High Country History Group

Our Annual General Meeting was held on the 25th April and some 40 members were in attendance.

The following were elected as officers of the Club:

Chair: Martyn Lockwood
Secretary: Andrew Smith
Treasurer: David Welford

Committee: Peter Moring
June Smith
Anne Brooks
David Tester
Elaine Smith

Thank you to those members who volunteered for the committee. Our aim over the next year is to build on the legacy that Rob Brooks left us.

We have included a tribute to Rob in the Journal as well as printing part 1 of a series of lectures he gave to the Ongar branch of the WEA in 2005. Part 2 will appear in the September Journal.

Rob was born in 1945 in Hampshire where he had a happy childhood in Hamble enjoying the freedom along Southampton Water and Netley that one could have in the 1950s. He attended the local primary school and then on to Grammar school at Barton Peverel where his academic prowess shone. His natural charm, common sense and good communication skills even as a teenager made him a natural leader and he was made head boy. He represented Hampshire at hockey and had a natural talent for all ball games. His support for Hampshire never wavered and he followed the cricket team and of course Southampton FC:

He had an encyclopaedic memory for Sports events and personalities and lived the Olympics last summer. He played 5 a side football, golf with a handicap of 6, squash and latterly croquet all of which he thoroughly enjoyed.

He gained a place at Cambridge to read Mathematics but chose instead to go to Queen Mary College, London where he held a Drapers Scholarship. Rob participated in all the undergraduate pastimes particularly chess and bridge. His easy and friendly nature made him senior resident and it was at his initiation ceremony that he first met Anne.

The chemistry between a mathematician and an innumerate geographer equated and Rob and Anne were married in 1967. Rob continued with his doctorate at QMC. Although he dedicated his thesis to Anne, the application of Boltzmann integro differential transport equation left her cold.

They settled in Chelmsford and Rob applied to work at Marconi Research Centre where he later became manager of the Remote Sensing Division. He led a team of high-powered mathematicians, physicists and engineers. The research was concerned with designing tools necessary to interpret data received from aircraft and satellites. The fusing of all the information produces appropriate maps of the ground and they can be used for monitoring the weather, crop growth, deforestation and man-made structures and vehicles. Rob travelled worldwide contributing to NATO conferences. He led his team with skill and enthusiasm: he had a sympathetic attitude to his staff combined with a good technical appraisal of the subject in hand which was returned by loyalty and respect. As Marconi declined Rob worked for the European Space Agency and BAE systems. Rob was a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics and on their Committee.

Rob took early retirement with enthusiasm. He now had time to develop his other interests. He was passionate about local history and the environment. He studied for an Advanced Diploma in Local History at Oxford University and this encouraged him to join the Friends of Historic Essex, whose journal he edited; the Essex Archaeology and History Society, where until his untimely death, he served on its Council. In 1999 he established the High Country History Group.

Rob chaired the Ongar Wildlife Society and inspired people to care about the environment. He combined his love of trees and history to lecture for the WEA on the Royal Forests of Essex He became a tree warden and helped to compile the Ongar Tree Strategy. Rob also somehow managed to fit in training and working for the CAB which he found challenging and rewarding.

In January 2003 he suffered cardiogenic shock which involved a lengthy stay in intensive care. Although he continued with many of his activities adding Bridge and Bookworms, he never felt he made the same contribution.

Rob was a proud father to Suzanna and Paul and Suzanna’s marriage to Jens was a memorable day and the arrival of 3 beautiful granddaughters Emily, Hannah and Lara put the icing on the cake.

Rob was always good company, friendly, easy to talk to, concerned and thoughtful of others. He wore his learning lightly and had the ability to pass on his knowledge at many different levels in a calm and unhurried way. He had a mischievous sense of humour. He inherited his quiet manner and thoughtful speech from his Father and his competitive spirit from his Mother. He was a real gentleman.

He found his last illness difficult to comprehend and was frustrated that his brain didn’t function as quickly as he expected. He passed away quietly at home, and the church at St Margaret’s Stanford Rivers was packed to overflowing for his funeral.

Chelmsford Chronicle 23 October 1868

Stanford Rivers – Fire. At half-past 12 on Friday morning a fire broke out at a water and steam mill, Stanford Rivers, belonging to Mr Kynaston, and in the occupation of Mr. George Gentry. The mill was work until six p.m. on Thursday when all appeared right. At 12.30am. on Friday a man who was going to the mill with some corn found it on fire. The damage is estimated at about £1,400, and the mill is insured in the Essex and Suffolk Equitable, and the contents in the Royal-office. It is supposed the fire originated in the engine-house. Inspector Fox and a few constables were present and rendered every assistance.

The Essex Standard 5th November 1831.

On the morning of Saturday last, Hill Hall, the residence of the Rev. E. Smyth, at Theydon Mount, was entered at a window, and a number of articles, chiefly wearing apparel, were stolen. A person of suspicious appearance being seen by workmen to leave the premises the same morning, Mr John Adlam, of abridge, mounted his horse, went in pursuit, and overtook the delinquent with the stolen property in his possession.

The Cambridge Chronicle and Journal 29th July 1825

Essex Assizes:
Jonathan Doe for stealing a fustian jacket and cotton handkerchief from Thomas Lodge, at Theydon Mount, 6 months imprisonment.

We have been favoured by Mr Thompson, the able and experienced governor of this asylum, with a statement of expenditure for the past year, for the relief of the aged and indigent poor of the ten parishes, which together include a population of upwards of three thousand two hundred, almost exclusively agricultural. The working of this establishment as regards the advantages to the public and to the poor themselves, may be considered a fair example of what will be derived from the new poor laws, if party prejudice is laid aside and the system recommended by the bill is allowed to have a fir trial. We have before us a statement of the expenditure for the year ending the 27th of November, 1834. At Stanford Rivers the sick, feeble and the orphan derive those comforts which treble the cost would not procure for them at their own houses, whilst to the vicious and turbulent, this workhouse is indeed , “for a prison but a milder name,” and instances have occurred, that such characters, by restraint and judicious treatment, have been reclaimed and have escaped that contamination they had probably acquired, if mixed with others as worthless as themselves.
The gross expenditure is divided into nine parts, and the charge apportioned to each parish, is in proportion to the number of paupers of each class sent to the house for maintenance in the course of the year. The first class includes males and females, under the age of 10 years; this class is rated at two-ninths. The second class includes males between the ages of 10 and 15 years, and females above the age of 10 years; this class is rated at three-ninths. The third class consists of males above the age of 15 years, and is rated at four-ninths. The total expenditure for the past year ending the 27th November, is £526.15s.7d.

The following is a statement of the number of paupers maintained during that period, distinguishing the classes, which were sent to the House form each of the ten parishes.

1st Class
2nd Class
3rd Class
Abbotts Roothing
33
58
40
Bobbingworth
33
99
117
Great Warley
109
97
174
Greenstead
52
-
130
Little Laver
69
18
58
Stanford Rivers
147
339
287
Stapleford Abbott
217
177
1
Stapleford Tawney
171
136
62
Stondon Massey
60
75
52
Shelley
-
56
57

891
1055
977

These classes, when added together make a gross number of 2923, and an average of 56 weekly.

The food consists of meat twice a week, broth, rice, milk gruel, puddings and bread the other five. Nothing can exceed the cleanliness of every department, as regards linen, bedding and rooms; and the air they breathe is calculated to promote good health and long life. The sturdy paupers are generally engaged in cultivating the garden, and the women capable of doing any work, and the children, knit stockings, which over and above what is required for the establishment, are distributed to the parishes in the Union: in the present year they will receive 117 pairs. In the course of three years, there has been a surplus of 343 pairs of stockings. The cost for maintaining and every other charge has been decreasing in three years in the following proportions –
1832 the cost per head was 3s.6d. In 1833, 3s 3½ d; In 1834, 3s. 3¼d. In 1833 the expenditure was £644. 19s. 11½d. the average number in the House being 65; in the present year the average number being 56, the expenditure was £526.15s.7d; this sum includes extra nourishment for the sick. The number now in the house is 60; four deaths only occurred in the year. The establishment has been but little troubles with able bodied paupers since the first year, and real necessity only will induce them to apply; in such cases they are admitted and provided for, but the vicious, if not reclaimed, are sent to the tread wheels at Springfield; seven of this class have been so dealt with’ twelve have absconded and four were ultimately transported. In each parish in the Union, there are those who were continually applying for relief, but who now find means to maintain themselves. Several cases of fraud by pretended illness have been detected, and the rules of the establishment have effected a reformation in habitual drunkards.

In the year 1824, the poor rate in Stanford Rivers amounted to £826; in the first year of the Incorporated Workhouse, it was reduced to £436, and since to £254. This must be highly satisfactory to the ratepayers; attributable solely to a union of action on the part of each parish, with the strict, but humane manner in which the house has been conducted under the present excellent system. But the reduction of the poor-rates is not the only advantage derived by the system. Such a saving might induce some to suspect that the poor were pinched; but the following facts may be taken as evidence to the contrary, and that the condition of the poor has been materially improved. The sun of £118 was last year paid by the poor of Stanford Rivers, consisting of 130 families, into a clothing club; and the poor of Bobbingworth, one of the united parishes, have also raised for the like purpose, £46.11s.8d. Theses clothing clubs are deservedly encouraged. Mr Jonathan Stokes very kindly receives the money, and the clubs are becoming general; persons working in the parishes are also admitted members. Men and women are allowed to deposit three pence per week, and a child two pence. To the amount of each depositor, a fund is provided by subscription among the inhabitants, to add five pence to every shilling deposited. This act of benevolence has tended greatly to promote sobriety and economy among the poor.

The cover of the Journal shows an oil painting of a clerical gentleman. The painting is in Greensted church (not on display) and on the reverse it has the hand written inscription,

‘The Reverend Benjamin Pratt, A.M., Founder of the Living of Greensted.’

There is no indication how the painting came to be in the church and the mystery deepens as there is no record of a Benjamin Pratt having been the priest at Greensted.

A search on the name revealed that the British Museum have an engraving of the Reverend Benjamin Pratt in its collection (see overleaf). The inscription below the image states that the said Revd. Mr. Benjamin Pratt was:

‘Late Chaplain to the most Noble His Grace George, Duke of Northumberland.

Comparison of the engraving and the painting confirm that they are of the same person.

What the connection is still a mystery.

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.

There is a long letter from Simon Lynch, the third of the name. (MSS, J Walker. C.I.27.) He speaks first of his grandfather, Simon Lynch, of North Weald, included in Fuller’s Worthies. ‘My grandfather Mr Simon Lynch, was presented to the vicarage of North Weale two miles beyond Epping in Essex by Bishop Elmer, then Bishop of London, his relation, giving him strict charge of feeding his lambs till he could make better provision for him; which afterwards he frequently would have proffered him, but he as often replied, His lambs were not yet become sheep; tho’ he lived to bury ye parish 3 times over, being near of a 100 years of age, which is noted and quoted with other observations and remarks at the beginning of the first part of Fuller’s Worthies. Now I’ll give you an account of his son, Mr Simon Lynch, Rector of Runwell in the same county, within 5 miles of Ingatestone and Billericay, who was sequestered from his benefice worth £140 per Annum in his days, for not complying with the barbarity, unnaturalness and inhumanity of the wicked in wicked times; [he] accepted the curacy of Blackmore from the worshipfull Major Smith, who was patron and parson, it being an impropriation, never before allowed but £20 per annum; notwithstanding his persecutions, prosecutions for being in the King’s service at Colchester leaguer, and for which being often in prison and decimated, yet this worthy gentleman allowed to my father £30 per annum, being a sufferer with him; who then rode every Sunday from North Weale, his father’s house, where he sojourned to Blackmore to supply his cure and officiate, which was seven miles and as bad a read as a man could ride, and in all weathers for some years, resolving by the assistance of God Almighty to omit no part of his duty since he was cald to ye ministry, but would minister God’s Word not for profit but for conscience sake; for whilst he there officiated he was proffered a benefice in Norfolk of £400 per annum, and courted for acceptance, which he yett refused rather than comply with the profligated wretches in their dismall and fatall times of oppression; and all the time of his sequestration one Greene, a broken puritanical shop-keeper, enjoyed his living, my Father no ways seemingly to make godliness his gaine, for his expressions quotidie were. If it pleased Almighty God to spare his life to see King Charles ye 2 restored to his kingdom, he should not care how soon after his dissolution was to make resignation of his soule to ye great God yt gave it; who lived to see yt happy day, and just as he was going to receive and take possession of his parsonage he made his exit.’

The letter goes on to speak of his will, which contains a copy of the inscription ‘he ordered to be put up on a marble tombstone, which was effected when he was interred at Blackmore, declaring his persecutions by Gog and Magog.’

Notes. (1) The precise date and grounds of Lynch’s sequestration from Runwell do not appear; probably 1644. His appointment to Blackmore seems to date March 1646/47, as he was then referred to the Westminster Assemble for it. (MS. Bod. 324,f,190.) He was even granted £50 yearly augmentation; he complained in October that he had not received that sum due last Lady Day. The Committee ordered it to be paid. (MS. Bod. 325,f.84.) But it is doubtful how much of this Lynch ever had; if his previous sequestration were brought up it would probably be stopped, especially as his patron was concerned in the Second Civil War. At all events it appears in no subsequent notice or list. The Inquisition of 1650 was not favourable to him. ‘Simon Lynce, Clerk, supplyeth the Cure by the appointment of the said Stephen Smith, Esq., who payes him for his paynes thirtye poundes per Ann. The said Simon Lynce, Clerk, was putt out of Runwell for his scandalous life, and brought into this parish without the consent of the well affected inhabitants.’
(2) The value of Runwell is given at the Inquisition as Glebe £10. Tithe £65. (The estimates at the Inquisition are generally ‘conservative’). The ‘Intruders’ were (a) Nehemiah Long, who had much dispute with Mrs Lynch about her ‘fifth part’. About 1647 he went to Matching, and was afterwards at Dengie and Steeple. (b) ‘Mr Oakley’ was there in 1650; he paid £12 yearly to Lynch. (c) Nicholas Greene, appointed March 1655/56. He was ejected 1660, but was apparently vicar of East Hanningfield, 1663-1669.