Archaeology and History of Medieval Sherwood Forest

Clipstone Peel and Spa Ponds in Sherwood Forest

2013-03-15T12:04:00.000Z

The Spa Ponds- Medieval fish ponds in Clipstone Park (near Forest Town).

On the western edge of the former royal deer park of Clipstone, in the heart of Sherwood Forest- are a series of large ponds fed by a spring and a tributary of the River Maun. They are overlooked by steep slopes of ground to the east which once housed a fortification built by Edward II in the early 14th century.

The Spa Ponds- Medieval fish ponds in Clipstone Park (near Forest Town).

For more photographs of the Spa Ponds please see the Facebook album

This fortification was Clipstone Peel- built as a refuge during 'a time of political turmoil. The peel was constructed in timber except for a stone gatehouse. When the peel was dismantled during the reign of Edward III, the gatehouse was left standing, and the small ruin known as Beeston Lodge is now all that remains' (Wright, 2008).

The remains of the gatehouse to Clipstone Peel

Overlooked by this fortification the ponds were kept for provision of fish for the king- and represent a massive undertaking by the crown. They are a hugely important part of local medieval heritage, and are an important part of a national story relating to the time of Edward II.

The area is now the ‘Spa Ponds Nature Reserve’ under lease to the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust. The site now lies within Forest Town- and the Community wishes to purchase the site and to 'improve and enhance it for nature conservation, community access, and as part of the heritage work taking place throughout Nottinghamshire'. The community is looking to raise funds for this purchase and an appeal has been launched following a pledge by Forest Town- based Charity CIICI (Community Involvement in Green Infrastructure). To learn about their aims and maybe to pledge support to their campaign please visit http://www.foresttown.net/index.php/nature/

King John's Palace Excavation - Nottingham Post article

2013-01-29T21:53:00.000Z

Archaeologist Andy Gaunt and site owner Mickie Bradley at King John's Palace.

Taken from Nottingham Post Friday 20th July 2012: 'ARCHAEOLOGISTS now believe they have found the "medieval centre" of Sherwood Forest in a dig at a 12th-century site.

Specialists have uncovered more vital information about King's John's Palace, in King's Clipstone.

The dig over the weekend was the latest in a series which have aimed to uncover the historical secrets of the ruin.

Excavations proved that the exterior defences encircled a much bigger area than first thought and seem to finally prove that it was once a huge royal residence.

Notts archaeologist Andy Gaunt, who worked on the dig, said: "I think the site is the medieval centre of Sherwood Forest. For a couple of hundred years this is where all of England's kings were going.

"We've proved what the medieval boundary of the site was."

The series of trenches uncovered a 180m long defensive ditch – proving for certain the site stretched far beyond the three remaining walls of the small ruin and was once a vast complex...'

See the full article at: http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/Experts-heart-historic-forest/story-16567795-detail/story.html

This excavation was undertaken by Andy Gaunt, James Wright, David Budge and Sean B Crossley in July 2012 for free and in their own time.

Hats off to James, David and Sean for their amazing efforts to promote the heritage and archaeology of medieval Sherwood Forest!!!

Left to right: D. Budge, S.B.Crossley, A.Gaunt & J.Wright

St. Mary's Church, Nottingham- and Robin Hood and the Monk

2013-01-28T20:29:00.000Z

St Mary's Church in Nottingham is the earliest church in the town and is mentioned in Domesday Book. It was at the heart of the original Saxon town.

The earliest of the surviving ballads of Robin Hood- Robin and the Monk (talkyng of the Munke and Robyne Hode)- written down around 1450- mentions St. Mary's Church in Nottingham. Robin is said to have visited the church (he was devoted to the Virgin Mary) when he was spotted by a Grey Monk whose alarm forced him to be captured. The tale tells of his subsequent rescue from the Sheriff by Little John and Much the Miller's Son.

The church was almost entirely rebuilt in the Perpendicular Gothic style in the 15th century, and is a fantastic example of this style of architecture- with its south and north transept windows utilising the innovations in architecture to create almost entire walls of glass.

The church was under the control of the nearby Lenton Abbey in the medieval period, and was a the heart of religious life in the town.

See the facebook gallery for more images

The Friends of Thynghowe

2013-01-27T22:16:00.002Z

The summit of Thynghowe, photograph from Friends of Thynghowe Group.
© Steve Horne and The Friends of Thynghowe

In the heart of medieval Sherwood Forest on the edge of the ancient crown woodland of Birklands is a hill and mound marking the boundary of 3 parishes.

This hill is now called Hanger Hill, but its ancient name was Thynghowe.

The name of the site indicates its former use as a meeting site either for the parishes upon which it bounds, or for a wider regional scale.

The derivation of Thynghowe is þing haugr, meaning ‘hill of assembly or meeting place’. (EPNS 1940). “þ” is the Saxon letter thorn pronounced “th”.

The site could have very ancient origins indeed. The name is of Viking origin, and the site may have occupied an older mound still.

Thynghowe sits in a remote location that could have been an important meeting point way back into pre-history.

The site was rediscovered by Lynda Mallett, Stuart Reddish and John Wood using a perambulation document from 1816.

Work by the Friends of Thynghowe Group in Sherwood Forest is currently being undertaken. Please check out their work and follow their work on http://www.facebook.com/Thynghowe

They arealways looking for interested people and volunteers to join in with their archaeoloigcal fieldwork and historical research.

Please see their website for more information: Friends of Thynghowe group.

the Medusa Oak: Icon of Medieval Sherwood Forest

2012-12-29T16:46:00.002Z

Picture: Medusa Oak in Birklands Wood, Sherwood Forest national Nature Reserve.

Named 'Medusa' by the Rangers at the Sherwood Forest National Nature Reserve...

This beautiful ancient oak has survived an attempt to fell her in the not too distant past- and has sprung back to life with serpent-like branches reclaiming her former crown. She sits proud; shrouded in a skirt of moss and lichen surrounded by young oak saplings and slender Silver Birch...

Due north of the Major Oak, Medusa sits at the norteast boundary of Birklands wood (A crown wood in the heart of Medieval Sherwood Forest). A number of Medieval perambulations of the wood mention a boundary 'mere point' or marker known as 'Musmere' ( the mossy boundary mark)... one perambulation goes further and mentions 'A bound called Musmere Oake'. This location is at the northeast of Birklands wood...

Could his moss and lichen covered oak tree with its reborn crown of serpents be the Musmere Oak of Medieval tradition?

Merry Christmas!

2012-12-24T12:06:00.001Z

Happy Christmas from Medieval Sherwood Forest to all our friends and followers!!!

Enjoy the festive season and all the feasting and merriment!

Picture: Robin Hood and his Merry Men entertain Richard the Lionheart in Sherwood Forest, 1839 by Daniel Maclise.

To stay up to date with Medieval Sherwood Forest its archaeology, history, landscape, people, the dreaded forest law, Robin Hood and Outlaws and Villians...

Please follow us on facebook/sherwoodforesthistory for regular posts, photographs stories, and links to groups undertaking work in the historic forest...

Daily life in Medieval Sherwood Forest- Peasant Rights

2012-12-01T22:26:00.000Z

Medieval society and the medieval landscape were for the common person predominantly rural and agricultural in nature.

Very little of the landscape was not utilised, and in some areas such as the ‘Champion’ (from the French champ- for field) landscapes of the Midlands, almost every inch was turned over to arable- especially in the boom years of population expanse during the 13^th century.

In Sherwood Forest it was similar, in that almost every resource was used.

Every village had its great open fields, where crops were rotated through the season, and the people farmed strips of land spread throughout them. Each year one field stood fallow to recover for the following years crops.

This fallow field was fertilized by the animals of the village. Pigs and sheep would be concentrated at night into temporary pens to ‘focus’ their fertilization efforts.

Between these times it was necessary to graze animals away from the open fields.

No matter how much an animal fertilizes a field it will always take more nutrients than it returns, if it grazes exclusively from the same field that it fertilizes, as it requires nutrients to grow.

An external source of nutrients and energy was therefore required, and in Sherwood Forest this came from the great heaths and Lyngges ( Old Scandinavian for heather- see There’s Vikings in the Heather entry).

Shepherds and swineherds would tend their flocks and herds on these vast swathes of lowland heath around Sherwood Forest that stretched for mile after mile across the open countryside. Vast areas such as ‘Basforde Lyngges’, the heaths of Rufford Abbey Lordship, ‘Budby Oute Fieldes’ and the ‘Moor of Kirby’, would be dotted with these herds, and the sight of flocks and shepherds would have been common to the traveller passing through the forest.

Each parish had their own areas of woodland, usually at their edges.

In the more populated southern ‘Thorneywood’ area they occupied the high ground between parishes, such as on the ridges between the villages of Lambley, Woodborough and Calverton.

These woods often joined together to form giant woods that could cover miles, but they each had names reflecting to whom they belonged. Carleton Wode, Gedling Wode, Basforde Wode (named after villages) Kettulbarne Haw, Fox Swaht, Prior Stobyn, Samson Wode (after landscape features or owners past and present).

In the ‘High Forest’, (the northern part of Sherwood Forest) these woods were sometimes vast such as the great Maunsfelde (Mansfield) Wode, Sutton Wode, Blidworth Wood and Hay Wode, as well as the great crown woods of the Hay of Birklands, Bilhaugh and Lyndhurst Wood (see Lyndhurst Wood- the chief wood of Sherwood entry).

It is worth reminding that nobody could actually cut down the tress in these woods for timber because it was forbidden by Forest Law (see Forest Law page). However the rights to the woods were heavily guarded by the people, because they had other kinds of rights within them.

As well as the rights to pasture on the great heaths and commons peasants had the right to graze their animals in woodland at certain times of the year. One such time was the ‘Pannage’ season (just after the acorns fell) when peasant could graze their pigs on acorns in the woods of the forest.

Picutre: A peasant beating acorns from the tree for his pigs

These rights to access woods were strictly controlled under Forest Law with ‘Agisters’ acting as tax collectors to control quotas and extract fines (see Forest Law Page)

Peasants also had the right to take some smaller timber from the woods for ‘Haybote’ (hedge repair) and ‘Husbote’ (house repair).

These rights were often jealously guarded!

An Inquisition Post Mortem into the rights of the people of Clipstone Manor, dated 20^th April 1327 early in the reign of Edward III shows some of the rights of the peasant to the resources of their land.

The Inquisition was presented in front of John De Crombwell Keeper of the Kings Forest beyond Trent, by the oath of John de Annesley; Philip de Caltoft, knight; Thomas Whaton; Richard Russell; Richard Ingam; John de Holm; Richard de Bestewod (Bestwood); Thomas de Lyndeby; Simon de Lameley; John le Warde of Crathethopre; William Basage; and john Moigne of Carleton…

‘The King’s tenants of his manor of Clypston in Shirwod (Sherwood), which is of ancient demesne of the crown of England, and their ancestors, tenants of the same manor, from time immemorial have been accustomed to have all ferns growing in a place which is now called the park of Clypston, for thirteen shillings and six pence, to be rendered yearly to the King’s ancestors by the hands of the justice of the Forest; and to collect the leaves fallen from the trees in the same place for manuring their lands, without rendering anything therefor; and to have pasture for all kinds of beasts in the same, doing in return the custody of the vert and venison in the same place by two of the tenants’.

This shows how the peasants had customary rights to access the ‘park’ for livestock grazing, and to gather ferns and leaves for fertilizer, (in exchange for looking after the deer and timber for the King)

It also shows that they were empowered enough to appeal through the court system to protect those rights.

The reason for the inquest is that Edward II had closed off access to the park, preventing them from their customary rights. The newly crowned Edward III was being petitioned by the men of Clipstone to have their rights returned. They also informed the King that he was losing the money they would normally pay for their rights!!!

Presumably he would be more likely to listen if his wallet was affected.

The men also pointed out that they could not get sufficient pasture outside of the park for their needs- as stated earlier nutrients for flocks and open fields needed to come from somewhere other than the fields themselves.

So as can be seen the landscape of Sherwood Forest provided opportunities for people to make their living from agriculture and from accessing the resources that the Forest provided around them. It was also the case that people would guard these rights vigorously, petitioning through the courts and to the legal system.

The laws of the land prevented many people from having many things, but they also enshrined rights over generations and the law could be called upon to protect those rights if they were threatened.

(More on farming practices in Medieval Sherwood Forest including the ‘Breck System’, and more on the courts and laws of everyday medieval life coming soon).

Magna Carta, the Forest Charter, King John and Sherwood Forest

2012-10-19T16:59:00.001+01:00

In 1215 the Barons of England forced King John to sign the Magna Carta - the Great Charter.

Picture: Magna Carta

This great charter was an important document which aimed to limit the powers of the king and protect the rights of the aristocracy.

Magna Carta has been influential on many constitutions written since and forms the basis of the United States Constitution.

Magna Carta contained clauses relating to Forest issues, and was followed in 1217 by a seperate 'Carta de Foresta' - the Charter of the Forest.

The Angevin Kings (Henry I, Richard the Lionheart and King John) had been very powerful since they came to power in 1154; and they had expanded royal jurisdiction across all aspects of their realm.

Their thirst for power was manifested in their expansion of Forest law over many new areas of the country. In Nottinghamshire the Forest Law was spread across all of Nottinghamshire north and west of the River Trent (see Boundaries page).

Much to the displeasure of the local ruling classes.

The expansion of Forest law - especially in the north of England was one of the catalysts of the Baronial uprising that led to Magna Carta (Holt 1992).

In 1215 the barons had (as said) forced King John to sign Magna Carta; at Runneymead on the 10th June.

The King signed the document, but he had little intention of yielding to its demands. He had the support of the pope who agreed that the document was improper as it had been extracted under duress.

The pope anulled Magna Carta; and the King turned on his enemies- England was plunged into a civil war known as the First Barons' War.

During this conflict King John is believed to have lost the crown Jewels on the coast of the 'Wash' in eastern England, before dying in the gate house at Newark Castle, Nottinghamshire in 1216.

Picture: Newark Castle gatehouse where King John died in 1216.

The Barons had replaced John with King Louis - the son of the King of France, during the conflict.

Following John's death the great general and tournament champion William Marshall persuaded the Barons to accept John's son Henry III who was crowned King in 1216.

Louis was defeated- and for all intents and purposes his reign is overlooked and even over-written in history.

There is no King Louis in the list of English and British Monarchs.

Picture: Defeat of the French at the Battle of Sandwich 1217

Magna Carta was reissued in 1216/17 this time with a seperate Charter of the Forest.

This charter was signed under William Marshall who was acting as regent to the 9 year old Henry III.

Magna Carta had contained an number of forest clauses designed to limit forest law.

These litmits on forest law were further extended in 1217 when a seperate Charter of the Forest was proclaimed.

Picture: Part of the Charter of the Forest

There were 17 proclamations in the charter. Including those related to removing the claws of dogs, which persons could hunt with hawks, and those allowing Bishops and other high powered folk to take a deer whilst passing through the forest.

Perhaps the most important elements were limitations on the extents of the forest, and the banning of execution and mutilation as punishments against people who killed deer in the forest.

The removal of execution, torture and maiming had a great effect on the implementation of forest law.

Over time it became more about extracting fines and levies- than removing limbs and other parts- more of a financial cash cow- valued for its contribution to the royal coffers.

Perhaps the most important impact for Sherwood Forest was the restriction it placed on the bounds of the forest.

Under Henry II and his sons Richard and John all of Nottinghamshire north and west of the Trent were forest.

The Forest Charter plunged the officials and local landowners into nearly a century of disputes over the boundaries of Sherwood Forest, that would eventually see it confined within boundaries that would then remain throughout the Medieval period (see Boundaries page).

These boundaries may well have been those of the original forest, a question still being investigated by Archaeologists and Historians to this day.

Goose Fair

2012-10-01T17:04:00.001+01:00

Fairs were an important part of medieval life.

They were essentially large markets.

Their size, and the fact that they were less frequent; enabled goods to be traded from further afield.

As a result they were worth a lot of money to their owners and carried great prestige.

Competition often occurred with towns folk who held stalls at the local markets.

One of the largest fairs in medieval Sherwood Forest was held annually at Lenton Priory- the largest and wealthiest religious house in Nottinghamshire.

Lenton fair had stalls for 'bedders', 'fishers', 'skinners', 'mercers', 'drapers', and 'cookeries' (food stalls) amongst others, and there were silks and spices from across the known world...

The weekday market (at weekday cross in the current Lace Maket, Nottingham) and the saturday market (held in the market square in the centre of town) were closed down for such events.

To appease the locals; compensation was paid to the marketeers, who were also granted the first choice of stalls at the fair.

The oldest surviving fair with Medieval origins in Sherwood Forest is 'Goose Fair'.

It is believed that the name comes from the droving of Geese to the market by traders.

Goose was traditionally consumed at the feast of Michaelmas which falls on the 29th of September.

The first reference to what would become 'Goose Fair' comes from a charter of 1284 in the reign of Edward I- permiting an 8 day fair in the town of Nottingham around the feast of St Matthew in September.

As a result the fair was originally known as 'St Matthew's Fair' and although it became known as 'Goose fair'- there is no historical account of a specialisation in geese- in the 17th century it was predominantly a horse fair and by the 18th century it was famous for cheese!

Goose Fair was originally held in the market square in the centre of Nottingham, but moved to the 'Forest recreation ground' in the early 20th century following centuries of fun, boozing, debauchery, and the odd riot or two.

Alongside the clammer, mayhem and noise; the bright silks and smoke from fires; the air would have been thick with the smell of fish, animal hides and flesh, spices and fruits. Stall holders would have rubbed shoulders in the market square with booze sellers, cut-purses, ne'er-do-wells, outlaws, friars and clergymen, bear-baters, mummers, dancers, performers, musicians, and entertainers.

Later accounts show how the focus shifted more and more from the trading event to a travelling show, but they also give an insight into the life and vibrancy of the event.

An 18th century account shows: 'caravan after caravan, cart after cart... peculiar looking people, that are as necessary to a fair as flowers are to May... all kinds of strollers, beggars, gipsies, singers, dances, players on harps... and similar wandering artists and professors' (Beckett and Tolley 2006 in Beckett (ed.) 2006).

The Medieval fair must also have been home to similar entertainments...

By Victorian times Goose Fair had evolved essentially into a funfair.

Goose fair is still held annually in Nottingham in the first week in October- and is now one of the largest and most popular travelling fair grounds in Europe...

...sadly little resembling the original Medieval trading fair currently survives, but maybe that will change in the years to come?..

Picture: Modern day goose fair

Parliament Oak, Clipstone: Icon of Medieval Sherwood Forest

2012-08-29T17:05:00.000+01:00

In the heart of Medieval Sherwood Forest stands an ancient tree named the 'Parliament Oak'.

Picture: Parliament Oak- Clipstone, Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire.

This tree once stood at over 25 feet in diameter (Dukery Records) and is perhaps the oldest surviving tree in Sherwood Forest.

The tree that survives today is sadly a shadow of its former self, having lived out a thousand year life-cycle.

Despite being aged the tree has had a resurgence in recent years and has re-grown pheonix-like to stand proud once again.

The tree stands on the south side of the road from Edwinstowe to Mansfield and can be visited at SK5765.

It was originally a boundary marker tree on the Royal Deer Park of Clipstone. Occupying the entrance to the deer park known as 'Warsope Gate' on the 1609 William Senior map of Clipstone.

The deer park occupied the northeastern third of the lordship of Clipstone, and provided timber, deer and hunting for the King.

The Parliament Oak was situated on the northern boundary of the deer park- with the park fence- or 'Pale' passing either side of the tree.

But where did the name for this magnificent oak tree come from?

Clipstone Park and its associated Royal Hunting Palace was the Royal Heart of Medieval Sherwood Forest- and was visited by all 8 monarchs from Henry II to Richard II.

Clipstone was so important that a number of monarchs are reputed to have held Parliaments there including King John:

'It has been stated, with some probability of truth, that King John, while hunting in the forest, was informed by a messenger of a revolt of the Welsh, and of an insurrection in the north of England; that he hastily summoned a parliament to meet under this tree, and that it owes its name to that incident' (Joseph Rodgers, The Scenery of Sherwood Forest with an Account of some Eminent People there, 1908).

It is more likely that the tree was named after the more famous and important parliament of Edward I in 1290.

The Parliament was a massive undertaking- with accomodation at the palace being stretched beyond capacity- the Chancery and its Clerks had to stay at the nearby village of Warsop (Crook 1976).

The Paliament Oak may well have been named after this event- perhaps it was named so because the Clerks and Chancery had to pass under its mighty boughs on the way to attend the Parliament from their quarters at Warsop...

The parliament of Edward I is linked to a national event of great romance.

Edward I was at Clipstone from the 19th- 23rd of September, and 12th of October- 11th November 1290 to attended his parliament (Dukery Records).

During this time his wife Eleanor of Castile took ill with a recurring fever. She was staying at the nearby Cistercian Abbey of Rufford.

The couple eventually attempted to travel to Lincoln perhaps for religious as well as medicinal reasons.

Eleanor died on the way- at Harby in Nottinghamshire having crossed the River Trent- some miles short of Lincoln.

Her entrails were buried in the high altar at Lincoln Catherderal- and her body was transported to London.

As Eleanor's funeral courtage travelled from Lincoln to London, a heart broken and devasted Edward erected wooden crosses at every one of the 12 stopping points on her journey- these were later rebuilt in stone as a permanent memorial to his wife.

They were known as the Eleanor Crosses.

A statue of Eleanor can be seen at Harby Church in Nottinghamshire- where she died.

Picture: Statue of Eleanor of Castile at Harby Church on Nottinghamshire.

A tragic and romantic story- which shows that even Edward Longshanks had a soft side!

It can be seen then that Parliament Oak symbolises the importance of the Royal Hunting Palace, and deer park at Clipstone, and the importance of Sherwood Forest in medieval times- through the Parliaments that were carried out there and the national events that unfolded there.

Like all the veteran Oaks of Medieval Sherwood Forest- this wonderous and mighty tree continues to inspire to this day- and can tell us stories of our past- if we choose to ask...

the Major Oak: Icon of Medieval Sherwood Forest

2012-08-18T17:41:00.002+01:00

The Major Oak is an icon of Medieval Sherwood Forest.

Reputedly the hide away of Robin Hood, and said to be up to 1000 years old!

This ancient and magnificent oak tree is at the heart of Birklands and Bilhaugh woods- crown woods situated in the 'High Forest' area of Sherwood in Medieval times.

The tree stands on the eastern boundary of Birklands wood, at the western edge of Gleadthopre open- an area of heath that separates Birklands from Bilhaugh wood.

It may well have been a 'boundary oak' of Birklands wood in Medieval times.

These two woods now form the Sherwood Forest National Nature Reserve near Edwinstowe in Nottinghamshire.

It was named after Major Hayman Rooke a local antiquarian who recorded the ancient oaks of Sherwood Forest in the late 18th century.

Map regression and investigation by the author of this site: Archaeologist Andy Gaunt (Gaunt & Gillott 2011) has turned up an interesting fact worthy of note regarding Major Rooke and the Major Oak.

‘A plan of the hays of Birkland and Bilhagh within the Forest of Sherwood in the County of Nottingham belonging to the crown’. Surveyed in the year 1791 by John Renshaw following an Act of Parliament in the 26^th year of George III shows ‘a tree called Major Rooke’ (Nichols 1987).

The map is preserved at the Nottingham Archives as NRO ED 4 L.

It is possible that this is the earliest reference to the Major Oak bearing that name.

Rooke’s publication ’Remarkable Oaks’ was not published until 1790.

It was Rooke’s association with this tree and the fame it gathered following his publications that helped the link to become established.

Previously the tree had been known by a number of names.

It should also be noted that on the slightly later map of Birklands and Bilhaugh surveyed by James Dowland for inclusion in Rookes own 1799 publication ‘A Sketch of the Ancient and Present State of Sherwood Forest in the County of Nottingham’ the tree is unnamed (Rooke 1799). (Gaunt & Gillott 2011).

See the Archaeology of Birklands and Bilhaugh: Sherwood Forest National Nature Reserve for more details and for information on the archaeology of the woods

Before it was known as the Major Oak it was called the 'cockpen tree' because it was reputedly used to house fighting cocks.

It has also gone by the name the 'Queen's Oak'.

The tree now forms the main tourist attraction at the Sherwood Forest National Nature Reserve and is visted by millions of people.

Having stood for nearly a thousand years, it has seen its fair share of history and certainly deserves the title of iconic.

(More to come on the other ancient named an famous oak trees of Medieval Sherwood Forest soon).

Lyndhurst Wood- the 'chief wood of Sherwood'

2012-08-05T12:01:00.000+01:00

Medieval Sherwood Forest was not one giant wood, but had a mixed landscape of villages with their arable fields, pasture and meadows. The forest however was chosen because it had a large amount of woodland and heath.

There were many different woods across the forest- most had names of their own.

A huge area of woodland stretched north-eastwards from Nottingham along the clay ridge now known as Mapperley tops. This wood was divided into many separately named woods belonging to all the different villages nearby (more of that later).

In the northern High forest there were also many woods such as the mighty Mansfield Wood, Kirkby wood, Haywood Oaks, and the woods of Clipstone and Edwinstowe. (these will be discussed in turn at some point).

The crown also held the two great woods of Birklands and Bilhaugh (now the Sherwood Forest National nature Reserve).

Alongside all of these was a wood described as the ‘chief wood of Sherwood’ in the Forest Book; Lyndhurst Wood (spelt Lindhurst in modern times).

Lyndhurst means ‘lime-tree wood’ suggesting that species was dominant at one time. In the medieval period it was mainly oak- used for the upkeep of Nottingham castle.

‘During the extensive works that took place at the castle between 1358 and 1368, when Stephen Romylowe was constable, a great deal of timber was taken from Lindhurst. The surviving accounts give details of the employment of carpenters and sawyers there and of the expenses of carting the timber to Nottingham.’ (Crook 1981 in bibliography).

Lyndhurst was originally all the 'wode growing on the eesh parte (east part) of the grete (great) way that leedeth betwxyt Notynhham (Nottingham), and Maunsfeild (Mansfield) unto Sothwell rode (Southwell road) in lengith (length), and the syke (stream) of Rayewath (Rainworth Water) on the southe parte, and the valey where a syke called oulde Idle (foulevil brook- see below) hathe the course of the northe parte in lengith, is called the chieffe wode of the foresh of Shirewood (the chief Wood of Sherwood Forest)'

As stated above the wood was defined by Rainworth Water (a tributary of the River Maun) to the south, and on its northeastern side by a stream called ‘foulevil brook’ (a tributary of Rainworth Water)- the name does not suggest it formed a natural beauty spot at the time.

The Wood was positioned to the south of the manor of Mansfield and to the north of the manor of Blidworth. The Manor of Mansfield belonged to the King, and Blidworth to the Arch-Bishop of York.

Lyndhurst was a jealously guarded property of the crown and was separate to the Manor of Mansfield.

It had its own keeper: in the 13^th and early 14^th century its keeper was Ralph Clere who lived in a lodge called the ‘new repair’ on its south side.

A rectangular moated site survives – sometimes called ‘Friar Tuck’s Island’ (where Robin Hood was reputedly thrown in the river in the 'Curtal Friar) at this location known as Fountain Dale, Lyndhurst. It is on the opposite side of Rainworth Water to the spring known as Friar Tuck's Well.

The site can be visited from the A60 near Harlow Wood and Thieves Wood on the road to Mansfield.

This keeper of Lyndhurst as well as looking after the wood had the job of collecting the tax of Cheminage, a toll on carts passing through the forest, payable to his master the Keeper of Sherwood Forest (see Road Tax entry) Robert D'Everingham.

Geophysical Survey of King John's Palace

2012-07-16T21:02:00.000+01:00

In the heart of medieval Sherwood Forest lies King John's Palace, a royal hunting palace.

A Geophysical Resistance survey of King John's Palace , Clipstone, Nottinghamshire was undertaken in 2010 by the author Andy Gaunt.

As part of a Masters Degree at the University of Birmingham.

This subsurface survey of the Medieval royal hunting palace in the heart of Sherwood Forest discovered many buried features- most notably the medieval boundary of the royal hunting lodge.

This survey and the work undertaken alongside it led to Channel Four's Time Team excavating at the site in Spring 2011.

It also led to an archaeological excavation in July 2012.

The Project design is discussed on the King John's Palace wikipedia page, authored by Archaeologist James Wright:

2012 archaeological evaluation

'Another archaeological evaluation is scheduled to take place at King John's Palace during July 2012.

The purpose of this work is summarised from:

• Gaunt, A. & Wright, J., (2012) King John's Palace, Clipstone, Nottinghamshire - Written Scheme of Investigation for an archaeological evaluation

A feature was identified by Gaunt (Gaunt 2011) as a geophysical anomaly of approximately 180m in length by 3-11m width running south-east to north-west through the centre of Castlefield from its boundary with the Vicar Water.

This feature was sectioned during April 2011 as part of the 19th series of Channel 4’s Time Team (Wessex 2011) and was found to be a substantial ditch approximately 2.4m in depth.

No corresponding bank was identified.

Despite excavation during the 2011 evaluation the interpretation of this feature is still unclear.

Gaunt states that: “The large high resistance linear anomaly is interpreted as probably a ditch filled with rubble or the remains of a wall. It lines up with the edge of the enclosure marked ‘Manor Garth’ on the 1630 William Senior map, and probably represents the edge of the manorial complex” (Gaunt 2011).

John Gater’s magnetometry survey interpreted the anomaly as a modern field boundary on site, and as “an old field boundary seen on first edition OS mapping” in the subsequent report (Gater 2011, 3).

This attribution of a modern date for the ditch was also asserted by Professor Mick Aston in his interview with the Western Daily Press (9 February 2012).

The archaeological report from Wessex Archaeology uses the same definition as John Gater for the ditch (Wessex 2011, 7) and also as a substantial ditch containing medieval pottery (Wessex 2011, 13).

Finally the programme as aired stated that this was the medieval boundary ditch to the site.

Given the confusion that has arisen over the attribution of this feature the evaluation in 2012 will seek to answer the following questions:

• What is morphology of the feature?
• What period(s) does the feature date from?
• What was the function of the feature?
• Does the feature represent a limit or boundary related to the medieval royal palace on the site?

Agreement has already been made with Keith Challis as editor of the Transactions of the Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire to produce a published summary on the findings of the evaluation as part of a wider article or monograph on the archaeology of medieval King’s Clipstone.

A “grey literature” site report will also be produced and lodged with the landowners, site archive, Nottinghamshire HER and English Heritage NMR'.

The results from this excavation will be discussed on this site soon.

Open publication - Free publishing - More andy gaunt

Bothamsall Castle and Sherwood Forest

2012-06-23T15:51:00.000+01:00

This entry is taken from part of the recently published journal article by Andy Gaunt and James Wright : Gaunt, A. & Wright, J. 2011. Bothamsall Castle, Nottinghamshire An Archaeological and Historical Landscape Analysis. Transactions of the Thoroton Society Volume 115.

This blog entry concentrates on the part of that paper relating to the landscape setting of Bothamsall Castle and its relationship to the boundary of Sherwood Forest. The full article including details and results of fieldwork; historic map regression aerial photography and documentary research plus an analysis and interpretation of the castle earthworks can be purchased from the Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire.

http://www.thorotonsociety.org.uk/publications/tts/trans115.htm

Picture: Bothamsall Castle from the southeast

Bothamsall is a small village in central Nottinghamshire. The earliest historical reference to the settlement is in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it is mentioned as “Bodmescel” (Morris 1977, 281ab). The name Bothamsall derives from Old English and means a ‘shelf by a broad river valley’ (Mills 1993, 44), no doubt a reference to the location of the village on a ridge overlooking the valley of the River Meden. Such evidence suggests a pre-Conquest origin for the settlement.

Bothamsall Castle lies to the west of the village at the highest point of a steep-sided ridge known as Castle Hill (SK 67100 73200; 57m OD) forming the northern edge of the valley in which the River Meden flows. The surrounding landscape consists of gently rolling countryside characterised by the geology of the Triassic rocks of the lower part of the Mercia Mudstone Group with overlying pebble beds.

Castle Hill is a Scheduled Ancient Monument (List Entry Number: 1009299) identified as an adulterine motte and bailey castle of the midtwelfth century.

The site is dominated by a large motte c5m high, the top is sub-circular and is defined by a 1m high rampart enclosing an area c22m in diameter. The motte is bounded to the north by a c5m wide ditch which is c2m deep (English Heritage 1992).

The ditch has been partially truncated by an unclassified road known as Main Street which runs east–west through the site and links the B6387 to the A614 via the village of Bothamsall. To the north of the road are arable fields and a meadow, part of which are scheduled. To the south of the motte is a steep escarpment which drops to the valley of the River Meden. Between the motte and escarpment are a series of earthworks on sloping ground associated with the castle as well as later developments.

The castle site is bounded to the west by arable fields and to the east by Meadow Lane and the settlement of Bothamsall.


Picture: James Wright (left) and Andy Gaunt undertaking EDM Total Station Survey at Bothamsall Castle.

Archaeologists Andy Gaunt and James Wright conducted a topographic survey of the site over three weeks during October and November 2007. The survey was funded by Nottinghamshire County Council as part of a joint project to assess the castles of Nottinghamshire and research the archaeology of Sherwood Forest. The data was processed and presented by Andy Gaunt during January and February 2008. Both authors carried out map regression, documentary research, landscape analysis and other contextual research during autumn 2011.

The survey was undertaken to allow interpretation of the castle earthworks and to examine them through 3D modelling in their wider landscape setting.

Little is known of Bothamsall during the early Medieval period. The village place name derives from Old English, however it is not clear when the settlement originally developed. Prior to Domesday, the manor of Bothamsall was held by Earl Tostig and the value was set at £8 (Morris 1977, 281ab). Tostig was the son of Godwin, Earl of Wessex and younger brother of Harold Godwinson (later King Harold II). Following the death of Edward, and the ascendancy of Harold to the throne, Tostig raided the south and eastern coasts of England until his eventual defeat at the hands of his successor Morcar, Earl of Northumbria and Edwin of Mercia. Tostig then took refuge in Scotland where he eventually made contact with Harald Hardrada of Norway whom he persuaded to invade northern England. Both Tostig and Harald were killed by the forces of Harold II at the battle of Stamford Bridge (Ashley 1977).

The landowner of Bothamsall in 1086 was King William I. The manor was worth only 60 shillings, a drop in value that may be related to the Saxon revolts in the Midlands and the north in the years after the Conquest. However, it is apparent that Bothamsall was still a reasonably prosperous manor with arable, pasture and woodland and a mill worth 8 shillings. Bothamsall also held land in soke at Elkesley, Morton, Babworth, Ranby, South Ordsall, Mattersey, Lound and Barnby Moor and comprised an important estate centre within the region (Morris 1977, 281ab).

By the 1220s the manor had passed into the ownership of the Furnival family (Thoroton 1972, 363) a prominent family in north Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire (White 1875). The parish church was certainly established by this period as the Furnivals are recorded as having relinquished their rights over it in favour of Welbeck Abbey. Thoroton refers to a manorial court held at Bothamsall, and to Richard de Furneus and Richard de Baselyngthorp holding one knight’s fee of the earldom of Lancaster (Thoroton 1972, 363). Bothamsall seems to have remained an obscure rural manor throughout the Medieval period and passed to a number of families until ownership was settled on the Dukes of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and then to the Dukes of Newcastle- under-Lyne in 1756.

Picture:Bothamsall Castle from George Sanderson's 1835 map of 20 miles around Mansfield

The earliest reference to the castle is on George Sanderson’s map of 1835 which shows the motte and identifies it as “Castle Hill”. It is not unusual to find a lack of primary documentary references to castles, particularly when considering the earthwork and timber castles of the East Midlands (Speight 1994, 58; Wright 2008, 50). Estate papers for many medieval families have not survived; castles may not have been referred to in texts unless a dramatic event occurred there, and many medieval documents and legal papers are concerned with the activities of lords rather than the landscape and structures (Wright 2008, 29).

The first attempt to classify Castle Hill occurred in 1889 when G.T. Clark identified the site as being a Saxon defended burh (Clark 1889, 209). Thomas Blagg also believed the mound to be of Saxon origin, postulating it to have been the location for the meeting place of the Wapentake of Bassetlaw (Blagg 1931, 1–3), although he also admitted that the recent weight of evidence pointed towards the site being a Norman castle (Stevenson 1906, 305). Oswald referred to the site as a motte with a bailey (Oswald 1939, 6) The 1899, 1900, 1921 and 1921 Ordnance Survey editions all identify to the mound as being a tumulus, and it was not until the 1967–77 survey that the word “motte” appears. The site was scheduled as a motte and bailey castle in 1951.

An archaeological watching brief was carried out in 1971 at Castle Hill by the Trent Valley Archaeological Research Committee in advance of a road-widening scheme on Main Street. The TVARC annual report describes the work: “Several visits were made to the motte and bailey site of Bothamsall. Part of the bailey was being destroyed by road widening. With the assistance of Nottingham University Archaeological Society, a survey of the earthworks was begun, and the exposed section of bailey bank was drawn. That part of the bailey which was under plough was field-walked.” Sadly the archive of this work no longer survives.

Latterly, both academic and popular descriptions of Castle Hill have all agreed that the site is a Norman motte and bailey castle (Pevsner 1979, King 1983, Groves 1987, Peters 1990, Salter 2002) although only Dr Sarah Speight has attempted any innovative thinking by raising the possibility of a late Saxon foundation subsequently developed by the Norman conquerors (Speight 1994, 62–3).

The results from the survey can be seen in the Thoroton Society transactions listed above.

Perhaps the most interesting finding amongst the interpretations of the earthworks is that the Motte was encircled within its Baliey defences. This point and the remainder of the results of the earthwork survey and their interpretation are covered in full in the report available from the Thoroton Society, but are not discussed in this blog entry.

A small number of motte and bailey castles are known from the late Saxon period (Richard’s Castle and Ewyas Harold, Herefordshire or the ringwork sites at Goltho, Lincolnshire and Sulgrave, Northamptonshire), however the form proliferated after the Norman Conquest of 1066 (Hill and Wileman 2002, 86–90).

The complete lack of stonework at Castle Hill indicates that the site was not built or developed beyond the mid-twelfth century when purely earthwork and timber castles became obsolete (McNeill 1992, 42).

The widespread pacification of the Anglo- Saxon populace, advances in military technology, legislation on castle-building by the monarchy, a desire of more comfortable dwellings and the status associated with grand stone structures meant that by the reign of Henry II earthwork and timber castles were no longer being constructed in England (Wright 2008, 9–13).

This allows a window of the century between c1050 and c1150 for the construction of the castle at Bothamsall.

Castle Hill has been identified as an adulterine castle (English Heritage 1992; Nottinghamshire Historic Environment Record M4450) dating to a period known as the Anarchy of Stephen (1135–54). This tendency to allocate motte and bailey castles with no documentary evidence of foundation to the period of the Anarchy has a disappointingly long history (Coulson 1994, 67–92) and should be treated with suspicion.

Motte and bailey castles were constructed by the Norman monarchy and aristocracy in order to suppress the newly conquered lands, as reprisals for Saxon rebellions, as a mechanism to establish local manorial power within emerging estates, to provide dwellings for an itinerant aristocracy and to act as a structure symbolic of lordship, authority and power (Liddiard 2005, 1–11). The establishment of a castle for specific military purpose during the Anarchy is uncertain, and even within the period of the Anarchy castles were not necessarily being built purely for a military contribution to the war.

The landscape setting of Bothamsall is key to its dating.

The castle sits at the highest point of a long east–west ridge as a western adjunct to the linear village of Bothamsall. The parish church sits at the far eastern side of the village and has no morphological interaction with the castle at all.

The relationships between castles and churches is well established (Speight 2004, 271–280, Creighton 2002, 110–132). Castles established within a domestic seigneurial estate are often constructed in close association with the parish church (Nottinghamshire examples of this form are Lowdham, Egmanton, Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Strelley and Greaseley).

However, castles built at a distance from the church and manorial centre often utilise high ground and were intended to stamp their military as well as social dominance on a landscape (e.g. Annesley, East Bridgford, Laxton). Crucially these castles have a focus outside of their manors and look to the wider landscape. Bothamsall certainly fits this latter profile and relates to a period of Norman military dominance within the region.

Rivers and streams are not a common feature of central and northern Nottinghamshire and the presence of the River Meden in the valley immediately to the south of the castle must be seen as worthy of note. Rivers in this area were important and they often formed important geographical and political boundaries.

Especially significant is the fact that a major north–south arterial road to York crosses the River Meden at Coningswath Ford in close proximity to Castle Hill (see picture above).

Coningswath was an important northern boundary marker of Sherwood Forest and is included usually as the starting point on many of the surviving medieval perambulations of the forest (Boulton 1965 35, 40).

The route of this road for much of its length is followed by the modern A614 although the current road deviates to the west of Rufford Abbey. The old route followed the high ground to the east of the Abbey and to the west side of the town of Wellow before passing between the villages of Ollerton and Boughton (Mastoris 1998 82).

The road crossed the river Meden at Coningswath in the current Conjure Alders wood following the route of the modern Robin Hood Way. This road was known as the King’s Highway (Morris 1977 280a) during the Medieval period and “Coningswath” derives from the Old Scandinavian for “King’s wade” or ford (EPNS 1942 69–70).

Therefore Bothamsall Castle directly overlooked a river-crossing with royal associations which acted as a boundary marker for what would become (and may already have been) a royal forest.

The fact that the manor of Bothamsall was retained in the ownership of William I further emphasises the strategic importance of Castle Hill to the Norman monarchy and it is considered that the establishment of the castle was part of an aggressive campaign of post-Conquest Norman dominance within the region.

Bothamsall fits into a pattern of castle-building within Nottinghamshire that has a relationship with the area of Sherwood Forest.

The distribution of medieval fortified sites in Nottinghamshire illustrates that the area of the forest reflects a negative distribution, with castles grouped around the forest boundaries.

The forest boundary as known from medieval perambulations comes from the 13th century, and was a reduction of the size of the of the forest following the issuing of the forest charter in 1217 and the ensuing disputes of that century (Crook 1979 36–45). It is suggested here that the forest retreated back within an older boundary, perhaps to its original extent.

Did this forest footprint of the 13th century represent an older castlery or area of jurisdiction of the castle of Nottingham? The absence of castles from the area may suggest a policy of the monarchy to dissuade castle-building within this area.

Annesley Castle is listed as being a boundary marker of Sherwood to the west of the forest (Boulton 1965 37, 41), Lowdham Castle sat adjacent to the forest boundary of the Dover Beck.

Most significant is the location of East Bridgford to the south-east of the forest. The motte, and its small northern bailey, sits at a distance of half a kilometre from the village core on the shoulder of an escarpment directly overlooking the ford where the Roman road known as Bridgford Street crossed the River Trent. Bridgford Street was historically the section of road which linked the ford to the Fosse Way and is the precursor of the modern A6097 that joined the Kings Highway mentioned previously further to the north.

Picture: Pancake Hil East Bridgford, Motte and Bailey Castle.

The motte and bailey at Pancake Hill is effectively the twin of Bothamsall – both guard major strategic crossings of rivers by an arterial medieval road at either end of Sherwood Forest, or as previously speculated a castlery of Nottingham with jurisdiction up to these crossings.

The fact that William I spotted the strategic importance of Bothamsall and chose to construct a very strong motte and bailey castle there could well have been pre-empted by the late Saxon aristocracy.

Speight has pointed out that Earl Tostig is a vital player in this piece. Castles were established in many of his northern manorial estates, particularly in the Lune Valley, Cumbria. The implication is that castles were established as a deliberate policy upon sites which had previously been defended enclosures owned by the troublesome former earl, who was after all brother to the recently defeated Harold (Speight 1994, 62).

The archaeology of the imposition of Norman castles upon private Saxon
fortifications is still a developing subject yet the groundbreaking work at Goltho, Lincolnshire categorically demonstrates that such a sequence could take place (Beresford 1987).

The form of the earthworks at Bothamsall are anomalous. Motte and bailey castles are more usually characterised by a mound or ringwork with attached enclosures. The form of such castles is diverse and baileys can be appended in an almost limitless manner of combinations. However it is immensely rare to discover a mound surrounded by a concentric (as opposed to appended) enclosure. Comparative sites which present this form include Old Sarum (Wiltshire), the British Camp (Herefordshire), Doncaster (South Yorkshire),
Cardiff and Barwick-in-Elmet (West Yorkshire), however in all of these cases the motte was added to a pre-existing enclosure such as an Iron Age hillfort
or Roman fort. It is therefore not beyond the realms of possibility that Castle Hill may reflect a site that was already considered to be strategically important and had a strongly defined hilltop enclosure to which a massive motte was added by William I in the years immediately after the Conquest.

This is of course highly speculative and it would be impossible to prove without archaeological evaluation, however the circumstantial evidence based on topography, comparative sites and documentary analysis does indicate that the castle may have been developed on the site of an earlier, possibly late Saxon aristocratic enclosure.

The history of castle studies within England has witnessed an ebb and flow of argument for or against the military interpretation of castles. Early scholars such as Ella Armitage favoured a militaristic viewpoint that castles were built specifically to enforce the Norman Conquest, this viewpoint was developed and qualified during the post war period by Allen-Brown and Cathcart- King amongst others. However, by the mid 1960s scholars such as Davison had begun a backlash stipulating that castles owed less to the Normans and more to the late Saxon privately fortified ringworks.

Debate raged.

Meanwhile Charles Coulson suggested an interpretation based on the visual language of lordly symbolism as opposed to military functionalism. More recently a thematic approach to castles has seen a healthy literature develop incorporating groundbreaking subjects such as earthwork and timber castles (Higham & Barker 1992), socio-cultural interpretations (McNeill 1992) and landscape studies (Creighton 2002).

The current interpretation of Castle Hill is therefore based on a rich fabric of engaging and vibrant debate within the field of castle studies.

Castle Hill, Bothamsall is but one of around one thousand castles built prior to the thirteenth century. Castle construction afforded an almost limitless variety of design form and there is no site which exactly mirrors the morphology of Castle Hill. However, the similarity of landscape context and purpose of establishment between East Bridgford and Bothamsall is stark.

Both castles seem to have been created as part of a deliberate royal policy to dominate river crossings by a major arterial road into the royal forest of Sherwood, or at the perimeter of the jurisdiction of a possible castlery of Nottingham.

This is the raw power of the Norman Conquest writ large in both military and symbolic terms upon the very landscape of Nottinghamshire. This expression of power was also played out by physically claiming the former manor of one of late Saxon England’s most important figures – Earl Tostig.

The establishment of a castle in what was potentially Tostig’s own aristocratic enclosure is another instance of both the physical and symbolic demonstration of the Conquest.

For more information on James Wright please follow the link.

Hanging and execution in Sherwood forest

2012-05-12T20:22:00.001+01:00

The Forest Law in England is reknowned- even famous as being brutal:

The forest Assizes of 1184 (Henry II) and 1189 (Richard I) prescribe blinding and castration as a punishment for those who take deer or boar in the forest.

They also both state that this was the case in the time of Henry I (1100-1135)

Hanging was also considered a suitable punishment.

It can be assumed that the reputation for brutality is not unfounded; indeed the very fame of harsh forest law enforcment helped to generate and sustain the legends of Robin Hood.

However in 1215 the Barons forced King John to sign Magna Carta.

Some of the clauses of Magna Carta banned hanging and mutilation as punishment for forest offences.

The main source of records from the forest courts for Sherwood come from the Forest Eyres of 1287 and 1334 (see 1287 Sherwood Forest Eyre Court and 1334 Sherwood Forest Eyre Court entries for more details).

Both of which were a considerable time after Magna Carta.

As a result- no accounts of hangings directly related to Forest Law offences survive for Medieval Sherwood Forest.

There are a number of accounts of imprisonment, and of people being outlawed- for poaching deer (see Poaching in Clipstone Park in 1279 and Forest Law Outlaws entries for more details).

Despite this, hanging did occur in Sherwood Forest throughout the medieval period for other offences:

Namely theft of property- and these were infringments against the common law.

The Borough Records for Nottingham show that in 1315-16 Gervase Aubrey, of Wilford, was captured in the town of Nottingham with a cow stolen from Henry de Gedling...

...not exactly something you could hide up your coat!

He was brought before the jury and found guilty, and therefore 'Ideo suspendatur- (let him be hung)!'

Also, this time on the 2nd June 1316: Walter le Shepherd, of Sallow, was taken at Nottingham with 11 sheep stolen in the field of Nottingham, from a Henry de Wollaton...

Amazing... presumably a larger coat would be needed to conceal 11 sheep!

Walter was unsuprisingly found guilty and therefore again 'Ideo suspendatur- (let him be hanged!)...

These hangings presumably took place on the town gallows for Nottingham.

These were situated on a sandstone ridge on the side of the King's Highway to York, north of the town walls and its great open fields.

They Loomed large over the town as a symbol of power and justice.

It was not just in Nottingham that hangings occured in the forest:

They also took place in the King's Manor of Mansfield to the north.

'On Thursday 10th June 1316... Geoffrey son of Roger of Walesby was arrested in Mansfield with a green surcoat worth 4s. He would not say how he came by it, but Maud daughter of Henry le Thacker of Mansfield said that it was hers and that it had been stolen at the house of Richard Alche of Mansfield. Geoffrey denied it and put himself on a jury of twelve local men who found him guilty. He was sentenced to be hanged...

...Another criminal, guilty of a similar offence a few years later, was more fortunate. In 1319-20 Richard son of Richard of Ireland of Mansfield admitted he was guilty of stealing a horse worth 10s. in the fields of Mansfield, but he did not do so until he was safely in the sanctuary of St. Peter's Church. He abjured the realm, thus leaving the country for good in order to save his life' (Crook 1985).

The gallows for the Crown Manor of Mansfield stood on the side of the road from Nottingham to Mansfield, south of the town. (Interestingly in modern day 'Thieves Wood').

Again this was a very potent sign of royal justice and power to anyone entering the manor.

The hill on which they stood is listed as 'galow tre hyl' on a medieval map of Sherwood Forest (see Gallows in the forest? entry)

Abjuring the realm was a common way of avoiding the gallows and many criminals convicted of theft in Nottingham were given the sentence of 'abjuring the town' when their crimes did not quite warrant hanging.

As well as these sentences of hanging for theft a more curious entry in the Chamberlains Accounts for 1485-6 lists the hanging of 3 monks of Lenton Priory on the gallows of Nottingham although nothing of their crime is listed (Records of the Borough of Nottingham Vol III 1485-1547, page xix).

Perhaps the most notorious hanging in Nottingham in the Medieval period is that of the last Prior of Lenton.

As part of the attempt by Henry VIII to seize monastic land, the prior of Lenton was arrested for treason and thrown into prison in 1538.

In March 1538, Prior Nicholas Heath was hanged, drawn and quartered in Nottingham- his mulitalted body was displayed as a warning to other religious houses, at the gate of the priory.

This violent act brought to an end the priory of Lenton and its spiritual domination of the town.

This execution must have had a massive impact in the town. The priory had been at the heart of life in Nottingham, its annual fair was famous around the land, and the great towers of the Priory could be seen for miles across the floodplain of the River Trent.

So momentous was this act that it could be argued it was one of the moments, along with the dissolution of the monasteries at Rufford and Newstead that signalled the end of the Middle Ages in Nottingham and Sherwood Forest.

The gallows can be seen then, to have had an impact over peoples lives throughout the medieval period- and although no records survive for their use in Forest Adminstration- their use and their presence clearly had a significant role in the administration and life of medieval Sherwood Forest.

More to come on the courts, crimes and punishments in medieval Sherwood Forest soon).

A Journey through Sherwood Forest: Rufford Abbey to Nottingham

2012-04-29T09:25:00.000+01:00

Picture: The Undercroft at Rufford Abbey, Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire.

Rufford Abbey was a monastery of Cistercian monks in the heart of medieval Sherwood Forest (see the monks and friars of Sherwood Forest).

It was situated in the high forest area to the south of the village of Ollerton, and to the west of the Royal Palace and Deer Park of Clipstone.

Nestled amongst it's domestic buildings and accomodation, the church of St. Mary the Virgin would have been a glorious landmark, standing in the heathland of the high forest.

The abbey would have been a welcome sight to the traveller passing throught the forest.

A traveller heading south from York might have spent the previous night in the inland medieval port town of Bawtry on the Yorkshire border, or maybe in the castle town of Tickhill, or at the monastery in Blyth.

The Idle marshes would have been negotiated along with the heather-clad fields of the district of Hatfield; before the traveller crossed the River Meden at Cunningswath Ford into Sherwood Forest (see the King's Wade entry for more details).

Having found accomodation in the Abbey at Rufford- the traveller could enjoy a restful night in the dormitories of the abbey.

Restful that is, if they could sleep through the chanting, bell-ringing and hymns that sounded for and in the church services that ran at intervals through the night.

The life of the medieval monk didn't seem to involve much sleeping!

Sleeping on a straw-filled matress may not bee too restful either (many hundreds of people may have slept on it before)- but at least the stop over included breakfast!

It was part of the duty of medieval monks to provide accomodation and food to travellers (of course the level of comfort depended on wealth- and more importantly social position).

The poor might receive the left-overs from the kitchen and be offered a communal dormitory above the stables- whereas the rich would dine well and even be hosted in the abbots quarters.

Having woken, eaten and departed the traveller would head east to meet the road to Nottingham.

The trackway from the monastery might have been shared by some of the Cistercian 'Lay Brothers' heading to till the fields of Cratley (a village taken over by the abbey in the 12th century) to the east.

Cistercian monks were not permitted to work- so they employed a group of 'Lay brothers' who could do their work for them.

The meadows of the abbey covered the shallow valley of Rainworth water to the south of the road, and the woods of 'Welley (Wellow) Beskall' and 'In Beskall' hugged the north side of the road and extended into the distance.

On reaching the Kings Highway the road was rejoined and the journey south continued following the higher ground of the Mercia Mudstones ridge overlooking the meadows of the abbey wich lay on the western side. These meadows would provide fodder for the abbey's animals, and may have had the occasional Lay Brother tending flocks in the months when grazing was permitted.

Having crossed Rainworth Water at the 'Derun Forthe' (ford); the road began to cross the heathland of the lands of the Lordship of Rufford- one of the homes of the great flocks of sheep grazing for the profit of the abbey.

The road from the Kings Manor of Mansfield in the west to the Archbishop of York's great manor and collegiate church at Southwell (see the Archbishop of York and Sherwood Forest entry) in the east- crossed the King's Highway 3 1/2 miles to the south of the abbey

The heathland covered the area up to the Southwell road and was up to 2 miles wide.

Just before reaching the Southwell road the Abbey's wood known as the 'Burne Abotote wode' (the brown wood of the Abbot) and the wood of 'Leytle Hawe' dominated the road to the western side, with the lands of the vill of Farnsfield stretching down the valley of the River Greet to the east.

The Abbot of Rufford had a ditch dug around his woods 50 ft across to keep out animals and presumably people, but also to help seperate it from 'ye Byshope wode' (the wood of the Archbishop of York that joined on to it on its southern edge). It would not be wise to be caught damaging or stealing anything in either of these woods as the punishment could include eternal damnation (see mutilation and damnation entry).

These woods formed an area of woodland that the road passed alonside for 2 miles.

This woodland was also 2 miles wide and could well have sheltered many oulaws in its shadowy depths.

The traveller would be well advised to stick to the road.

Little time could be spared anyway to explore these deep woods- if Nottingham was to be reached safley before nightfall.

These woods were divided into 'Blidworth Wood', 'Lerche Haw', 'Balkhaw', 'Seyre Birkes' and 'Hay Wode'.

Haywood Oaks is still a popular tourist destination today with many veteran oak trees in its woodland.

Continuing up and down over the undulating Sherwood Sandstones the road crossed the Doverbeck River which headed to the southeast forming the boundary of the forest from this point; and the road continued south over Salterford Waste.

The great Common of Calverton village stretched of to the southeast and the King's Highway passed into and through a small area of woodland known as 'Samson Wode' (A plantation of pines now carries the name).

Upon leaving the shadowy bows of Samson Wode the road now headed across the heather clad 'Arhall (Arnold) Common' which stretched for nearly 3 miles to the south; here again great herds of swine and sheep grazed on the land, tended by shepherds and swineherds.

After crossing this great heathland two roads converged with the King's Highway- a 'Packman's Way' (see road tax entry) which headed northeast towards the King's Manor of Mansfield; and the road which ran northeast towards Calverton.

They met at a standing cross on the road known as 'Xpian Cross'. The road from here then climbed steeply to pass through a deep holloway cut by traffic and footfall through the Mercia Mudstones.

This cutting exposed red clay deposits of the Mercia Mudstones and Sneinton Shale deposits, and was therefore known as 'ye rede (red) royde (road) hil' (The ridge is still known as 'Redhill' to this day).

Nowadays this cutting marks the entry into the 'Greater Nottingham Conurbation' from the surrounding countryside; and in medieval times it would have also been a mark of having left the great wilderness of the 'High Forest' region of Sherwood.

The traveller was now entering the gentler 'Thorney Wood' area of the forest.

The King's manor of Arnold nestled to the east of the road beneath the surrounding highland, where the woods of 'Arnold Common Wood', 'Swine Howse' and 'Basforde wode' occupied the clay ridge.

To the west the road was now overlookd by the 3 metre high deer fence of the Royal Park of Bestwood (see Bestwood Park and Trespass in Bestwood Park in 1440 entry for more details).

The arable field of Arnold to the side of Bestwood park was known as 'Parke Field' and this was crossed by the road from north to south.

At its southern end the road forded the Depe Broke (modern Daybrook).

The road then crossed the 'South field' of Arnold before climbing the ridge of sandstone known as 'Brymisdale Knoll' in medieval times, and descending into 'Brymmsdale' to the south.

This area was 'Basforde Lyngges' another vast expanse of heather clad heathland (see there's Vikings in the Heather).

This wasteland was crossed for two miles, but stretched 3 miles wide; as far as the eye could see. It would have been grazed by the flocks of Basforde but also by those of Nottingham.

Having crossed the heath from the northeast to southwest the road turned to the south to climb the Mount Hooton escarpment across 'Nottingham Linges' (modern day Forest Fields). At the top of this ridge (modern day Forest Road) stood the medieval town gallows.

After nearly 15 miles on uneven and un-surfaced roads- the site of the town walls of Nottingham at the foot of the sloping fields of the town- about half a mile to the south would be very welcome.

Here accomodation and ale could be found a-plenty, as well as foods and shopping galore at the weekday and saturday markets.

If the saturday market was being held- then spices, fish, meat and any kind of consumable could be purchased- although care had to be taken that it was fresh (more to come soon).

The traveller had made it across the forest, hopefully with time to find a bed and a table at an alehouse or inn, to exchange stories around the fire place with other travellers, and to prepare plans for the journey across the arduous Midland Clays on the London road to the south.

For now though at least, Sherwood Forest had been safely navigated once more.

Guest Blog entry: Promoting Sherwood Forest

2012-04-27T17:03:00.000+01:00

Guest blogger Dale Twigger the Web/SEO Marketing Officer for Experience Nottinghamshire shares how they promote the world famous Sherwood Forest:

From a tourism perspective, promoting the history of Sherwood Forest is an essential part of enabling visitors to the area to get the most value from their experience.

One of the main things that we try and do on our website is present Sherwood Forest as several major country parks, including Clumber Park, Thoresby Park, Sherwood Forest National Nature Reserve and Sherwood Pines. Whilst the history of Sherwood has meant a fragmented forest in some ways, we are still very fortunate to have such excellent open spaces available to the public.

Many visitors associate Sherwood Forest as the home of Robin Hood too, so it’s important to relate the forest and its ancient history to potential visitors. Recently, we have re-launched the Robin Hood audio trail online, which takes visitors around 15 countywide locations.

On the trail, you’ll obviously find Nottingham Castle and the National Nature Reserve but we also include King John’s Palace in King’s Clipstone as a former royal hunting lodge. The lodge was the recent subject of a Channel 4 Time Team investigation.

On the trail, we also acknowledge some of the woodland areas that add value and enable visitors to get off the beaten track a little. Places like Thieves Wood and Fountaindale are included and reference is also made to Haywood Oaks near Blidworth.

More recent history also plays a part in adding depth to the marketing of Sherwood Forest. The Dukeries area which is a unique area of the estates of English nobility include Thoresby Hall, Clumber Park, Welbeck Abbey, Rufford Abbey and Worksop Manor.

Whilst Worksop Manor no longer exists, we are able to work with the other four estates. In particular, the Welbeck Estate has recently expanded its visitor experience with the addition of the School of Artisan Food and in summer 2012 the No Direction Home Festival will take place in the estate grounds.

All in all, we try to use the history of Sherwood Forest as much as possible to be able to offer depth to the visitor experience. As the forest has fragmented over time, it sometimes can be difficult to present but overall we’re excited about the future.

Nottinghamshire County Council are currently investigating options for a new visitor centre at the National Nature Reserve and remain committed to the long term aim of developing regional park status for the forest. Hopefully the new visitor centre can act as a central reference point for wider Sherwood Forest which takes in the areas I’ve mentioned and more.

If we continue to promote the broader area through our website and social media, and with exciting new developments under consideration, we’re enthusiastic that visitors to the region will be able to engage more with the wonderful depth of offer that Sherwood Forest provides.

Dale Twigger
Web/SEO Marketing Officer
Experience Nottinghamshire

www.experiencenottinghamshire.com

Queen Joan and the keepership of Sherwood Forest

2012-03-20T21:49:00.000Z

Queen Joan was the second wife of Henry IV (1399-1413) of England.

She was born the daughter of Charles II (the bad) of Navarre and Joan of Valois.

Her grandfather was John (the good), King of France (the second King of the house of Valois).

The Hundred Years War which ran from 1337 to 1453, was the dynastic struggle for the throne of France between the English Plantaganet dynasty and the French House of Valois. With both houses claiming the French throne.

Henry IV had seized the throne of England from Richard II in 1399, and married Joan in 1403.

You would think such a link between the royal houses would help to bring about peace- it didnt of course- it never did!

She ruled as Queen of England until her husbands death in 1413.

Her step son Henry V accused and convicted her in 1419 of witchcraft.

Following a four year spell in Pevseney Castle she spent the remainder of her time living in Nottingham Castle.

There she seems to have assumed some of the rights of the Keepership of Sherwood Forest during that time.

Back in the times of Hereditary Keepership, the De Caux and D'Everingham families, based at Laxton Castle, had had a number of rights through their office, which they held from Norman times until 1287 (see Women Keepers of Sherwood Forest entry), when the keepership was lost by Robert Everingham for poaching.

Amongst these right and privileges, was the right of Chiminage - the right to collect taxation from carts travelling through the forest (see Road tax entry).

A record in the Court rolls for Nottingham from 1431 lists an 'Action by Queen Joan for ferm of Chiminage of Sherwood Forest':

'Johanna, Regina Angliae , per Galfridum Kneton, et Robertum Clapam, attornatos sous, queritur de Thoma Bayle, de Notingham, [de placito] debiti vjs. viijd'.

'Joan, Queen of England, by Geoffrey Kneveton, and Robert Clapham her attourneys complains of Thomas Bayle of Nottingham, [of a plea] of debt of 6s 8d'.

She claimed that Thomas Bale took from her the Chiminage of the Forest of Sherwood at the feast of St Martin in the 9th year of Henry V until the same feast a year later- the money should have been repaid by the feast of 'All Hallows' in the 10th year of Henry V, but had not been. This amounted to 6s and 8d...

In fact he refused to pay her it.. and so she brought a claim to the court for the money.

As well as the right of Chiminage, she also seems to have upheld the forest laws regarding the 'hambling of dogs' in the forest (dogs in the forest had to have their claws removed to prevent hunting (see Forest Law page)):

An 'action by Queen Joan for the ferm of the Hambling of Dogs within Sherwood Forest', dated 29 October 1433 was brought before the Nottingham court:

The claim presented that a Thomas Rothewood withheld from Queen Joan and Geoffrey Kneveton the rents from the hambling of dogs within the Forest of Sherwood (pro redditu expeditationis canum infra Forestam de Shyrewode).

It is claimed in the case that Thomas owed 12d for the rent.

Her counterpart in these claims is one Geoffrey Kneveton- who was actually Constable of Nottingham Castle.

The office of Keeper of Sherwood Forest and that of the Constable of Nottingham castle was brought together following the demise of the D'Everingham dynasty's hereditary claim to keepership of the forest (as stated above)...

Perhaps with a member of the royal family also living at the castle alongside the Constable, these roles became blurred, with Queen Joan assuming some of the powers of Keeper of the Forest of Sherwood for herself...

The Butcher, the Bacon and Bestwood: Trespass in Bestwood Park in 1440

2012-03-15T08:52:00.000Z

Bestwood Park was the largest Royal Deer Park in Sherwood Forest - see Bestwood Park entry for more details),

On Janurary 16th 1440, an 'action by Ralph, Lord Cromwell, for breach of Bestwood Park', was brought before the Nottingham Court...

The inquest begins:

'Radulphus, Dominus de Crumwell, myles (Ralph Lord of Cromwell, knight), complains of William Fisher, of Nottingham, butcher, in a plea of trespass against the peace of our lord the present King...

...And whereupon he says, by his attornies William Alwin and John Morton, that the aforesaid William, together with others, on Tursday next after the feast of All Hallows, in the 19th year of the reign of king Henry VI, here at Nottingham, with force and arms, to wit, with a club, drove four hogs (porcos) put and arrested for pannage within the Park of Bestwood out of the park aforesaid, and broke the park aforesaid... to the cost of 20s...'

William presented himself to the court to show he was innocent...

Unfortunately there is no follow up to the case, so it is not certain of the outcome of the trial.

What is strange is that this is not poaching in the normal sense.

These are not the Kings deer, and the butcher was not hunting with a bow.

He went in to the park, broke the park pale (three metre high fence) down, and stole four pigs who were grazing within - using a club.

Clearly Bacon was not easy to come by for his butchers shop at that time...

The pigs were grazing in the park legitimately under the pannage system.

Pannage was a common right for peasants who were allowed to graze their pigs in the woods of the forest when the acorns fell and for a period of time after. This season was decided at the Verderers Court (see Forest Law page for more details) and the numbers of pigs were monitored by Agisters who acted as tax collectors.

This entry shows that with the demise of the Forest Eyre Courts by the time of 1440 (see 1287 Sherwood Forest Eyre Court and 1334 Sherwood Forest Eyre Court entries); how breaches of the forest law were dealt with.

The Keeper of the Forest here brought complaint before the Nottingham Court to gain the money back from the accused, caused by the trespass and damage to the park.

Ralph Cromwell was Keeper of Sherwood Forest and Constable of Nottingham Castle as appointed by King Henry VI in 1437. He held land and a manor house at Lambley- and may also have been the man for whom the Belvoir Map of Sherwood Forest was made (see Oldest map of Medieval Sherwood Forest).

the Melee and Jousting: Tournaments in Medieval Sherwood Forest

2012-03-12T19:17:00.000Z

Picture: The Medieval Melee

In 1194 Richard the Lionheart gave a licence to hold tournaments to five locations in

England

. Interestingly for our story one of those was at Blyth in Nottinghamshire.

In the 12^th century when this royal Licence was granted Blyth was within the Royal Forests of Nottinghamshire.

King Richard had to bring about this act because his father Henry II had made tournaments illegal.

He saw them as a source of disorder.

Bunches of heavily armed testosterone fueled young men running around armed to the teeth was not regarded as a sensible idea by Henry II: desperate to restore order to England after 20 years of civil war.

Unlike his father, King Richard I saw the tournament as the best way to train men for combat.

They rapidly became a method for skilled and ambitious men to become rich and famous, and tournaments were held across the continent.

The original tournaments were based on the melee, where large numbers of knights would fight as individuals or in teams- on horse or on foot.

The fights were not for fun, they were treated like real battles, and combatants who were captured were ransomed

This meant plenty of money could be made by the would be champion.

Perhaps the greatest Knight of his age, William Marshall the later Earl of Pembroke- rose through the ranks at the tournaments to become firstly the tournament captain for Henry II's son (Henry the Young King), then after winning his fortune around the tournament fields of France and England he managed a short spell on crusade in the holy land, became the trusted servant and general of King Richard I and King John, before being made Earl of Pembroke and then the Regent of England for the young Henry III in 1216.

In this role he helped defeat Louis of France who had made claim to the English throne- leading the charge at the 2^nd Battle of Lincoln in 1216 aged in his seventies.

He oversaw the sealing of the Magna Charta in 1215, and then brought into being the separate Chater of the Forest in 1217- that would have a great impact on the boundaries and rules of Medieval Sherwood Forest (more soon).

Quite a life by anyones standards!

He became a Templar Knight on his deathbed and is buried in the Temple Church in London.

It was the opportunity of the tournament field that gave him his start on the road to greatness. It was a road that through Magna Charta, and the subsequent Forest Charter would have a great impact on Medieval Sherwood Forest (more soon- see boundaries page for some information).

Picture: William Marshall in a tournament

These original tournaments became the testing ground for Knights across Europe.

The tournament melee could seem a disorganised affair- but in the hands of such tournament captains’; great skill and ingenuity was employed to bring glory on the field.

Melees were incredibly violent, and injury a likely occurrence- William Marshall’s helmet was so badly dented on one occasion he could not take it off. When they wanted to present him with his prize he was eventually found with his head on the blacksmith’s anvil having the dents beaten out of his helmet by the blacksmiths hammer; so he could remove it!!! (Jones 2007).

In the forests of Nottingham it was at Blyth in these earlier days that these tournaments were held.

Blyth was in the Hatfield District of the Wapentake (Hundred district) of Bassetlaw in North Nottinghamshire.

An expanse of natural heath (Hatfield means heath field), it was an area obviously suited to a royal forest.

Blyth was in the forest by at least 1100, and remained so until 1218.

It may have been in the forest since soon after the conquest, but the boundary at that time is not fully known.

Blyth belonged at Domesday to the great baron Roger De Bully whose land holdings were based on the castle of Tickhill about four miles to the north.

This grouping of lands was therefore known as the ‘Honour of Tickhill’.

These lands defaulted to the crown in 1100 when Roger’s successor Roger Belleme fought on the wrong side during Henry I’s campaign to regain his Norman possessions.

With the honour of Tickhill in crown hands forest law seems to have spread over the area.

The Historic Environment Record (HER) for Nottinghamshire lists ‘Raker Field’ to the south of the village of Styrupp near Blyth as the tournament field- but this is disputed- certainly it would be small- as melee fields could be up to three miles across.

But it is in the right area: in his ‘A History of Nottinghamshire’ Cornelius Brown wrote in 1891:

‘A level tract of land between Blyth and Styrrup was the locality where feats of horsemanship took place, in which the flower of English chivalry sometimes under the personal patronage of royalty itself. We can well imagine the animated scenes that must have occurred at these war-like gatherings... Many allusions are made in the Close Rolls to the Blyth meeting, which continued till the end of the sixteenth century, when popular taste began to change and tournaments became but a reminiscence of the past’.

So it seems that tournaments at Blyth were a common feature throughout the period.

Public tastes did indeed change, and the tournament evolved through the medieval period.

Melees often started with a joust where protagonists would charge at each other in an attempt to unseat the opponent or ‘tilt’ him from his horse. Once this had happened the melee would ensue.

The statute of Arms of Edward I in 1292 brought in the use of blunt weapons in the tournament. By this time jousting had begun to take over in popularity from tournament fighting via the melee.

Picture: Medieval Joust

The joust would take chivalrous spectacle to new levels. It is this method of contest that is the most familiar to us from the medieval tournament.

In 1334 Edward III held a tournament in Nottingham in Sherwood Forest.

Perhaps to tie in with the Forest Eyre court held in that year (see the 1334 Sherwood Forest Eyre Court entry for more details).

No description of the affair survives, but a near contemporary description survives for a joust and tournament, and it sounds like a spectacular affair:

‘When the earls, barons, and a great number of ladies had gathered on the Sunday, January 19, the king gave a solemn feast and the great hall of the castle was filled by the ladies... At this great gathering there were two queens, nine countesses, the wives of barons, knights and citizens, whom they could not easily count... in tents and other places, where food and all other necessities had been prepared; everything was on a generous scale and served unstinting... In the evening dancing and various entertainments were laid on in magnificent fashion. For three days following, the king with nineteen other knights held jousts against all comers; and the king himself, not because of his kingly rank but because of his great exertions and the good fortune that he had during the three days, was held to be the best of the defenders’. Adam of Murimuth 1344 (Munby et al 2008).

This description of tournament comes from Edward III’s Round Table Feast where he founded an 'Order of the Round Table' based on the legends of King Arthur.

This order of the Round Table would be reduced later in his reign into the 'Order of the Garter' which survives to this day.

The joust and the tournament had moved from a training place for young knights in blood thirsty melees to the height of the chivalric ideal.

In Sherwood Forest the tournaments at Blyth and Nottingham were part of this embodiment of knightly virtues.

Alongside the archery training and tournaments that are the stuff of the legends of Robin Hood in Sherwood Forest- the pursuit of the common freeman- (see Archery in the Forest entry for more details) there were also knightly tournaments of both the early melee and later jousting traditions in Sherwood Forest.

As stated above, at Blyth there are accounts of tournaments throughout the medieval period, showing how popular this form of entertainment was to the upper echelons of society in the medieval period, and how it formed a colourful and glamorous part of the story of Medieval Sherwood Forest.

(more to come on chivalry, knighthood and military service, as well as knightly outlaws in the medieval forest)

Bestwood Park

2012-02-27T21:45:00.003Z

Bestwood Park was the largest of the royal deer parks of medieval Sherwood Forest.

It was enclosed as a deer park some 200 years after the other parks of Sherwood in 1349 (see Nottingham Castle Park, King John’s Palace, Royal Parks, and Poaching in Clipstone Park entries for more details).

‘On 30^th May that year Robert de Mauley, the chief forester of Sherwood, was ordered to cut down all the wood in Linby Hay and sell it for the King’s use, and to use the money raised from the sale to enclose Beskwood (Bestwood). The work had been completed by 1357’ (Crook 2002).

Before this time it was known as the Hay (hedged wood) of Bestwood.

Enclosing this park- to surround it with a 3 metre high deer-proof fence would have been no mean feat.

The park stretched from current day Arnold Road in the south (approximately 2½ miles north of the medieval town walls of Nottingham) almost to the village of Papplewick some 4½ miles to the north of that.

It was 2 miles wide at the middle stretching from the town of Bulwell in the west to the Manor of Arnold on the eastern side.

The perimeter fence stretched 9 miles around- the number of trees (and people) required to make such a fence must have been incredible.

It would certainly have been impressive and would certainly have made no understatement that access was not welcome.

The park enclosed an area of largely wooded higher ground cut by a number of dales and valleys.

The outline can still be traced in the modern landscape.

In Medieval times it was bounded to east and west by the two great roads running north from Nottingham. The road to the crown manor of Mansfield marked the western side of the park, passing Newstead Priory just to the north, and the King’s Highway to York on the east.

A journey up either of these roads would have led the traveller along side the fence of the park for a number of miles.

To the north, the park was defined not only by a 3 metre high fence, but also by a stream which emerged from a spring to the north of the Red Hill road cutting (called ‘Rederode’ (Red road) in a 1334 boundary perambulation- a recounting of the boundary).

This stream ran around the northern edge of the park to join the River Leen on the western side of the park, which then flowed south to the River Trent.

The River Leen was the western boundary of Sherwood Forest from the 13^th Century.

On the northern edge of the park this stream was dammed to form a lake perhaps for fish and for deer to drink from. It is depicted on the 1609 Crown Survey Map of Sherwood Forest by Richard Bankes (Mastoris and Groves 1998).

This map calls the park ‘Bescott Park’ and lists it as a part of Lenton parish, Bestwood was first mentioned in the records in a grant to Lenton Priory by Henry I in the Lenton Register (Crook 2002).

A second pond is shown in the western part of the park on the 1609 map, along with a ‘Waterfall Yate' (gate) a crossing point of the Leen.

The Perambulation mentioned above dating from the 1334 Forest Eyre calls Bestwood ‘Hayea de Beskewode’ (Boulton 1964) and also mentions a 'Waltongate' – presumably an entrance into the park, and a 'Beskwodeforthe' (ford) presumably crossing one of the streams or rivers.

The 1609 survey shows the park to be mainly open pasture dotted with presumably large pollarded oak trees, along with a number of enclosed woods on the eastern edge.

This could reflect the medieval landscape of the park, but it is likely that many of the trees had been removed by this time.

A picture of the landscape of the park can be gained from the oldest surviving map of Sherwood Forest (the Belvoir map) which is dated to the late 13^th or early 14^th century (Barley 1986).

This map lists a number of landscape features including ‘Holy Stone seke’ (stream) the name for the stream running around the northern edge of the park, ‘Ye Waterfall’ (by the waterfall gate), and a Walton Gate’ the locations of which are confirmed by the later 1609 map depictions.

The hilly topography is shown by the presence of a ‘Kyngg’us hoc hill’ (King’s Oak Hill), ‘Syre hill’, 'ye kosckshote hil’ (cock shoot hill) and ‘Beskwode hede’.

This higher ground is cut by a number of valleys including ‘Marke holyndale’, a ‘paddock dale’, a 'Woldale' and ‘Rydale’.

As well as these valleys an ‘Apultre (Apple tree) Dale ', and a ‘Ye Elder Tree Dale’ suggest that like the Nottingham Castle Park, Bestwood Park provided more than just deer.

This multiple land use is backed up by the presence of 'ye Medow' (meadow) on the eastern side of the park).

Deer lawns were also present in the park as at Clipstone with 'ye lawnde noke' being shown in the north of the park.

The care of this landscape was the responsibility of the ‘keeper of the forest of Bestwood’ who oversaw control of this park from a lodge named ‘loge’ on this medieval map.

In 1284 Gervaise de Clifton Sheriff of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire was permitted 10 marks for the building of this lodge for the King, and in 1286 he was ordered to pay Robert de Tybotot ‘keeper of the forest of Bestwood’ 10 marks (Crook 2002) to complete the job.

The park of Bestwood may have been enclosed as it was in 1349 to improve deer management in the southern part of the forest, following the reduction in the size of Sherwood Forest in the 13^th century (see Boundaries page for more details).

Whatever the reason for the emparkment, Bestwood became the largest park in Sherwood Forest and largely replaced Clipstone Park in the north of the forest in the 14^th century in terms of royal patronage.

The strategic location of Bestwood between the two great roads through the forest, in close proximity to Nottingham, with its lodge occupying a vantage point commanding views all the way to Leicestershire to the south; made it a great location for a royal stay.

It was from this very park that Richard III would set out on his fateful journey to the battlefield of Bosworth in 1485, which would bring an end to the medieval Plantaganet dynasty and bring around the Tudor-Stuart dynasty of the 16^th and 17^th centuries...

... But that is another story...

(see the Landscape page for more details; including work on reconstructing the landscape of medieval Sherwood Forest through mapping and documentary research).

(more stories concerning Bestwood Park from entries in the court rolls of Nottingham and of Sherwood Forest coming soon).

the Caves of Medieval Sherwood Forest

2012-02-18T15:49:00.003Z

Medieval Sherwood Forest was a landscape of woodland, heathland, towns and villages.

It was an ideal location for a Royal Forest because it was underlain for the most part by sandstone bedrock (see why Sherwood Page for more details on the location of Sherwood).

There were other rocks underlying the forest including the Magnesian Limestones group and the Mercia Mustones. But the forest sat predominantly on the group of sandstones laid down in the Triassic Period 250-200 million years ago.

Picture: Sherwood Sandstones under Nottingham Castle

They were formed as flash-flood deposits in desert basins, with pebble-beds of quartzite stones and flakes concerntrated into thin layers of conglomerates reflecting these storm events. Depostional layers are clearly seen, as is the direction of deposition. They were originally known as the ‘Bunter Pebble Beds’ because of these horizons in the rock.

They were however renamed the ‘Sherwood Sandstones’ because of their link to the medieval forest.

The sandstones were highly permeable, resulting in leaching of nutrients from the over lying soils. The result was that this landscape was less suitable for arable in the medieval period, than the surrounding geologies and so maintined a relatively higher amount of woodland and lowland heath (see why Sherwood page)

Ideal for deer and hunting.

Another property of the Sherwood Sandstones was that they could be dug into using handtools. The sandstone were relatively week and friable (easily scraped away) but thanks to a clay cement they could be shaped into self-supporting caves, with stabe roof spans.

As a result Nottingham, but also to a lesser extent Mansfield (rock houses) had an incredible array of rock-cut caves used for domestic and commercial purposes in the medieval period.

Some of the caves of Nottingham and their use in the medieval period will be discussed here. There are many many caves in Nottingham- infact more than in any other town in the country, but many date to later times (see the City of Caves Exhibition) and these have been excavated by, and are currently under excavation by the Nottingham Historical and Archaeological Society.

In Medieval times there were many caves in Nottingham- almost all of them were located within the limits of the medieval town- between the castle in the west and the later Lace Market area in the east, and the 'Backside' (currenty day Upper Parliament Street) in the north and the cliff face near Broad Marsh in the south.

Picture: John Sppeds Map of Nottingham 1610

Further south of this the rock was beneath the water-table and saturated.

Many of the caves that may have existed in medieval times have either been re-worked in later times or removed as the cliff face became unstable and was cut back. There are some however that survive to this day to gives us an insight into subterranean life in medieval Nottingham.

Contratary to popular legend and myth the caves did not form tunnels down which Robin Hood avoided capture by the Sheriff of Nottingham- but their history is no less interesting for that.

They generally formed cellars under buildings- with a variety of forms.

Brewing was a large industry during medieval times and some of the surviving caves are Maltkilns, where spherical rooms were carved into the sandstone with either a continuous ledge around the edge or notches cut to support beams to hold the grain which was roasted from charcoal fires beneath (Waltham 2008).

Booze and boozing has always been popular in England and it was no different in medieval Sherwood Forest where as well as a legitimate brewing industry, demand must have out-stirpped supply, as a large number of people are recorded as ‘brewing against the assize’ (either selling over price or without licence) in the Micketorn Jury Presentments for the 14th century.

Another major industry in Sherwood Forest was tanning (turning raw animal hide into leather). The oak bark from the forest provided a perfect ingredient for the process- as did the urine from the town folk of nottingham and other odure used in the process.

A number of tanners are listed in the Nottingham Borough records and other sources, including a Willelmo le Tanur (William the Tanner) from 1222-23 in the Rufford Charters (see Rufford Charters: landscape, people, trades and lives in Sherwood Forest entry for more details).

Evidence of the use of oak bark in the industry is still preserved in the name ‘Barker Gate’ a street in the later Lace Market area of the old town- the old English Quarter (see Medieval Nottingham entry).

In the presentments of the Mickeltorn Jury for 1395 it is claimed that:

‘the tanners (tannarii) of Nottingham sell leather not well tanned, and that each of them sells leather in his house without the view of the market or being placed in the market for sale.’

The tannery caves of Nottingham were located to the southern side of town and were cut into the base of the cliff.

Picture: Nottingham Tannery Cave - City of Caves Exhibition.

The process used vats cut into the bedrock to allow fluids for different parts of the process to be held.

They are the only underground tanneries in Britain and must have stunk to high heaven!

In the 1395 Mickeltorn Jury presentments it is later stated that the ‘tanners dwelling in Lttlemerche (Littlemarsh) of Nottingham on the southern side block up the common water which is called Lene with stakes, poles and turves in time, and lay their leather in the aforesaid water'.

Tanners along with dyers and fullers were commonly in trouble with this court as the people of Nottingham complained about the smells and ‘odure’ associated with their trades.

This realtionship, however uneasy, had a long history and was also in existence in the 13^th century and earlier:

One of the tannery caves contained a cess pit in the tannery floor which contained pottery from 1270-1300 (Waltham 2008).

Caves were also used as dwelling places, possibly around the base of Castle Rock, and on the main holloway road ways into the town (Derby Road and Hollowstone)- unfortunately any medieval caves along these roads are now destroyed- later ones however still line the sides of Hollowstone which was the main thoroughfare into the town from the south in medieval times.

Maybe one of these caves provided shelter for William Leech and Thomas Kay who ‘unjustly occupied the King’s Highway under the cemetery of the Church of the Blessed Mary’ in 1395.

Cellars were used for the storage of wool and other commodities (Waltham 2008) a number of occurrences of these being left open to the road are recorded including a William Dalahowe who ‘holds a cellar open at the corner towards mothalgate (moot hall gate) to the serious detriment of the town' also in 1395.

Alongside these caves that were part of the everyday life of the townscape of Nottingham there were a number of larger caves in the rock under Nottingham Castle that were involved in events of national importance.

Nottingham Castle sits atop a steep sided sandstone bluff overlooking the town and dominating the river valleys to the south and west (see Medieval Nottingham Castle entry).

One of the most famous caves cut within the rock is known as 'King Davids Dungeon' and may have held King David II of Scotland in the 14^th century.

The most famous cave in Nottingham is Mortimers Hole- a tunnel which provides access to the castle from the brewerys and mills on the south side of the base of the cliffs, up to the castle bailey above. It enters the rock to the west of 'Ye Olde Trip to jeruslam Pub' which has rock-cut cave rooms inside, and claims to be the oldest pub in England.

It was through this tunnel that Edward III’s men broke into Nottingham Castle in 1334 and captured the usurper Roger Mortimer- who with his lover Queen Isabella (wife of Edward II) had seized the throne in 1327. Edward II had supposedly died with a red hot poker up his 'rear-end' in Berkeley Castle, and now Edward III retook the throne for himself via this tunnel.

All in Nottingham Castle in medieval Sherwood Forest.

This tunnel and many of the caves still in existence have been recorded as part of a fantastic project: the 'Nottingham Caves Survey' ran by Dr David Strange-Walker and Julia Clarke for Trent and Peak Archaeology.

This survey is mapping the caves of Nottingham using the latest 3D laser scanning technology, and the result can be seen at The Nottingham Caves Survey website.

Picture: Mortimers Hole - from Nottingham Caves Survey website.

The caves of Nottingham then, were an intrinsic part of day to day life in the heart of medieval Sherwood Forest, and as well as giving us a glipmse into how people lived their lives they also sometimes played their part in the lives of the great and good, and on the lives of the people of medieval England as a whole.

The caves of Nottingham, are one of the lesser known secrets of Nottingham and Sherwood Forest, and hopefully with these new archaeological projects and potential redevelopment as a bigger tourist attraction their history will become known to a wider audience.

1287 Sherwood Forest Eyre Court

2012-02-11T12:35:00.002Z

The 1287 Sherwood Forest Eyre Court took place on the morning of the feast of St Hilary (January 13^th)in Nottingham.

Pleas of the Forest were heard before Sirs William De Vescy, Thomas de Normanvillle, and Richard de Creeping- Justices in Eyre of the Lord King for pleas in Sherwood Forest.

They were also heard before the Verders (viridarios) (see Forest Law page) of the Forest:

Richard de Jort, William of Colwick, John of Annesley, Henry of Tinsley, William of Bevercotes and Ralph the Clerk of Mansfield (clericum de Mammesfeld).

And Foresters (forestarios):

Robert D’Everingham forester in fee (forestarium feodi)- Keeper of the Forest, and under him Richard of Coningeston, his attourney, Robert the Tailor, Hugh Flambard, William the fisher (Willelmum Piscarium), Willialm of Durham, Adam of York (Ebor- from Latin Eboracum – York), Robert de Strelley, William be Blakeburn, the sworn foresters of Robert D’Everingham.

Walter of Winkburn the attourney of the justice of the forest , and under him William of Hastings, William de Sheffield (Schaffeud), William the Welshman (Waleys), Robert of Linby, Bate of Linby, Hugh of Mansfield and Henry son of Richard of Clipstone.

The court opened and heard a number of cases of trespass against the venison- poaching deer: these can be seen in Forest Law Outlaws and Poaching in Clipstone Park in 1279 entries.

The court then proceeded to set out the following points:

1. The Verderers of Sherwood are to hold their court every 40 days into the small infringments against the vert (cutting down trees) and small pleas – as stated int the Charter of the Forest

(the great charter of Magna Carta was first signed in 1215, it was followed by a seperate Charter of the Forest in 1217 - more soon). They were to present their findings on two court rolls to the Eyre- one for Vert and one for venison (see Forest Law page).

Picture: the 1217 Charter of the Forest

It seem the Justices in Eyre and the King believed that the local justices (verderers) were failing in their duties in upholding Forest Law.

2. All the demense woods of the lord king (bosci domini regis - woods owned by the crown) and his enclosures and parks (haye et parci) were to be guarded as to the vert, that if anyone who lives in the forest is found felling a green oak he is to be forced to attend the said verderers court and there provide enough pledges till the next forest eyre (a person had to find somebody who could guarantee that they would attend by pledging money if they didn’t – that person would then force the attedance of the accused if necesssary to guarantee their presence).

His Mainour (that which he stole) is to be appraised by the foresters and verders and he is to pay the amount it was worth to the verderers.

If a person is caught a second time trespassing against the vert- the same will happen.

If a person is caught a third time they will be locked up safely in the prison of the lord King at Nottingham until they can be brought before the justices in Eyre.

Being locked up was no relaxing time- medieval prisons were harsh places with no food provided (a person relied on food brought from outside) and very poor sanitation- well often no sanitation.

The forest Eyres were not exactly regular so a wait at his majesty’s pleasure was not exactly pleasurable- and you could be in for a long wait!!

This may seem bad enough- but at least if you lived in the forest you had three strikes before you were sent to gaol.

It was different for those living outside:

3. Anyone dwelling outside the forest caught felling trees in the demense woods of the lord King also had to pay the amount it was deemed to be worth
His body was then to be submitted to prison (corpus suum committatur prisone) until he can be brought before the justices of the forest.

Strike one- Prison.

If he is found a second time then the same will happen.

If he is found trespassing against the vert for a third time he is to lose his horses with his cart, or his oxen with his waggon, or their price; and that price must be paid in full at the next verderers court or to the neighbouring township for the use of the lord king , so that the verderer or his heirs or the township may answer therefore to the lord king before the justices in Eyre.

Presumbaly losing a horse and cart or an oxen and wagon was almost terminal for your average medieval peasant!

4. If a person who lived in the forest was found taking small sapplings below the value of four pence they were to be tried before the verderes- over four pence they were to be sent to the forest Eyre.

This entry lists ‘cutting saplings, branches or dry wood from oaks or hazels or thorns or a lime or an alder or a holly or such like trees...’

There are not many references to the types of trees available to peasants on the ground in the forest- different woods burn at different intensities either slow or fast and would be needed for different kinds of cooking and heating, they also had different properties for building houses and hedges- this gives us a glimpse of some of the trees and sapplings being used, and we can begin to think about their uses for the medieval peasant.

Entries 5 and 7 discuss the fines for escaping beasts of the plough (escapia aueriorium) which ended up in the woods of the king causing damage there.

Entry 6 states that ‘it is provided that no man in the future carry bows and arrows (arcus vel sagittas) in the forest outside the king’s highway, unless he is a sworn forester (forestarius iuratus).

The remaining entries list responsibilities of the regarders (those who check the boundaries) and foresters with regard to trespass in wood not belonging to the crown.

The forest Eyre of 1287 then, gives us a great insight into the adminsitration of Sherwood Forest and the application of Forest Law and its impact on the lives of the people in and around Medieval Sherwood Forest.

(For more informtion on the Forest Law see Forest Laws Page and 1334 Sherwood Forest Eyre Court entry).

Pleas taken from: Turner G.J., 1901. Select Pleas of the Forest. Seldon Society.

the Archbishop of York and Sherwood Forest

2012-02-01T11:02:00.000Z

During the medieval period the religious life of Nottinghamshire and Sherwood Forest was influenced by the many religious houses and churches, spread throughout the landscape.

Picture: Southwell Minster

The church was intrinsic to everyday life, its festivals and feast days followed the seasons of the year, its saint days were used to document the meetings of the courts and administration of the land, and the church protected and legitimised the role of the monarchy itself.

The church in England was until the reformation of the 16^th century part of the great Catholic Church under the control of the papacy in Rome.

The leader of the church in medieval England was the Archbishop of Canterbury, who held the office of St Augustine, since the 6^th century.

In the north of England however it was the Archbishop of York who held sway over the lives and souls of the people.

In Nottinghamshire the Archbishop held a great amount of power both spiritually and temporally.

In Domesday he is listed as having full jurisdiction and market rights and the King’s customary dues of two pence over his manors.

The Archbishop is the fifth landowner listed in Domesday for Nottinghamshire behind the King and a small number of Counts and Earls.

The Domesday Posessions of the Archbishop include the Manors of Cropwell (Bishop), Laneham, South Muskham, Blidworth, Oxton, Norwell and Sutton with its outliers of Lound and Srooby, and in the great Manor of Southwell in central Nottinghamshire. The Archbishop also held land in other places including Woodborough (Morris 1977).

Blidworth and Woodborough were both within the boundaries of Sherwood Forest.

The rest of the Archbishops properties were outside the 13^th century boundary of Sherwood Forest, but the Archbishop was subject to forest law in many of his lands. His influence may even have affected the forest boundaries over time.

Sutton, Scrooby and Lound in north Nottinghamshire were granted by charter to the Archbishop, then called Oskytell, by King Edgar of England in the year 958 (Davies T.GT. 1983).

Interestingly this charter mentions a ‘scirwuda’ (shire wood) as part of the boundary perambulation of the estate. This is often cited as the earliest reference to Sherwood Forest, but sadly it cannot be directly linked to the Forest of Sherwood, due to its location, and a separation of nearly 300 years in the use of the name.

Scrooby was also incidentally later the home of William Brewster a leader of the Pilgrim Fathers who sailed to America on the Mayflower.

In a charter in 956 two years before Sutton, Lound and Scrooby were granted to the Archbishop Oskytell, King Edgar's brother the preceeding King Eadwig had granted the Manor of Southwell to the Archbishop.

Southwell became the heart of the Archbishop’s power in the county.

With all its outliers the Manor of Southwell became an incredibly well defined area of power belonging to the Archbishop .

At the centre of this estate was the Minster church of Southwell.

Southwell Minster operated as a collegiate of secular canons.

This was effectively a collection of religious brothers similar to a monastery- the term secular means they were not tied to one of the religious orders of the day.

Each of these canons provided religious service to surrounding communities known as ‘Prebeneds’ in exchange for land and money.

By the 1290’s Southwell had acquired 16 Prebends in the surrounding area some of them in lands they had possessed since Domesday and some aquired overtime.

These were at The Sacrists' prebend, Normanton, Woodborough, North Muskham,South Muskham, Dunham, Beckingham, Halloughton, Rampton, Eaton, and North Leverton, three Prebends at Norwell, and two at Oxton (Page 1910 Victoria County History).

The dominion and jurisdiction the Archbishop had over the lands around Southwell resulted in it being known as the ‘Southwell Peculiar’.

The above is a short introduction to the relationship of the Archbishopric to the land and people of Nottinghamshire.

So what does this all have to do with Sherwood Forest?

The Archbishop of York held the manor of Blidworth, and the Prebend of Woodborough, both in Sherwood Forest as defined by the 13^th century perambulations.

At Blidworth he was confirmed in an inquisition of 1155/6 as having the right to ‘hunt in his wood of Blidworth for nine days a year, three each at Christmas, Easter and Pentecost. There he, his canons and his men had all their easements without waste, their own foresters, honey, eyries of sparrowhawks and hawks and pannage’ (Crook 1994).

Also as a leader of the church his lands were protected with regard to trespass against the forest law by threat of excommunication (see Mutilation and Damnation entry)

In 1300 the forest boundary was perambulated at the order of Edward I. The boundary was altered to allow the Archbishops wood at Blidworth to be exempt from the forest law (Boulton 1964). This wood was known as ‘ye Bischopes Wode’ in the 1400’s, and sat at the northern boundary of Blidworth against the lordship of the Abbots of Rufford (see A journey through Sherwood Forest: Newstead Priory to King John's Palace).

The remainder of the Archbishop’s lands were outside the boundary of Sherwood Forest at this time.

There were however many issues regarding the Archbishop and the forest.

An inquest in 1155/6 at the start of the reign of Henry II (1154-1189) into the rights of the Archbishop of York in relation to the forest law in Nottinghamshire in the reign of his grandfather Henry I (1100-1135) gives us our earliest known boundary of the forest in Nottinghamshire (see Oldest known boundary entry).

This ‘Old Forest’ as the inquest calls it, in the time of Henry I, stretched all the way up the western half of the county. The documents refer to this forest as the 'Forest of Nottingham'.

The Archbishop’s lands were exempt from the forest law to the east of this line in the time of Henry I because they were outside of the forest.

In the reign of Henry I’s grandson, Henry II (1154-1189), and his sons, Richard I (1189-1199) and King John (1199-1216) all of Nottinghamshire north and west of the Trent was subject to forest law.

This meant that all of the Archbishop’s lands in the area to the east of the 'old forest' were subject to forest law.

As forest law gradually engulfed all of Nottinghamshire north and west of the Trent during the reign Henry II, Richard I and John, the area to the east of the Forest of Nottingham came under forest law. This area seems to have gone by the name ‘Forest of Clay’

The boundary between the two forests was defined by the boundary of the ‘Old Forest’ of Henry I, and reflects mainly the geology and soils of the region (see Forest of Clay entry). But effectively the crown administered this huge area as one forest.

The crown enforced forest law in the Forest of Clay as it did in the Forest of Nottingham throughout the later 12^th and early 13^th century:

In 1167 the Canons of Southwell and the collegiate church were fined by Henry II ‘the men of Norwell “of the part of Master Viacrius’ paid half a mark as a result of the forest Eyre of Alain de Neville”’ (Crook 1994)

This seems to relate to one of the Prebends of Southwell in Norwell in the Forest of Clay.

In 1185 Vicarius was ‘charged with 40s for waste of his wood and trespass against the assize, in the forest eyre of Geoffrey Fitzpeter’ (ibid.) along with Andrew the canon charged 100s, Geoffrey the canon 2 marks, and Master Gilbert 2 marks- most likely all canons of Southwell.

‘Two years later, in another Eyre by Geoffrey Fitzpeter, Andrew canon of Southwell was amerced the enormous sum of 40 marks for receiving venison and removing it contrary to the assize. At the same time Master Vicarius was again charged with 2 marks for trespass against the assize, canons Gilbert and Laurence 40s each for the same offence and for default…

...it was probably the 1187 forest eyre which led Hugh of Avalon, the saintly bishop of Lincoln to excommunicate Geoffrey Fitzpeter for enforcing the forest law’ against the Archbishops men (Crook 1994).

In the time of Richard I (1189-99) it seemed that things had got better for the Archbishop, when in 1189 Richard granted the Archbishop ‘disaforestment of all the lands of the church of York in Nottinghamshire, both those held in demesne and those in the prebends. They were quit of all wastes and assarts and pleas of the forest, and of the regard, and no forester or other bailiff was to interfere with them’ (Crook 1994).

However the archbishop's men still got fined or bought their way out of fines in 1198 and 1209 at the forest eyres, suggesting that the charter of Richard meant little.

The fact that they were being directly fined for forest infringements suggests that royal forest law applied over all of Nottinghamshire north and West of the Trent, and the Archbishops land at Southwell in the Forest of Clay.

When King John was in control of Nottinghamshire as Count of Mortain between 1189 and 1194 he confirmed that Maud de Caux was keeper of the Forests of Nottingham and Derbyshire (see Women Keepers of Sherwood Forest).

In 1222 Maud de Caux was referred to as the keeper of the Forests of Nottingham and of Clay’ (Crook 1979).

Also Brian De Lisle as Chief Justice of the Forest was ordered to allow Walter de Evermue to take timber from Clay as well as Sherwood to repair his houses (ibid).

This suggest that the crown continued to have jurisdiction over the Forest of Clay into the 13^th century, possibly up until the boundaries of the forest were finally agreed in 1227.

The crown seems then to have maintained control over the forest of Clay in the reigns of Henry II, Richard I and John up until 1227 in the reign of Henry III, with the Archbishop’s men being some of the victims of this policy.

The boundaries of the Sherwood Forest were reduced following Magna Carta and the subsequent Forest Charter.

This new area removed the Forest of Clay from the equation, as the forest retreated into an area that may or may not have been the original forest (see Castles and Sherwood Forest entry), which may have fallen within the jurisdiction of Nottingham Castle.

This meant that the problems the Archbishop of York had had regarding the forest had been finally resolved.

As previously stated the condition improved further when the boundary was altered by Edward I in 1300 to allow his forest at Blidworth to be exempt too.

It could be that the area of jurisdiction that the Archbishop of York had around Southwell was one of the reasons for the strange shape of Sherwood Forest from the 13^th century when it retreated into a boundary from an earlier time.

Perhaps the Doverbeck River provided a natural boundary between the jurisdiction of the castle of Nottingham (and therefore the original boundary of the forest) and the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of York to the east of it.

It is not possible to know for sure if this was the case, with the evidence known at the moment.

But it is clear that the Archbishop of York was an important figure in the lives of the people of the time, and that he held significant authority in the county. It is clear that the Archbishops' faced the authority of the forest law as did everyone else- often despite their exemptions from it. It seems that over time they eventually managed to remove the majority of their lands from under forest law, and it is also possible that their influence even helped shape the original boundary of Medieval Sherwood Forest.

(More on Bishops, Archbishops the church and everyday life and the church and the forest law soon).

Priests behaving badly in Medieval Sherwood Forest

2012-01-23T21:28:00.002Z

Medieval society was a highly religious place.

In people’s minds the spiritual and the natural world were intertwined. Evil was all around, and battle had to be done to protect people from malignant forces that surrounded on all sides.

This battle was undertaken by an army of spiritual warriors who prayed and worshiped between them around the clock for the souls of both the living and the dead.

Priests, monks, friars, priors, chaplains, warrior monks, Hospitallers, nuns, vicars, chantrists, Bishops and Abbots took this fight for salvation to the enemy, and protected their flocks.

Their abbeys, priories, churches, chantries, perceptories, chapels and roadside shrines dotted the landscape of Medieval Sherwood Forest in the towns and villages, and in the remote areas of the great heaths and woods (see the Monks and Friars of Sherwood Forest entry).

In modern times a life in the cloth is seen as a calling- a spiritual choice based on faith. In medieval times where all the world was religious and had faith, it was a career choice taken by many younger sons of the local gentry; by clerics wishing to rise through the ranks; and by great men of the realm becoming Abbots and Bishops and wielding incredible power and attaining immense wealth.

Many of those who joined the church probably lived quiet lives dutifully tending to their flock and the needs of their parishioners...

But such quiet lives rarely raise enough of an eyebrow to warrant recording... but for every quiet and dutiful man of the cloth there was a ‘priest behaving badly’ to provide us with a rich story of life in medieval times... the religious men of Medieval Sherwood Forest were no different...

The religious houses of Sherwood Forest provide us with many tales of misdemeanour:

Monks were often found wandering away from their houses, such as at Newstead (see Gadding aboutin the Forest entry) and Lenton where in 1350 Prior Peter requested Civil assistance to ‘prevent three apostate monks of Lenton walking abroad in secular dress’ (Marcombe and Hamilton 1998)...

Worse still Prior Gilbert de Ponteburgh of Thurgarton Priory just outside the forest was accused of adultery with two local women in 1284, a few months later Alexander de Gedling was in trouble for swearing during a meeting of the chapter and in 1290 Walter de Bingham assaulted a John de Sutton in church and was excommunicated!

At Newstead Priory in Sherwood a Roger of the Cellar and a Geoffrey of the kitchen were dismissed as being a nuisance to the monastery, and evidence suggests drinking and wandering outside the cloister was common...

... In 1307 the prior was accused of ‘incontinence with one woman and of relapsing into incontinence with another’ (Marcombe and Hamilton 1998)...

Vicars, priests and monks were often known felons and members of notorious gangs who committed kidnap and extortion as well as vandalism and robbery (see Medieval Outlaws: the Folville Gang entry for more details).

In Nottingham the Friars of the town provide us with a few incidents of note:

In 1402 the warden of the Franciscans was arrested in Leicester on a charge of sedition and in 1500 warden William Bell was charged with incontinence as a pimp!! (Marcombe and Hamilton 1998).

It should be noted that the some of the clergy had a bad record of frequenting houses of Ill-repute. In London the Brothels called ‘stews’ in medieval times were controlled by the Bishop of Winchester, where the women were known as the ‘Winchester Geese’.

In Nottingham there was probably a brothel, with a vacant plot of land called ‘Parodyse’ situated in ‘Whore Lane’ in 1391 (Foulds 2006)... subtle...

Maybe the Warden of the Grey Friars was involved somewhere nearby...

In 1398 an action was brought before the borough court of Nottingham against a Chaplain for misbehaviour with a parishioner’s wife:

John de Bilby made a complaint against Roger de Mampton, chaplain on a plea of trespass:

While John was at Ratcliff (Radcliffe-on-Trent) attending his affairs, Roger ‘broke his close and entered his chamber on ‘Brydilsmythgate’’ (Modern Bridlesmith Gate), Nottingham, and ‘was found under a curtain of the bed’.

John warned Roger not to be found by him ‘with his wife, nor in his house in any manner’ again...

Roger promised not to... however:

Sometime later Roger ‘came by night to the house of the aforesaid John in ‘Stonestrete’ ‘(they must have moved to Stoney Street- maybe to get away from the vicar?!)...’and here broke the wall... and leaped over it to the houses of the aforesaid John de Bilby where his secret places were, which he entered with the wife of the aforesaid John and was there with the wife of the aforesaid John for a long time, without the permission and consent of the aforesaid John, and so was there continually for a whole year after the aforesaid warning’...

Apparently Roger the Chaplain and Johns wife damaged two pairs of sheets, a table cloth, towels and one brass pot during their times in the ‘secret places’...

Well I never...

When brought before the court Roger the Chaplain pleaded that he was carrying out his duty ‘as is the custom with the parochial clergy to go through their parish with the holy water’...

He was administering Holy water!

That’s one way of putting it.

Such stories remind us that the medieval world was a colourful place.

They come down to us through the records and enrich our understandings of the lives of the people who reside in those documents. It is often the bad stories that outshine the good... but we all love gossip, and the medieval records provide plenty of it...

Many lay people’s lives are also recorded and will be discussed soon.

They include forestalling and black-market dealings, robberies, fist-fights, scolds, cuckolds, hangings and banishings...

It is worth remembering that such things will always be found in court records, and should not be taken to reflect the activities of everyone in medieval life. They do however offer us a chance to view a world full of humanity and strife- not to dissimilar to our own...

(more from the Borough Court Rolls of Nottingham, Inquisitions Post Mortem and the Manorial Court Rolls from the villages of medieval Sherwood Forest coming soon)...