THE LOST HISTORY OF PEAK FOREST. 163 



King. A reference to the Patent Rolls of 36th Henry III., gives 

 the commission to the judges who adjudicated upon these Inquests 

 and upon the presentments of the Swainmote Courts, thus 

 clearly dating them as of that year. 



The old law books lay it down as a rule that the Courts of the 

 Justices in Eyre were held every third year, but these Rolls show, 

 from the clearest internal evidence, that no such Courts had been 

 held from the i8th of King John to the 36th of Henry III., and 

 only those offences which were committed in the reign of the then 

 king were tried; and the later Rolls contain Inquests of occurrences 

 from the latter date to that of the Inquest, 13 Edward I., again 

 showing that no Court had been held between these dates. The 

 Patent Roll of 36 Henry III. indicates that the object of the 

 enquiry was concerning Purprestures et alia within the Peak 

 Forest. 



The Rolls prove that not only were Purprestures inquired into, 

 but, under ^' alia,'" were considered Assarts, the building of 

 houses within the Forests, the exactions and misconduct of bailiffs 

 and officers, the number of horse-breeding establishments, with 

 the number of horses and mares with their young, the grants of 

 marriages of the heirs of the Foresters of fee, and lastly, but 

 chiefest of all, the convictions upon presentments of the Foresters 

 Verderers and of 36 freemen, of all offences of vert and venison, 

 and with them an account of the customs of the Foresters. 

 That these Inquests were not held periodically, and only recorded 

 at the date above given, appears clear from the fact that a very 

 large number of the persons convicted were described as being 

 then dead, and their heirs were made liable. 



The heirs, also, of Foresters and others who should have made 

 presentments, and who had failed to do so, were brought before 

 the Court and fined. The offences, whether of making assarts, 

 purprestures, building houses in the Forest, selling trees, or 

 crimes of vert and venison, although evidently tried at one date, 

 were all approximately dated by reference to the bailiffs of the 

 Forest who held office at the time of their committal. These 

 bailiffs are mentioned in their order, and the number of years of 



