Table 5. Deer ordered by Henry III, 1234 - 1263.
Parndon in 1275 (15) and three red deer and one fallow at Hatfield Peverel in
1277(18).
The king stayed sometimes at Waltham Abbey and more often at
Havering. There is no reason to doubt that he occasionally hunted in Epping
and Hainault Forests, although the only actual reference to a medieval royal
hunt that I know of is the provision made in 1253 for the future Edward I to
hunt at Havering. Occasionally a distinguished visitor, like the Duke of Saxony
in 1230, hunted the king's beasts inside or outside Havering Park. Neigh-
bouring landowners were allowed to hunt the fox and hare, like the Abbess of
Barking, one of the earliest fox-hunting prelates, in 1221; in 1251* there was a
15-day fox-hunt in the Park. But personal hunting was hardly an important
land-use.
The Rolls contain several hundred orders for deer to be taken either for the
king's use or as gifts. For example in 1234:
The Lord King sends William May and William Luvel, his huntsmen, to
hunt in the Forest of Havering, and to take there ten does, which the king
gave to the venerable Father R., (Bishop-) elect of Hereford.
In 1242:
Richard de Muntfichet is ordered to allow John de Bailol (founder of
Balliol College) to take 2 does in the Forest of Havering, of the King's gift,
and to ensure that he does not take more than two.
30