1 88 DUFFIELD FOREST IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 



MORLEY PARKE. 



The said parke of Morley extendithe in compase by estimaciun 

 iij myles wherin is moche fayre tymber wodde of okke And 

 ther niaye be solde to the King's profifitt xx merkes or xx''. 



BeLPERE PARKE. 



The said parke of Belpere extendith in Cumpase A myle and 

 standith all by Birche wher as maye be made to the Kings most 

 profftt v'' or vj''. 



RaUNSDAYLE PARKE. 



The said parke of Raunsdayle extendith in compase iij myles 

 wherin is non other wodde but olde Rennylles and Rampickes 

 and oilers* w^hereof we thincke ther may be solde of the sande 

 ther to make in money a v'' or vj''. 



Mathew Knyfton. 



Roland Babyngton. 



William Wigston. 



In 1560 an elaborate Survey was taken of all the wood and 

 underwood of the Honor of Tutbur)-, within the counties of 

 Stafford and Derby. This Survey of Duffield P'rith is of much 

 interest as showing the nature and extent of the timber. f The 

 large trees were entirely oak; there is just a single mention of 

 an oak and an elm. The underwood included white thorn, 

 black thorn, hazel, holly, maple, crab-tree, alder, and birch. 

 The totals of the forest timber, if correctly described at so many 

 per acre, work out to the large amount of 111,968 trees; of 

 which 59,412 were large oaks, 32,820 small oaks, and 19,736 

 oaks in more or less state of decay, and only suitable for fuel. 



* " Oiler " or Aller was an old variant in spelling for Alder. 



t This return is a reproduction of a copy in the possession of Lord 

 Scarsdale, kindly lent to Mr. Strutt. It was taken from the original in the 

 Public Record Oftice in 1882 by the late Mr. Bland of Uuflield, by whom 

 it was "written out as read by one of the transcribers there." From the 

 spelling it is clearly not an exact copy, but we suppose the main points and 

 figures are reliable. It was at that time numbered "Duchy of Lancaster, 

 class xix, No. 8." The Duchy documents have since been rearranged on 

 a much lietter plan. Considerable search, aided by authorities, has l)een 

 made to find the original for purposes of collation, but all in vain ; in the 

 rearrangement it has got mislaid. 



