perambulation was confirmed in 1327 and subsequently the jurisdiction of the Forest law was held to
be within these boundaries until 1634.
In 1634 the Attorney General, on behalf of Charles I, declared, at the Justice Seat at Stratford, the
Crown's right to revert to the original Forest boundaries covering the whole of Essex (except Tendring
Hundred). The enlarged bounds were, by coercion, accepted and many householders and landowners
were now found retrospectively to have encroached upon Forest land and were thus required to pay
fines or give up their properties. It is said some £300,000 were raised in Essex by this means (Fisher,
1887). In 1640 Charles I, having thus 'extorted' this money, returned the Forest boundary to its 1301
extent. A perambulation followed in 1641.
The 1641 Perambulation
In 1641 a perambulation, was undertaken to define the 'mears, metes, bounds and limits' of the
Forest jurisdiction at that time (EN VI p. 12-16). In most places the boundary was defined by
pre-existing features of the landscape: highways (both major and minor), bridges, hedgerows, rivers
(the Lee and Roding are both mentioned), brooks, ditches and trees (elms are specifically mentioned).
At one point even whalebones are mentioned (those that led to the name Whalebone Lane near
Romford). The west and south boundaries of the Forest were fairly easily defined by the River Lee
and what is now the Romford Road (then the King's highway from Stratford-le-Bow to Romford).
But the eastern side was less well defined and for the better definition of the boundary, should for
instance a dispute arise, mear stones were erected at various places (Fig. 1). The stones are marked
on the Chapman and Andre map of 1777. The small, oblong stones set end on in the ground were all
named: Mark's Stone, Warren Stone, Navestock Stone, Richard's Stone, Park Corner Stone, Havering
Stone and Collier Row Stone. The stones were 're-discovered' by Raphael Meldola in the mid-1890s
and he ultimately published a plea for their preservation in the Essex Naturalist for 1895 (EN IX
p.1-10). In 1908 the County Council approved the expenditure, not exceeding £100, for preserving
the ancient boundary stones. I know at least the Navestock Stone and the Richard's Stone are still
Fig. 1 Richard's Stone - one of the legal Forest's boundary stones on Curtis Mill Green. Illustration
by H.A.Cole (1891)
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