176 A REVIEW OF "the ROYAL FORESTS OF ENGLAND." 



reminded that from the time of Domesday to the time of 

 Queen EHzabeth the making of cheese from sheeps' milk 

 was universal throughout England, as we find it is still in the 

 warmer climates of the south of Europe, the Canary Islands, 

 and many other places. 



Of course, no history or account of Peak Forest would be 

 complete without frequent references and allusions to the Castle, 

 that home of the first Peverel, one of William the Conqueror's 

 most favoured followers, and the place which, in the first two 

 or three hundred years after its erection, was not unfrequently 

 the abode of the Sovereign himself. 



It is rather sad to find that the only use to which this 

 romantically-situated stronghold was put to for many years 

 before it became a ruin, was that of a prison for felons and 

 murderers and offenders against the Forest Laws. 



In June, 1585, in the reign of Elizabeth, it appears to have 

 become almost a ruin, and the Commissioners who reported as to 

 its state were ordered tO' put it in repair. It appears, however, 

 never from that time to have been made use of, either as prison, 

 or stronghold, or residence of any kind. 



It was as early as 1635, in the reign of Charles I., that the 

 first steps were taken for the destruction of the deer and for 

 the partial enclosure of this large domain. In that year the 

 landowners and inhabitants within the Forest petitioned the 

 King, complaining of the severity, trouble, and rigour of the 

 Forest Laws, and praying that the deer, which were in sufficient 

 numbers to do considerable damage to the crops in the Forest 

 and its purlieus, might be destroyed, and asking to be allowed 

 to compound by enclosing and improving the same. There- 

 upon the King issued a Commission of Inquiry under the Duchy 

 seal, and directed that two juries should be impanelled, 

 appointing a surveyor to assist them. The first jury viewed 

 the whole Forest and its purlieus, and presented that the King 

 might improve and enclose one moiety in consideration of his 

 rights, and that the other moiety should be enclosed by the 

 tenants, commoners, and freeholders. The other jurj' was 



