The Essex Forests, like many others, were based on large Crown estates. In
the south-west, the centre was at Havering-atte-Bower, where there was a royal
palace and one of the few royal parks. The legal boundaries (Fig. 7) seem to us
to be quite arbitrary, excluding as they do Havering itself and also the extensive
wood-pastures to the east of the Forests (fragments of which survive at
Coopersale Common (Theydon Garnon) and Childerditch Common (now part
of Thorndon Park)). Presumably they reflect the political, financial, or spiritual
pressure of particular landowners (49).
LAND-USES, 1200 - 1350
For the reign of Henry III (1216-1272) we have an unusually detailed record
of land-use in the south-western Forests. One source is the Close and Liberate
Rolls, which tell of the king's activities as holder of Forestal rights over most of
Essex and as landowner of Havering Park and of part of Hainault Forest.
Another source is the records of Forest courts, which give the story of the
commoners and local inhabitants and of the practical operations of Forest Law.
These have been analyzed for the Forests of Dean (26) and Sherwood (3), and
reveal a vast range of activities many of which were technically illegal but were
treated as a source of revenue from fines rather than as crimes to be prevented.
For Essex I have no such complete record, but the accessible archives show what
activities were condoned or punished and by implication what was permitted.
Forest courts appear to have taken over much of the responsibility of regulating
the use of Epping and Hainault Forests as commons; this would have had the
advantage of avoiding disputes over demarcation between the manors. The
records of the manorial courts, such as Chingford (19), thus deal chiefly with
affairs (including woodcutting) outside the physical Forests.
(Statements without separate references are based on the Close Rolls and
are to be found in Rotuli Litterarum Clausarum or the Calendar of Close Rolls
for the year in question. A star means that the reference is to the Calendar of
Liberate Rolls.)
Deer
The Forests contained fallow deer (dami and dame, bucks and does) and a
few red deer (cervi and bisse, harts and hinds). There is no evidence of roe-deer,
then very rare except in Northern England. Wild swine were on the verge of
extinction in England, except as park animals, and there is no evidence of them
in the Essex Forests. In 1223 Thomas de Langley was ordered to put two of the
king's wild swine in his custody into Havering Park; there were still some there
in 1260.
Prosecutions for poaching show that deer were mainly in the Forests but
also inhabited woods over much of Essex: for instance, a buck was taken at
28