Forests of Mara and Mondrem
Encyclopedia
The Forests of Mara and Mondrem were adjacent medieval
forests in Cheshire
, England, which in the 11th century extended to over 60 square miles (155.4 km²), stretching from the Mersey
in the north almost to Nantwich
in the south, and from the Gowy
in the west to the Weaver
in the east. Mara and Mondrem were a hunting forest
of the Norman
Earls of Chester
, established soon after 1071 by the first earl, Hugh d'Avranches
. They might earlier have been an Anglo-Saxon
hunting forest. Game included wild boar, and red
, fallow
and roe deer
.
After the earldom lapsed in 1237, the forest rights passed to the Crown, with the monarch's heir being given the title of Earl of Chester. Edward I
and James I
both hunted in the forests. Clearance for agricultural use began to be permitted after 1215, and by the mid-14th century, large areas of the Forest of Mondrem had been cleared. Deer hunting still continued within the remaining forest in the 17th century, and the forest was not formally disafforested, or removed from forest law, until 1812. The modern Delamere Forest
is the remnant of the medieval forests, but little ancient woodland
survives.
in the north to a few miles north of Nantwich
in the south, and from the Gowy
in the west to the Weaver
in the east. The total extent was over 60 square miles (155.4 km²). An undated document quoted by Ormerod
lists 62 townships and villages within the two forests (although several of these places were exempt from forest law); as the document mentions Vale Royal Abbey
, this must refer to some time between the abbey's foundation in 1277 and its dissolution in 1536.
The precise boundary between the two adjacent forests is uncertain, but the Forest of Mara probably extended from the Mersey to the south of the area now known as Delamere Forest
, while the Forest of Mondrem occupied the area between Delamere and Nantwich. The boundary might have coincided with a road known as "Peytevinisti" or "Peytefynsty", which also defined the limit of the grazing rights of Vale Royal Abbey; this is believed to have run from Weaverham
in the north through Cuddington to Tarporley
in the south.
of the Earls of Chester
, the others being the Forests of Macclesfield
and Wirral. It was created by Hugh d'Avranches
, a keen huntsman, soon after he became Earl of Chester in 1071, although the area might have been an Anglo-Saxon
hunting forest before the Norman Conquest. "Forest", in this context, means an area outside the common law and subject to forest law; it does not imply that the area was entirely wooded, and the land remained largely in private ownership. The forest boundary was marked with "irremovable marks, meres and boundaries", and the entire area also appears to have been enclosed. Game was hunted with dogs and included wild boar, and red
, fallow
and roe deer
.
The original woodland was mixed, predominantly oak
, but also including elm
, lime
, yew
, chestnut
, fir
, larch
, beech
, ash, silver birch, hazel
, willow
and alder
. The forest area also encompassed heath
and wetland
, as well as pasture, arable land and even small settlements. Agriculture was, however, allowed within the forest boundaries only under severe restrictions; assarting
, or enclosing and clearing new land for agriculture, was completely prohibited until 1215–16.
During the early Norman period, the penalties for killing game were blinding, mutilation or execution. These savage punishments were gradually replaced by huge fines, and in 1215, the Magna Carta
reduced the maximum penalty for breaking forest law nationally to fines or imprisonment. Ranulf de Blondeville, the 6th Earl, issued a charter in 1215–16 which granted a more humane legal code for the Cheshire hunting forests.
This charter also, for the first time, conceded to the barons and their knights and freeholders the "right to assart their lands within the arable area of the forest and to grow crops on land formerly cultivated and free from wood without payment." Within the Forests of Mara and Mondrem, custom did not, however, follow the charter, a fine of 5 shillings per acre in Mondrem or 6 shillings 8 pence per acre in Mara being paid at the time of enclosure. Later, a licence was also required to assart forest land, which required the payment of a further fee and was very unpopular. Enclosure and assarting in Mara and Mondrem during this period is poorly documented, but is known to have occurred at Frodsham
, Weaverham
and Darnhall
.
hunted in the forest, the sport became less important, and the forests were used for timber production and as a source of revenue from taxes, fees and fines. In 1300, Edward I confirmed Ranulf de Blondeville's charter of 1215–16, but in the mid-14th century, Edward of Woodstock
, the Black Prince, introduced various restrictive measures, which led to a large number of complaints recorded in the Black Prince's Register of 1351. Agricultural exploitation of the eastern edge of the forest was hampered by outbreaks of Black Death
at Over
, Little Budworth
and Vale Royal Abbey
in 1349, 1361 and 1369. The Old Pale and Eddisbury Hill
were enclosed in the 14th century, to retain deer.
The northerly Forest of Mara remained wooded in the 14th century, and still retained a population of wild boar and wolves
. By that date, however, large areas of the southerly Forest of Mondrem had been cleared. The remaining Mondrem woodland in the mid-14th century appears to have been concentrated in the north around Castle Northwich
, Hartford
and Winnington
, and to a lesser extent in the south east around Aston, Calveley
, Cholmondeston
, Church Minshull
, Poole
and Wettenhall
. Extensive assarting by Vale Royal Abbey made a major contribution to the loss of Mondrem woodland before the abbey's dissolution. The proximity to the medieval salt wiches
of Nantwich
and Middlewich
, with their wood-fuelled salt pans, might also have been a factor.
Deer continued to be hunted in the 17th century; a large area at New Pale was enclosed at this time for the retention of deer. James I
, on a royal visit to Cheshire in August 1617, hunted in the forest, describing it as "this delectable place". From the early 18th century, however, the focus of hunting moved away from deer; Tarporley Hunt Club
was founded in 1762, and the local gentry hunted hares and later foxes.
, remained nominally a hunting forest until the early 19th century. In 1812, an Enclosure Act was passed disafforesting the remaining forest (that is, returning its legal status to ordinary land) and transferring ownership of the remnant half to the Crown and half to surrounding major landowners. Very little ancient woodland
now survives, mainly concentrated on the banks of the Weaver
and within steep cloughs
running into that river, although there are also pockets of old, semi-natural woodland elsewhere, such as Cocked Hat Covert, near Little Budworth
, and Dorfold Park
, near Acton
.
, the 3rd Earl, to Ranulf or Ralph de Kingsley in 1123, and it passed by marriage to the Launcelyn family and later to the Done family of Utkinton and Tarporley. Sixteen Dones held the position over nearly four centuries. In 1662, the master-forestership passed to the Crewe family and then to the Ardernes, who held it until the disafforestation in 1812. The position was symbolised by a black horn, which was given to the Kingsleys in the 12th century; now known as the "Delamere Horn", it is in the collection of the Grosvenor Museum
. The master-foresters answered to the Chester
justiciar
, who was responsible for the administration of forest law
across all three Cheshire forests.
The privileges claimed by the Mara and Mondrem master-forester were set out in detail by Richard Done in the 14th century. They included the right shoulder of all deer killed in hunting; windfallen and felled timber within the demesne
wood; swarms of bees, sparrowhawks, merlins and hobbies found throughout the forest; and the right of pannage
, or feeding pigs in the forest. He also claimed halfpence per head of cattle and goats found straying within the forest between Michaelmas
and Martinmas, the payments made for the agistment
of hogs between Martinmas and Christmas, as well as the pick of the property forfeited by poachers. The master-forester had a lodge, known as the "Chamber of the Forest", in which he occasionally stayed; it was built in Peckforton
in 1351 and later moved to Eddisbury Hill
.
A large staff supported the Mara and Mondrem master-forester, which is known in the mid-14th century to have included eight underforesters and two garçons who administered particular districts of the forest, assuming much of the role of the county sergeants within the forest bounds. Additionally, agisters collected monies charged for grazing, verderer
s attended the forest courts, and inspectors termed "regarders", huntsmen and kennelmen were also employed.
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
forests in Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
, England, which in the 11th century extended to over 60 square miles (155.4 km²), stretching from the Mersey
River Mersey
The River Mersey is a river in North West England. It is around long, stretching from Stockport, Greater Manchester, and ending at Liverpool Bay, Merseyside. For centuries, it formed part of the ancient county divide between Lancashire and Cheshire....
in the north almost to Nantwich
Nantwich
Nantwich is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The town gives its name to the parliamentary constituency of Crewe and Nantwich...
in the south, and from the Gowy
River Gowy
The River Gowy is a river in Cheshire, England and a tributary of the River Mersey.It rises in western Cheshire in the hills near Peckforton Castle, very close to the source of the River Weaver. While the Weaver flows south initially, the Gowy flows north and for several miles provides the valley...
in the west to the Weaver
River Weaver
The River Weaver is a river, navigable in its lower reaches, running in a curving route anti-clockwise across west Cheshire, northern England. Improvements to the river to make it navigable were authorised in 1720 and the work, which included eleven locks, was completed in 1732...
in the east. Mara and Mondrem were a hunting forest
Royal forest
A royal forest is an area of land with different meanings in England, Wales and Scotland; the term forest does not mean forest as it is understood today, as an area of densely wooded land...
of the Norman
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
Earls of Chester
Earl of Chester
The Earldom of Chester was one of the most powerful earldoms in medieval England. Since 1301 the title has generally been granted to heirs-apparent to the English throne, and from the late 14th century it has been given only in conjunction with that of Prince of Wales.- Honour of Chester :The...
, established soon after 1071 by the first earl, Hugh d'Avranches
Hugh d'Avranches, 1st Earl of Chester
Hugh d'Avranches , also known as le Gros and Lupus was the first Earl of Chester and one of the great magnates of early Norman England.-Early career:...
. They might earlier have been an Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
hunting forest. Game included wild boar, and red
Red Deer
The red deer is one of the largest deer species. Depending on taxonomy, the red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Asia Minor, parts of western Asia, and central Asia. It also inhabits the Atlas Mountains region between Morocco and Tunisia in northwestern Africa, being...
, fallow
Fallow Deer
The Fallow Deer is a ruminant mammal belonging to the family Cervidae. This common species is native to western Eurasia, but has been introduced widely elsewhere. It often includes the rarer Persian Fallow Deer as a subspecies , while others treat it as an entirely different species The Fallow...
and roe deer
Roe Deer
The European Roe Deer , also known as the Western Roe Deer, chevreuil or just Roe Deer, is a Eurasian species of deer. It is relatively small, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapted to cold environments. Roe Deer are widespread in Western Europe, from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia, and from...
.
After the earldom lapsed in 1237, the forest rights passed to the Crown, with the monarch's heir being given the title of Earl of Chester. Edward I
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
and James I
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
both hunted in the forests. Clearance for agricultural use began to be permitted after 1215, and by the mid-14th century, large areas of the Forest of Mondrem had been cleared. Deer hunting still continued within the remaining forest in the 17th century, and the forest was not formally disafforested, or removed from forest law, until 1812. The modern Delamere Forest
Delamere Forest
Delamere Forest or Delamere Forest Park is a wood in the Cheshire West and Chester area of Cheshire, England, near the town of Frodsham. It includes of mixed deciduous and evergreen woodland, centred at around , making it the largest area of woodland in Cheshire...
is the remnant of the medieval forests, but little ancient woodland
Ancient woodland
Ancient woodland is a term used in the United Kingdom to refer specifically to woodland that has existed continuously since 1600 or before in England and Wales . Before those dates, planting of new woodland was uncommon, so a wood present in 1600 was likely to have developed naturally...
survives.
Extent
In the 11th century, the Forests of Mara and Mondrem stretched from the MerseyRiver Mersey
The River Mersey is a river in North West England. It is around long, stretching from Stockport, Greater Manchester, and ending at Liverpool Bay, Merseyside. For centuries, it formed part of the ancient county divide between Lancashire and Cheshire....
in the north to a few miles north of Nantwich
Nantwich
Nantwich is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The town gives its name to the parliamentary constituency of Crewe and Nantwich...
in the south, and from the Gowy
River Gowy
The River Gowy is a river in Cheshire, England and a tributary of the River Mersey.It rises in western Cheshire in the hills near Peckforton Castle, very close to the source of the River Weaver. While the Weaver flows south initially, the Gowy flows north and for several miles provides the valley...
in the west to the Weaver
River Weaver
The River Weaver is a river, navigable in its lower reaches, running in a curving route anti-clockwise across west Cheshire, northern England. Improvements to the river to make it navigable were authorised in 1720 and the work, which included eleven locks, was completed in 1732...
in the east. The total extent was over 60 square miles (155.4 km²). An undated document quoted by Ormerod
George Ormerod
George Ormerod was an English antiquary and historian. Amongst his writings was a major account of the history of Cheshire, a county in northwestern England.-Biography:...
lists 62 townships and villages within the two forests (although several of these places were exempt from forest law); as the document mentions Vale Royal Abbey
Vale Royal Abbey
Vale Royal Abbey is a medieval abbey, and later country house, located in Whitegate, between Northwich and Winsford in Cheshire, England.The abbey was founded in 1270 by Edward I for monks of the austere Cistercian order...
, this must refer to some time between the abbey's foundation in 1277 and its dissolution in 1536.
The precise boundary between the two adjacent forests is uncertain, but the Forest of Mara probably extended from the Mersey to the south of the area now known as Delamere Forest
Delamere Forest
Delamere Forest or Delamere Forest Park is a wood in the Cheshire West and Chester area of Cheshire, England, near the town of Frodsham. It includes of mixed deciduous and evergreen woodland, centred at around , making it the largest area of woodland in Cheshire...
, while the Forest of Mondrem occupied the area between Delamere and Nantwich. The boundary might have coincided with a road known as "Peytevinisti" or "Peytefynsty", which also defined the limit of the grazing rights of Vale Royal Abbey; this is believed to have run from Weaverham
Weaverham
right|thumb|200px|Map of civil parish of Weaverham within former borough of Vale RoyalWeaverham is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire in England. Just off the A49, it is just to the west of Northwich and south of the River...
in the north through Cuddington to Tarporley
Tarporley
Tarporley is a large village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England....
in the south.
Earls' hunting forest
The Forests of Mara and Mondrem together formed one of the three hunting forestsRoyal forest
A royal forest is an area of land with different meanings in England, Wales and Scotland; the term forest does not mean forest as it is understood today, as an area of densely wooded land...
of the Earls of Chester
Earl of Chester
The Earldom of Chester was one of the most powerful earldoms in medieval England. Since 1301 the title has generally been granted to heirs-apparent to the English throne, and from the late 14th century it has been given only in conjunction with that of Prince of Wales.- Honour of Chester :The...
, the others being the Forests of Macclesfield
Macclesfield Forest
Macclesfield Forest is an area of woodland, predominantly conifer plantation, located around south east of Macclesfield in the civil parish of Macclesfield Forest and Wildboarclough, in Cheshire, England. The existing woodland is the last substantial remnant of the Royal Forest of Macclesfield, a...
and Wirral. It was created by Hugh d'Avranches
Hugh d'Avranches, 1st Earl of Chester
Hugh d'Avranches , also known as le Gros and Lupus was the first Earl of Chester and one of the great magnates of early Norman England.-Early career:...
, a keen huntsman, soon after he became Earl of Chester in 1071, although the area might have been an Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
hunting forest before the Norman Conquest. "Forest", in this context, means an area outside the common law and subject to forest law; it does not imply that the area was entirely wooded, and the land remained largely in private ownership. The forest boundary was marked with "irremovable marks, meres and boundaries", and the entire area also appears to have been enclosed. Game was hunted with dogs and included wild boar, and red
Red Deer
The red deer is one of the largest deer species. Depending on taxonomy, the red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Asia Minor, parts of western Asia, and central Asia. It also inhabits the Atlas Mountains region between Morocco and Tunisia in northwestern Africa, being...
, fallow
Fallow Deer
The Fallow Deer is a ruminant mammal belonging to the family Cervidae. This common species is native to western Eurasia, but has been introduced widely elsewhere. It often includes the rarer Persian Fallow Deer as a subspecies , while others treat it as an entirely different species The Fallow...
and roe deer
Roe Deer
The European Roe Deer , also known as the Western Roe Deer, chevreuil or just Roe Deer, is a Eurasian species of deer. It is relatively small, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapted to cold environments. Roe Deer are widespread in Western Europe, from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia, and from...
.
The original woodland was mixed, predominantly oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
, but also including elm
Elm
Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus Ulmus in the plant family Ulmaceae. The dozens of species are found in temperate and tropical-montane regions of North America and Eurasia, ranging southward into Indonesia. Elms are components of many kinds of natural forests...
, lime
Tilia
Tilia is a genus of about 30 species of trees native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The greatest species diversity is found in Asia, and the genus also occurs in Europe and eastern North America, but not western North America...
, yew
Taxus baccata
Taxus baccata is a conifer native to western, central and southern Europe, northwest Africa, northern Iran and southwest Asia. It is the tree originally known as yew, though with other related trees becoming known, it may be now known as the English yew, or European yew.-Description:It is a small-...
, chestnut
Chestnut
Chestnut , some species called chinkapin or chinquapin, is a genus of eight or nine species of deciduous trees and shrubs in the beech family Fagaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce.-Species:The chestnut belongs to the...
, fir
Fir
Firs are a genus of 48–55 species of evergreen conifers in the family Pinaceae. They are found through much of North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa, occurring in mountains over most of the range...
, larch
Larch
Larches are conifers in the genus Larix, in the family Pinaceae. Growing from 15 to 50m tall, they are native to much of the cooler temperate northern hemisphere, on lowlands in the north and high on mountains further south...
, beech
Beech
Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...
, ash, silver birch, hazel
Hazel
The hazels are a genus of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate northern hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family Betulaceae, though some botanists split the hazels into a separate family Corylaceae.They have simple, rounded leaves with double-serrate margins...
, willow
Willow
Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...
and alder
Alder
Alder is the common name of a genus of flowering plants belonging to the birch family . The genus comprises about 30 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, few reaching large size, distributed throughout the North Temperate Zone and in the Americas along the Andes southwards to...
. The forest area also encompassed heath
Heath (habitat)
A heath or heathland is a dwarf-shrub habitat found on mainly low quality acidic soils, characterised by open, low growing woody vegetation, often dominated by plants of the Ericaceae. There are some clear differences between heath and moorland...
and wetland
Wetland
A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....
, as well as pasture, arable land and even small settlements. Agriculture was, however, allowed within the forest boundaries only under severe restrictions; assarting
Assarting
Assarting is the act of clearing forested lands for use in agriculture or other purposes. In English law, it was illegal to assart any part of a Royal forest...
, or enclosing and clearing new land for agriculture, was completely prohibited until 1215–16.
During the early Norman period, the penalties for killing game were blinding, mutilation or execution. These savage punishments were gradually replaced by huge fines, and in 1215, the Magna Carta
Magna Carta
Magna Carta is an English charter, originally issued in the year 1215 and reissued later in the 13th century in modified versions, which included the most direct challenges to the monarch's authority to date. The charter first passed into law in 1225...
reduced the maximum penalty for breaking forest law nationally to fines or imprisonment. Ranulf de Blondeville, the 6th Earl, issued a charter in 1215–16 which granted a more humane legal code for the Cheshire hunting forests.
This charter also, for the first time, conceded to the barons and their knights and freeholders the "right to assart their lands within the arable area of the forest and to grow crops on land formerly cultivated and free from wood without payment." Within the Forests of Mara and Mondrem, custom did not, however, follow the charter, a fine of 5 shillings per acre in Mondrem or 6 shillings 8 pence per acre in Mara being paid at the time of enclosure. Later, a licence was also required to assart forest land, which required the payment of a further fee and was very unpopular. Enclosure and assarting in Mara and Mondrem during this period is poorly documented, but is known to have occurred at Frodsham
Frodsham
Frodsham is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. Its population is 8,982. It is approximately south of Runcorn, 16 miles south of Liverpool, and approximately south-west of Manchester...
, Weaverham
Weaverham
right|thumb|200px|Map of civil parish of Weaverham within former borough of Vale RoyalWeaverham is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire in England. Just off the A49, it is just to the west of Northwich and south of the River...
and Darnhall
Darnhall
right|thumb|200px|Map of civil parish of Darnhall within the former Borough of Vale RoyalDarnhall is a civil parish and small village to the south west of Winsford in the Borough of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire in England...
.
After the Earls
After the lapse of the Chester earldom in 1237, the forest rights passed to the Crown and the monarch's heir was given the title of Earl of Chester. Although Edward IEdward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
hunted in the forest, the sport became less important, and the forests were used for timber production and as a source of revenue from taxes, fees and fines. In 1300, Edward I confirmed Ranulf de Blondeville's charter of 1215–16, but in the mid-14th century, Edward of Woodstock
Edward, the Black Prince
Edward of Woodstock, Prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall, Prince of Aquitaine, KG was the eldest son of King Edward III of England and his wife Philippa of Hainault as well as father to King Richard II of England....
, the Black Prince, introduced various restrictive measures, which led to a large number of complaints recorded in the Black Prince's Register of 1351. Agricultural exploitation of the eastern edge of the forest was hampered by outbreaks of Black Death
Black Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
at Over
Over, Cheshire
Over is a former borough and market town that forms the western part of the town of Winsford in the English county of Cheshire. Wharton forms the eastern part, the boundary being the River Weaver.-Ancient Origins:...
, Little Budworth
Little Budworth
thumb|right|200px|Map of civil parish of Little Budworth within the former borough of Vale RoyalLittle Budworth is a civil parish and village between Winsford and Chester, in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England...
and Vale Royal Abbey
Vale Royal Abbey
Vale Royal Abbey is a medieval abbey, and later country house, located in Whitegate, between Northwich and Winsford in Cheshire, England.The abbey was founded in 1270 by Edward I for monks of the austere Cistercian order...
in 1349, 1361 and 1369. The Old Pale and Eddisbury Hill
Mid Cheshire Ridge
The Mid Cheshire Ridge is a range of low sandstone hills which stretch north to south through Cheshire in North West England. The ridge is discontinuous, with the hills forming two main blocks, north and south of the "Beeston Gap"...
were enclosed in the 14th century, to retain deer.
The northerly Forest of Mara remained wooded in the 14th century, and still retained a population of wild boar and wolves
Gray Wolf
The gray wolf , also known as the wolf, is the largest extant wild member of the Canidae family...
. By that date, however, large areas of the southerly Forest of Mondrem had been cleared. The remaining Mondrem woodland in the mid-14th century appears to have been concentrated in the north around Castle Northwich
Northwich
Northwich is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It lies in the heart of the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers Weaver and Dane...
, Hartford
Hartford, Cheshire
Hartford is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It lies at the intersection of the A559 road and the West Coast Mainline and is less than south west of the town of Northwich...
and Winnington
Winnington
Winnington is a small, mainly residential area of the town of Northwich in Cheshire, England.-Industry:Winnington is the home to Brunner Mond UK chemical works, where soda ash is created. Polythene, the material used in many plastic items , was first made at the chemical works by R.O. Gibson and...
, and to a lesser extent in the south east around Aston, Calveley
Calveley
Calveley is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The village lies 5½ miles to the north west of Nantwich. The parish also includes parts of the settlements of Barrets Green and Wardle Bank. Nearby villages include...
, Cholmondeston
Cholmondeston
Cholmondeston is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The village lies 5 miles to the north west of Nantwich. Nearby villages include Aston juxta Mondrum, Barbridge, Calveley and Wettenhall...
, Church Minshull
Church Minshull
Church Minshull is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The village is located approximately north west of Crewe and to the west of the River Weaver and the Shropshire Union Canal...
, Poole
Poole, Cheshire
Poole is a civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, which lies to the north west of Nantwich and to the west of Crewe. The Shropshire Union Canal runs through the parish...
and Wettenhall
Wettenhall
Wettenhall is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The village lies 3½ miles to the south west of Winsford and 6 miles to the north west of Crewe. The parish also includes the settlements of Chapel Green and Woodside...
. Extensive assarting by Vale Royal Abbey made a major contribution to the loss of Mondrem woodland before the abbey's dissolution. The proximity to the medieval salt wiches
Salt in Cheshire
Cheshire is a county in North West England. Rock salt was laid down in this region some 220 million years ago, during the Triassic period. Seawater moved inland from an open sea, creating a chain of shallow salt marshes across what is today the Cheshire basin...
of Nantwich
Nantwich
Nantwich is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The town gives its name to the parliamentary constituency of Crewe and Nantwich...
and Middlewich
Middlewich
Middlewich is a market town in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is east of the city of Chester, east of Winsford, southeast of Northwich and northwest of Sandbach....
, with their wood-fuelled salt pans, might also have been a factor.
Deer continued to be hunted in the 17th century; a large area at New Pale was enclosed at this time for the retention of deer. James I
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
, on a royal visit to Cheshire in August 1617, hunted in the forest, describing it as "this delectable place". From the early 18th century, however, the focus of hunting moved away from deer; Tarporley Hunt Club
Tarporley Hunt Club
The Tarporley Hunt Club is a hunt club which meets at Tarporley in Cheshire, England. Founded in 1762, it is the oldest surviving such society in England, and possibly the oldest in the world. Its members' exploits were immortalised in the Hunting Songs of Rowland Egerton-Warburton. The club also...
was founded in 1762, and the local gentry hunted hares and later foxes.
Disafforestation
The late 18th and early 19th centuries saw much of the surviving forest enclosed. A total of 7755 acres (3,138.3 ha) in the south of the Forest of Mara, by then known as Delamere ForestDelamere Forest
Delamere Forest or Delamere Forest Park is a wood in the Cheshire West and Chester area of Cheshire, England, near the town of Frodsham. It includes of mixed deciduous and evergreen woodland, centred at around , making it the largest area of woodland in Cheshire...
, remained nominally a hunting forest until the early 19th century. In 1812, an Enclosure Act was passed disafforesting the remaining forest (that is, returning its legal status to ordinary land) and transferring ownership of the remnant half to the Crown and half to surrounding major landowners. Very little ancient woodland
Ancient woodland
Ancient woodland is a term used in the United Kingdom to refer specifically to woodland that has existed continuously since 1600 or before in England and Wales . Before those dates, planting of new woodland was uncommon, so a wood present in 1600 was likely to have developed naturally...
now survives, mainly concentrated on the banks of the Weaver
River Weaver
The River Weaver is a river, navigable in its lower reaches, running in a curving route anti-clockwise across west Cheshire, northern England. Improvements to the river to make it navigable were authorised in 1720 and the work, which included eleven locks, was completed in 1732...
and within steep cloughs
Valley
In geology, a valley or dale is a depression with predominant extent in one direction. A very deep river valley may be called a canyon or gorge.The terms U-shaped and V-shaped are descriptive terms of geography to characterize the form of valleys...
running into that river, although there are also pockets of old, semi-natural woodland elsewhere, such as Cocked Hat Covert, near Little Budworth
Little Budworth
thumb|right|200px|Map of civil parish of Little Budworth within the former borough of Vale RoyalLittle Budworth is a civil parish and village between Winsford and Chester, in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England...
, and Dorfold Park
Dorfold Hall
Dorfold Hall is a Jacobean mansion in Acton, near Nantwich, in Cheshire, UK. It is listed at grade I. It was considered by Nikolaus Pevsner to be one of the two finest Jacobean houses in Cheshire.The present owners are the Roundells.-History:...
, near Acton
Acton, Cheshire
Acton is a small village and civil parish lying immediately west of the town of Nantwich in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of...
.
Administration
Each of the Cheshire hunting forests was administered by a master-forester on behalf of the Earl. For the Forests of Mara and Mondrem, this hereditary position was given by Ranulf le MeschinRanulf le Meschin, 3rd Earl of Chester
Ranulf le Meschin, Ranulf de Briquessart or Ranulf I [Ranulph, Ralph] was a late 11th- and early 12th-century Norman magnate based in northern and central England...
, the 3rd Earl, to Ranulf or Ralph de Kingsley in 1123, and it passed by marriage to the Launcelyn family and later to the Done family of Utkinton and Tarporley. Sixteen Dones held the position over nearly four centuries. In 1662, the master-forestership passed to the Crewe family and then to the Ardernes, who held it until the disafforestation in 1812. The position was symbolised by a black horn, which was given to the Kingsleys in the 12th century; now known as the "Delamere Horn", it is in the collection of the Grosvenor Museum
Grosvenor Museum
Grosvenor Museum is in Grosvenor Street, Chester, Cheshire, England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II listed building. Its full title is The Grosvenor Museum of Natural History and Archaeology, with Schools of Science and Art, for Chester, Cheshire and North Wales...
. The master-foresters answered to the Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
justiciar
Justiciar
In medieval England and Ireland the Chief Justiciar was roughly equivalent to a modern Prime Minister as the monarch's chief minister. Similar positions existed on the Continent, particularly in Norman Italy. The term is the English form of the medieval Latin justiciarius or justitiarius In...
, who was responsible for the administration of forest law
Royal forest
A royal forest is an area of land with different meanings in England, Wales and Scotland; the term forest does not mean forest as it is understood today, as an area of densely wooded land...
across all three Cheshire forests.
The privileges claimed by the Mara and Mondrem master-forester were set out in detail by Richard Done in the 14th century. They included the right shoulder of all deer killed in hunting; windfallen and felled timber within the demesne
Demesne
In the feudal system the demesne was all the land, not necessarily all contiguous to the manor house, which was retained by a lord of the manor for his own use and support, under his own management, as distinguished from land sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants...
wood; swarms of bees, sparrowhawks, merlins and hobbies found throughout the forest; and the right of pannage
Pannage
Pannage is the practice of turning out domestic pigs in a wood or forest, in order that they may feed on fallen acorns, beechmast, chestnuts or other nuts. Historically, it was a right or privilege granted to local people on common land or in royal forests...
, or feeding pigs in the forest. He also claimed halfpence per head of cattle and goats found straying within the forest between Michaelmas
Michaelmas
Michaelmas, the feast of Saint Michael the Archangel is a day in the Western Christian calendar which occurs on 29 September...
and Martinmas, the payments made for the agistment
Agistment
Agistment originally referred specifically to the proceeds of pasturage in the king's forests. To agist is, in English law, to take cattle to graze, in exchange for payment.-Agistment:...
of hogs between Martinmas and Christmas, as well as the pick of the property forfeited by poachers. The master-forester had a lodge, known as the "Chamber of the Forest", in which he occasionally stayed; it was built in Peckforton
Peckforton
Peckforton is a scattered settlement and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The settlement is located to the north east of Malpas and miles to the west of Nantwich. The total population of the civil parish is somewhat over 100...
in 1351 and later moved to Eddisbury Hill
Mid Cheshire Ridge
The Mid Cheshire Ridge is a range of low sandstone hills which stretch north to south through Cheshire in North West England. The ridge is discontinuous, with the hills forming two main blocks, north and south of the "Beeston Gap"...
.
A large staff supported the Mara and Mondrem master-forester, which is known in the mid-14th century to have included eight underforesters and two garçons who administered particular districts of the forest, assuming much of the role of the county sergeants within the forest bounds. Additionally, agisters collected monies charged for grazing, verderer
Verderer
Verderers are officials in Britain who deal with Common land in certain former royal hunting areas which are the property of The Crown.-Origins:...
s attended the forest courts, and inspectors termed "regarders", huntsmen and kennelmen were also employed.
Sources
- Bevan RM. Tales of Old Delamere Forest (CC Publishing; 2005) (ISBN 0 949001 24 4)
- Coxhead AD, Bevan RM. The Story of Delamere House and Delamere Park (CC Publishing; 2008) (ISBN 978-0-949001-37-5)
- Husain BMC. Cheshire under the Norman Earls: 1066–1237. A History of Cheshire Vol. 4 (JJ Bagley, ed.) (Cheshire Community Council; 1973)
- Local History Group, Latham FA (ed.). Vale Royal (The Local History Group; 1993) (ISBN 0 9522284 08)
- Phillips ADM, Phillips CB (eds). A New Historical Atlas of Cheshire (Cheshire County Council & Cheshire Community Council Publications Trust; 2002) (ISBN 0 904532 46 1)