Royal Forests
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In the Medieval period areas like the Woodlands Valley
were in the Royal Forest |
The Royal Forest of the Peak
was an area of land granted by William I to William Peveril in 1068.
A Forest was an area of land reserved for hunting deer and other game
and usually controlled by the Crown, though some nobles also had their
own private forests. While William Peveril held the land of the
Peak Forest, the deer were the property of the king. The term 'Forest’
does not necessarily imply the existence of woodland. For example,
while areas such as the Upper Derwent was probably wooded, other large
areas of the Forest were not, such as the agricultural lands of the limestone
plateau. Norman Kings rarely hunted, the Forests were status symbols
and provided game for royal feasts and gifts.
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The parish of Peak Forest gets its name from the Medieval Royal
Forest |
In 1286 the Forest boundary was described:
`the south at the new place of the Goyt, and thence by the river Goyt as far as
the river Etherow; and so by the river Etherow to Langley Croft at Longdenhead; thence
by a certain footpath to the head of Derwent; and from the head of Derwent to a place
called Mythomstede Bridge; and from Mythom Bridge to the river Bradwell; and from
the river Bradwell as far as a certain place called Hucklow; and from the Hucklow
to the great dell of Hazelbache; and from that dell as far as Little Hucklow; and
from Hucklow to the brook of Tideswell, and so to the river Wye; and from the Wye
ascending up to Buxton, and so on to the new place of Goyt.’
Forest courts were held at Bowden
(Chapel en le Frith), Tideswell and Castleton/Hope. Peveril Castle was
the administrative centre and the Foresters' Chamber was at Peak Forest.
The Forest was managed through courts at which offences against Forest
Law were judged, fines imposed and inquisitions held. Offences included
trespass, poaching deer and other game, damaging woods, enclosing land
and constructing buildings.
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Peveril Castle, Castleton was the administrative centre of
the Forest |
Despite these laws, opportunities
for constructing new buildings and enclosing land Forests, were greater
than outside because Forest Law was also a convenient mechanism for generating
revenue for the Crown. New enclosures and the buildings were usually
allowed to remain, with the people concerned having to pay an annual ‘fine’
per acre.
The needs of maintaining the
deer herd and pasturing livestock came into conflict more often over time.
During the reign of Elizabeth I disputes over the respective rights
of deer and livestock intensified. Encroachment throughout the Forest
eventually led to the removal of Forest status in 1674.
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