. Most commonly these animals were hare and fox, at least into the early thirteenth centuries.

No case of trespass involving the rabbit has been traced before 1268, when Richard, Earl of Cornwall, complained that his coney warren (or coneygarth) at Isleworth (Middlesex) had been broken into.

The earliest reference found in the British Isles is found in a charter of 1204. The actual existence of a coneygarth dates from 1241, when the king ordered hay to be carted from his cuningera at Guildford. There are earlier references since in 1235, the king presented a gift decem couninos vivos from his park in Guildford, and in 1242 he sent men there to catch thirty or forty rabbits secundum quod invenerint prefatum cuneram fertilem.

In 1240, the king ordered a supply of rabbits from a number of sheriffs; three returns were received:
100 from the bishopric of Winchester,
200 from the Earl of Warenne, and
200 by the king's escheator.

In 1243, the king required:
180 from the estates of the bishop of Winchester, with 100 coming from the Isle of Wight, and
300 from the estates belonging to the bishop of Winchester.

The critical period for the spread of the rabbit appears to be from 1230 to 1250 when there are numerous records to the stocking of parks. Rabbit remained a very expensive meat during the late thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, costing four or five times as much as chickens, and they must have been regarded as a luxury. Rabbit skins were also much sought after.

In 1305, the rabbit population was sufficient to enable them to be exported and a record from the port of Hull, dating from 1305 refers to the export of 200 skins. By the mid-sixteenth century, rabbits were plentiful. Conrad Gesner wrote in 1555: "There are few countries where coneys do not breed, but the most plenty of all is in England." At about the same time Richard Hakluyt pointed that the export of black coney skins might well be increased, presumably because they sold at a premium.

A charter conferred the granting of free-warren. It permitted the recipient the sole right to hunt specified beasts of the warren; fox, hare, pheasant, partridge and rabbit. The right to keep and kill rabbits was the exclusive right of owners of free-warren. It was a valuable privilege. Most East Anglian villages had been granted free-warren by the 1280s.

Enclosed deer-parks were sometimes used for breeding rabbits, sometimes excluded from crops through the use of an internal ditch. A substantial deer-park at Lopham produced 300 rabbits for the Countess of Norfolk in 1386. Most warrens (although not necessarily allowing the hunting of the rabbit) had been founded by the late thirteenth century, but sometimes the rabbit (cunicularium) was added to the charter subsequently.

The rabbit did not colonize easily, and it is likely that most warrens were artificial creations. Few medieval warrens culled more than 3000 rabbits in one year, but culling generally fluctuated wildly. Henry III requested the bailiff of Guildford to send fifty rabbits to Windsor but only if the loss could be sustained.

By 1341. there are indications that the rabbit population was thriving, land uncultivated and crops destroyed. In 1391, Mildenhall (Cambridgeshire) lost all of its oat crop. There were complaints that church tithes had reduced through the action of the rabbit.

Warreners were well paid. At Dunningworth the warrener was paid fifty-two shillings a year, while in the fifteenth century, the warrener at Ely Abbey was paid £5, but the Abbey reserved the right to dismiss him if the work was unsatisfactory. The warrener could be assisted by additional men or by a ferreter.

Poor winters in the mid-fifteenth century required warrens to be restocked.

Revenues from the rearing of rabbits increased markedly in the fourteenth century. At Lakenheath, for example, revenue from the warren was double the revenue from wool, previously the staple product from the demesne. Exporting the skins was now 'big' business and there are numerous examples of enabling licences being granted by the king; John Calwere shipped 12,000 skins to Flanders in 1365, and in 1383 Collard Chierpetit exported 10,000 to Holland; William Groom and others each exported 5,000 fells of rabbits.

Poaching was a flourishing pastime as court proceedings document. In 1435, the parson of Cressingham (Norfolk) owed a £10 amercement for poaching in Swaffham. In 1425, Thomas Sherman, an Augustinian canon from Blythburgh Priory, was known as 'a poaching canon'. Another Blythburgh canon, leased well-trained ferrets to other poachers. The poacher often used a lurcher (greyhound/collie cross?) for poaching on open ground.

Poachers in the mid-fifteenth century had organised themselves into gangs. A Thetford gang of the 1440s, attired in 'soldiers tunics, steel helmets, bows and arrows', and sometimes 'cudgels and staffs' attacked and wounded three members of a rival gang at Elveden (Suffolk) and then 'unjustly imprisoned' them in the town of Thetford.

The exploitation of the rabbit in farming gives some idea of the willingness of the farmer to adapt to changing conditions. The decline in arable farming is accompanied by a corresponding increase in the rearing of rabbits, both for meat and for the skins. The rabbit was important because it readily colonised waste ground having the right soil conditions.

On 17 July, members of the High Country History Group visited Ongar Park Wood. The weather was dull, hard to remember now in a late summer of so many warm, sunny evenings. Our guide was Peter Moring, Peter and Clare Moring having bought the neighbouring wood, High Wood, in 1999. High Wood and Ongar Park Wood show many ancient and interesting features relating to the history of the local landscape.

In High Wood there are three dominant species of trees - hornbeam, oak and silver birch, with the occasional holly, horse chestnut and wild cherry interspersed. Until the Second World War the wood appears to have been managed as hornbeam coppice¹, but then coppicing stopped. Oaks were felled during the same period but were not replaced. A result of this felling was that two clearings were established within the wood.

Hornbeam, a very hard wood with a tendency to split but with a high calorific value, would have been used both for fuel and for the production of charcoal. The hamlet adjacent to the wood to the south is called Colliers Hatch, after charcoal burners who were also called wood colliers. The charcoal was used in local brickyards, of which there were a number in the vicinity. A brick and tile works is recorded on the Ordnance Survey map of 1881 on the site of the present Carisbrooke Farm.

The by-way to the west of High Wood is believed to have been part of an old droving road along which cattle and sheep would have been driven to market. The track is about 30m wide, but at one point it broadens, possibly so that animals could be penned to allow them feed and rest overnight. The by-way supports many gnarled trees with roots marooned, suspended above the eroded banks. Evidence of at least one sawpit, a further lasting witness of man’s earlier endeavours, can be seen.

¹ Coppicing is the management practice of felling trees near to the ground and allowing the new shoots to grow. In most cases the shoots need to be protected from the deer. Mature poles are cut in a coppice rotation to produce poles of just the required size.

The Deer Park

The substantial bank separating High Wood, to the west, and Ongar Park Wood, to the east, is a visible survival of a medieval deer park. The deer park has the distinction of being the earliest recorded within England, the reference dating from 1045 when a will² mentioned “a wood . . . outside the deerhay”. The Anglo-Saxon word deerhage can be interpreted either as a hedge to keep deer in or as a hedge used to catch them! The reference in the will offers unique, but still tenuous, evidence of a continuity between Anglo-Saxon and Norman deer parks. Some controversy still follows the precise meaning of hay.

The bank is still massive, and although substantially eroded we can still speculate on its original size and shape. To retain the deer, the bank would have been topped with brushwood or palings. The deer park extended from this visible bank, past the water tower in Toot Hill, along the side of the small wood known as Miller’s Grove, near to the former Blake Hall Station, to the A414 at Tylers Green, then along the southern boundary of North Weald to Carisbrooke Farm, again to join the visible bank approaching Colliers Hatch. This is a distance of approximately 5 miles and encloses an area of around 1,200 acres. Bank construction would have been a formidable undertaking with only personal tools and scarce labour. This labour may have been exchanged for common rights to some of the benefits of the park. In addition, maintenance of a paling fence would have absorbed considerable funds. Apart from its functional use, there is little doubt that such a park would have provided a recognisable landmark to display the power and wealth of the owner³.

Little Domesday, the later addition to Domesday covering East Anglia, refers to both park (parc) and hay. Both words may both refer to deer park, in which case the number of deer parks in Domesday will have been underestimated. It is often commented that Domesday mentions 35 deer parks but Ongar Park is not one of these, the only park in Essex mentioned being at Rayleigh⁴. This probably means that the deer park was not always recorded anyway in Domesday, rather than suggesting any demise associated with the sturdy structure of Ongar Park.

The park may have been enclosed wood-pasture, grassland surrounding pollarded⁵, wooded areas, providing cover for the deer. Alternatively, it may have been compartmental, with wooded areas being separated from the grassland by banks internal to the boundary and there is some evidence to suggest this in Ongar Park. Trees within these compartments could then be coppiced with the banks helping to exclude the deer from the new shoots of the coppice. Rackham states that some internal coppice banks may still be visible within Ongar Park⁶.

² Kerr, Sandra, Ongar Great Park, in ‘Aspects of the History of Ongar’, (Ongar Millennium Group 1990), p6-7.
³ However your own gallows would have proved that you also had influence!
⁴ Darby, H.C., The Domesday Geography of Eastern England, (Cambridge, 1952), p 234.
⁵ Pollarding is the technique of cutting branches at a height of ten feet from the ground. New branches would be allowed to grow out of harm from the deer.
⁶ Rackham, Oliver, The History of the Countryside, (London, 1986), p 126.

The Deer

At the time of the Norman Conquest, deer would have been restricted to red deer and roe deer. It was only in the twelfth century that fallow deer were introduced into England by the Normans. More manageable than the roe deer, the behaviour of the fallow deer encouraged the construction of new parks. These new parks confirmed the increasing wealth of landowners. The deer park provided the landowner with a convenient supply of meat, the venison being much prized. Sometimes said to be beyond price, the meat appears to have been reserved only for the feast. Ongar Park was probably large enough to support hunting the deer, the hunting probably carried out using specially bred dogs. The park appears to have been one of the largest, certainly large enough to support a herd of hundreds of deer.

Deer were encouraged to enter but deterred from leaving the park by a deer leap, an external ramp and an internal pit at a break in the boundary bank. William I and his Norman followers put great store on their right to unrestricted hunting. With the introduction of the Norman Forest Laws, laws that provided almost total protection for the deer within designated areas called Royal Forests⁷, the establishment of the deer park in or close to the Royal Forest was subject to licence. The deer leap was also strictly controlled within and near to the Royal Forest, but Ongar Park was permitted to install two such leaps⁸.

Over one quarter of the country, all deer effectively belonged to the king. The deer were often the gift of the king who would sometimes generously donate them towards the stocking of a new park.

⁷ The use of the term Royal Forest does not imply forest or woodland, but simply refers to those areas within the jurisdiction of the Forest Laws. It is believed that Essex was wholly a Royal Forest at one time.

Essex Deer Parks

The number of deer parks grew in the twelfth century, aided by the arrival of the fallow deer. It has been estimated that in 1300 there were between 1,800 and 3,000 deer parks in the country. Some of these are well documented because of the need for a licence. Cantor⁸ has provided a methodical list of about 1,900 parks, listed by county and noting early references to the existence of a park. According to Cantor, Essex contained 102 parks at this time, with possible sites for a further six parks also being listed. How many of these were distinct parks is a subject for conjecture since there is usually no reference to the actual location of the park, but only to the landowners. More recently, Hunter⁹ has stated that 160 existed at this time in Essex, more than in any other county except Hertfordshire.

Cantor provides early references to these parks and to find them we must search in the documents recording the proceedings of state - the Calendar of Patent Rolls and the Calendar of Close Rolls, for example. Local medieval parks listed include those at Aythorpe Roding, Berners Roding, Doddinghurst, High Ongar, Matching, Stondon Massey, and Theydon Garnon and two in Writtle. Within the High Country, parks are listed under Chipping Ongar, Stanford Rivers and Stapleford Tawney. However, it seems likely that the first two of these refer to the same park.

⁸ Cantor, Leonard, The Medieval Deer Parks of England, (Loughborough University of Technology, 1983).
⁹ Hunter, John, The Essex Landscape: A Study of its Form and History, (Essex Record Office, 1999), p119.

Regeneration of High Wood

High Wood has not been managed for more than 50 years. The results of this can be seen; un-coppiced hornbeams have created a dense canopy under which few woodland plants grow; bracken has invaded clearings; the pond has become stagnant; silver birch has become established in some areas, competing with hornbeam and oak; the bridleway has become deeply rutted, partly as a consequence of shading which prevents the path from drying out. Peter Moring intends to introduce a management plan to restore the wood to its earlier state; some hornbeam will be felled; the elimination of the bracken from the clearing has been started; the pond will be cleaned; oak will be reintroduced to the new clearings; the local council has introduced restrictions to bridleway entry and shading trees are being cut down.

A plan has been drawn up for the management of High Wood. With the re-introduction of felling, the plan is intended to restore some of the features of a managed wood. These will increase the environmental richness and the attraction of this small wood. The future of High Wood looks brighter!

In England, the medieval deer park provided a visible demonstration of the wealth of a lord. The park allowed the owner the opportunity to hunt and provided him with a managed supply of fresh venison. The park was a partially wooded area, enclosed by a banked and 'paled' boundary of height sufficient to contain the deer. The size of such a park would vary from a few acres to more than a thousand acres. The construction of the park would have required considerable investment of both labour and materials, and the upkeep of the pale would have involved significant running costs. The most notable local example of such a deer park, and the earliest recorded in England, is thought to have been the Anglo-Saxon Ongar Great Park.

Thirty-seven such parks are mentioned in Domesday, but by 1300, there were probably around 160 deer parks in Essex alone, out of a national total of maybe more than 3,200. This figure is arrived at through careful research into medieval documentary sources and listing the location of such parks where known.

Amongst these early records, the first reference to a park in Stapleford Tawney occurs in 1286. Thomas de Weylaund obtained a licence to empark within two small woods. From Westminster, Edward I is recorded as granting a licence on 29 April 1286:

Licence, after inquisition ad quod damnum by Roger le Strange, justice of the forest this side of the Trent, for Thomas de Weylaund to enclose and impark two groves in Chigenhale, Tany and Wytele, containing 14 acres, and 6 acres within the bounds of the Forest of Essex.

As stated, this is confusing. The parishes of Writtle and Chignal do have a common boundary, but the acreages cannot be readily identified with their locations. Nevertheless, it does appear that there was a deer park in Stapleford Tawney.

Now the pursuit of further references to the Tany deer park takes a sharp turn and Thomas de Weylaund comes into focus.

In a further reference, from the same volume of state papers, it is recorded, on 23 June 1288, from Edward I again from Westminster, that:

Commission to Thomas de Weylaund, John de Luvetot, John de Cobeham and including Ralph de Sandwich, keeper of the City of London, on complaint by many of the inhabitants that they are annoyed by the lime-kilns in the said city and suburb at Suthwerk, wherein the lime was formerly burnt by logs of wood is now burnt by sea-coal, so that the air is infected and corrupted, to view the same in conjunction with the sheriffs of London and bailiff of Southward to provide remedies.

How enlightened! Thomas is appointed to a four-man commission, the purpose of which is to examine the environmental consequences of using sea-coal instead of wood for burning lime. The commission is to 'provide remedies'.

Thomas was a man of substance. His family background and his education had earned him respect. He was trained as a clerk and became a subdeacon. He was made a justice itinerant in Essex and Hertfordshire in the period 1271 to 1272. In 1278, he was appointed chief justice at the Westminster bench, but during the next eleven years it is recorded that 'he showed great activity in the administration of the law, but neglected no opportunity of furthering his own interest and building up a great landed estate'. Thomas exceeded his powers during the Edward's absence from the country in the years 1286 to 1289. During this period he bought a number of properties and estates in Gloucestershire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex, spending about £150 per year on these acquisitions.

Edward I returned in August 1289 to receive widespread criticism of the behaviour of the judiciary. In taking steps to restore confidence Thomas was the first in line. Two of his servants had committed a murder at a local fair and Thomas had failed to have them arrested, though he was aware of their involvement.

He was indicted but escaped before arrest. He fled to sanctuary in the Franciscan priory of Babwell just outside of Bury St Edmunds. Sir Robert Malet was sent to apprehend Thomas. Forty days were allowed for the fugitive to be given up; after such a period, with Thomas still in the convent, Malet resolved to starve him out. The application of such harsh measures and the fact that Thomas was a subdeacon caused friction between king and clergy, who claimed immunity for the beleaguered Thomas. The king confiscated his lands and appointed a new chief justice.

Unsurprisingly, Thomas de Weylaund was duly starved out but earned safe conduct to the Tower. There, Thomas was offered a choice of three options: to stand trial, to endure perpetual imprisonment or to abjure the realm. With further dark clouds threatening, as a result of other misdemeanours, he chose to abjure the realm; not only would he be banished for ever, he would also renounce his property within England and Ireland.

He was allowed 9 days to reach Dover on foot. There his life and liberty were exchanged for a confession. Thomas de Weylaund embarked, bare-footed, head uncovered and cross in hand. His wife, Margaret, and her son were permitted to benefit from his property only after considerable legal process and rather against the intention of abjuration.

In 1292, Thomas was living in Paris. Around 1297, he was pardoned by Edward I and returned to live in his wife's manor at Brundon, now in Suffolk.

Now where was the park at Stapleford Tawney?