A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



the deer of Whittlewood were ' in quiett and 

 rest ' as the keepers affirmed, this was not the case 

 at Rockingham, where, in Elizabeth's reign, 

 poaching was persistent and outrageous.^ 



Henry VIII, who may be regarded as the 

 father of the English navy, had encouraged the 

 planting and preservation of timber for ship- 

 building,* and the struggle with Spain under 

 Elizabeth impressed her statesmen with the vital 

 necessity for preserving the national forests. Yet, 

 as the forest lands were leased from time to time, 

 there must have been a great deal of wastage in 

 spite of the provisions of the leases for the main- 

 tenance of woods. James I, who was evidently 

 alive to the importance of the matter, published 

 on 5 July, 1608, ' A Proclamation for the Preser- 

 vation of Woods.' 



In the survey of the Northampton royal forests 

 and parks, completed by 1608, the number of 

 'timber oaks' was returned as 93,942, valued at 

 ^^46,3 5 5 in the forests and 14,198, valued at 

 ;^4,6o9, in the parks, while the unleased cop- 

 pices amounted respectively to 6,342 acres and 

 348 acres. King James I also made a rough- 

 and-ready but quite a definite working-plan or 

 scheme of management for all the royal woods 

 throughout England.* Under the head of Plant- 

 ing, Increasing, and Preserving of Woods, the 

 then existing 30,000 acres of coppice (copse- 

 woods) were to be raised to 81,000 by adding 

 51,000 acres in 15 years. The 3,400 acres 

 of new wood annually were estimated to cost 

 ;r2,i02 i8j. or ;C3i)543 i°^- ^°^ ^^^ whole 

 51,000 acres, and the net income derivable after 

 15 years was estimated to be ;^2 1,600 per 

 annum. 



The unfortunate Charles I, always in want of 

 money, and careless as to the manner in which 

 his servants could raise it, caused grave discontent 

 by attempts to revive certain abuses of the ancient 

 forest laws. He alienated large portions of the 

 forest lands by grant and sale, while he endeav- 

 oured to claim and possess himself of tracts leased 

 by Elizabeth and James I. Overstepping the 

 bounds of the law, he made the earl of Holland, 

 the Chief Justice in Eyre, hold an eyre or jus- 

 tice seat almost every year, in place of only once 

 every third year, in order to try and recover his 

 alleged rights. Juries were suborned to find the 

 king's title by inquisition, and no prescriptions 

 could be pleaded against it when thus found by 

 a partial tribunal. In 1638 he had Rockingham 

 perambulated in order to re-afForest all lands 

 within the perambulation held in Edward I's 

 time, about 340 years before ; and in 1639 he 



1 See cases cited by G. Wise, Rockingham Castle 

 and the Watsons, p. 14S sqq. 



2 We may note particularly the Act for the Preser- 

 vation of Woods, best known as the Statute of Woods, 

 1543. ^ze.V.C.H. Hants, \\. \\\. 



8 Cott. MS. Titus B. iv ; temp. James I, docketed 

 as Treasury Office ; Increase of Revenue. 



caused similar perambulations to be made in order 

 to extend the boundaries of Salcey and Whittle- 

 wood. Then enormous fines were imposed upon 

 those who were accused of encroachments in 

 these and other forests. Lord Salisbury is thus 

 said to have been amerced in ^^20,000, Lord 

 Westmorland in ;^i 9,000, and Sir Christopher 

 Hatton in ^^ 12,000, though it is probable that 

 many of these fines were remitted.* 



Before these perambulations the king had been 

 driven by his financial straits to extensive and 

 reckless sales of timber. On 21 July, 1628, we 

 find a grant to Nicholas Pay and others, on the 

 nomination of the earls of Westmorland and 

 Peterborough, of all timber-trees within the walks 

 of Morehay, Westhay, and Farmingwoods, 

 within the forest of Rockingham, in considera- 

 tion of ^^2,000.^ About three weeks after, on 

 13 August, Edward Lord Montagu received a 

 grant of all the wood within the walk called 

 Geddington Woods in the forest of Rockingham 

 in consideration of a payment of jT 1,000.* 

 Lord Montagu had previously been given the 

 reversion of Rockingham bailiwick in the same 

 forest.'' The ultimate alienation of Geddington 

 Chase under Charles II has already been men- 

 tioned. Similar sales were also made in the 

 other forests. For example, on 31 July, 1628, 

 Lord President Marlborough gave warrant for 

 granting certain coppices within the forest of 

 Whittlewood to the earl of Northampton in 

 consideration of ;^5,ooo in money and ;^io rent. 

 The earl was to enjoy those coppices free from 

 all manner of liberty of forest, and with power 

 to cut down woods and convert the land into 

 arable.* 



The untimely revival of oppressive forest juris- 

 diction by Charles I brought about its natural 

 result. On 8 June, 1640, Selden brought in a 

 Bill for the limitation of forests, and two months 

 later it received the royal assent. It was the 

 death-blow to the old system. Early in the 

 Commonwealth proposals were considered for 

 managing the forests, chases, and parks of the late 

 king less offensively to the people for the good of 

 the commonwealth, and measures were taken for 

 a proper survey.' Again, on 5 January, 1654, we 

 find an order by the trustees for sale of forest 

 lands that Jasper Waterhouse, of Staple Inn, 

 Holborn, gentleman, deliver to Wm. Ryley their 

 agent all records relating to the justice seats ^^ of 

 the forest of Waltham, Whittlewood, Clyve, 

 Rockingham, and Salcey, or any forests where 

 John Keeling or his father attended, ' which re- 



i. 8. 



' Vide Hallam's Constitutional History of England, 



6 CaL S. P. Dom. 1628-9, p. 222. 

 * Ibid. p. 254. 

 '' Ibid. p. 199. 



8 Ibid. p. 239. 



9 Ibid. 1653-4, p. 131 sqq. 

 10 Eyres. 



346 



