A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



penalties regarding unlawful enclosures and en- 

 croachments on the forests, and ' for annexing 

 certain lands within the Forest of Rockingham to 

 His Majesty's Manor of King's ClifFe.' This 

 latter enactment was necessary on account of 

 the earl of Exeter having died without com- 

 pleting the purchase of Westhay, and in order 

 to enable the trustees under his will to acquire 

 this and also the royal manor of King's Cliffe. 

 But of more special interest was the /^ct to Abolish 

 the Offices of the Warden, Chief Justices and 

 Justices in Eyre, North and South of Trent (57 

 Geo. Ill, cap. 61), in 1817, when these 

 ancient duties (extending back to 1184 at least, 

 and probably longer) were vested in the First 

 Commissioner of Woods and Forests. 



In 1825, An Act for Dividing, Allotting, and 

 Inclosing the Forest of Salcey, in the Counties of 

 Northampton and Buckingham was passed (6 Geo. 

 IV, cap. 132), determining and separating en- 

 tirely the rights of the crown and of the 

 landowners, as had been done in the previous 

 year regarding ' that portion of the Forest of 

 Whittlewood called Hasleborough Walk ' (5 Geo. 

 IV, cap. 99 ; 1824). In 1829, An Act to Con- 

 solidate and Amend the Laws relating to the 

 Management and Improvement of His Majesty's 

 Woods, Forests, Parks, and Chases, Sec. was 

 passed (10 Geo. IV, cap. 50), in which many 

 of the old statutes were repealed, and the 

 administration was re-cast and regulated for 

 the future under the Commissioners of Woods, 

 Forests, and Land Revenues of the Crown. 

 This long and important Act was amended in 

 1 84s (8 and 9 Vic. cap. 99), and again in 

 1851 (14 and 15 Vic. cap. 42) and 1852 

 (15 and 16 Vic. cap. 62). On 4 August, 1853, 

 An Act for disafforesting the Forest of Whittle- 

 wood otherwise Whittlehury, was passed, the 

 royal deer being removed or destroyed, and 

 the forest officers discharged within the two 

 years thereafter, fields being provided for com- 

 mon of pasture, and the title of the duke 

 of Grafton secured with regard to the changes 

 enacted. 



Under the Act of 1829 (10 Geo. IV, cap. 50, 

 sect. 5) it had been laid down ' That the powers 

 of leasing hereinbefore given shall not extend to 

 the demising or leasing of any of the Royal 

 Forests, Parks, or Chases in England, or any 

 part or parcel thereof This proving incon- 

 venient with regard to the practical administra- 

 tion of the crown lands, the powers of the 

 Commissioners of Woods and Forests as to 

 leasing were in 1 85 1 extended to parts of the 

 New Forest (14 and 15 Vic. cap. 76, best 

 known as The Deer Removal Act) ; and in 1855 

 these provisions were also applied to those 

 portions of the remaining crown lands in 

 Northamptonshire which had been determined 

 and settled by the Acts ' for dividing, allotting, 

 and inclosing ' Hasleborough Walk in Whittle- 



wood (5 Geo. IV, cap. 99) and Salcey Forest 

 (6 Geo. IV, cap. 132). 



These were the last enactments which concern 

 the crown lands and the ancient forests of 

 Northamptonshire. The only legislation enacted 

 since then, and having general application in 

 woodlands, are the provisions contained in the 

 Acts of 1 86 1 (24 and 25 Vic.) to consolidate 

 and amend the statute law relating to larceny 

 (cap. 96) and to malicious injuries to property 

 (cap. 97). Under the former (sects. 32 and 33) 

 it was made felony to steal, or destroy with 

 intent to steal ' the whole or any part of any 

 tree, shrub, or underwood ' of the value of f^i, 

 if growing in parks, avenues, or pleasure grounds, 

 or of the value of ^5 if growing elsewhere ; 

 while if the value was merely over one shilling 

 the third offence became a felony. And for 

 malicious injury to trees, etc., it was felony if 

 they stood in parks and pleasure grounds and 

 their value exceeded ;^i, or if this exceeded ^^5 

 in the case of trees standing elsewhere (sects. 20 

 and 21), while even if the damage only amounted 

 to over one shilling, a third offence became 

 punishable with two years' imprisonment with 

 hard labour (sect. 22). 



The crown property now consists of about 

 5 1 6 acres of farm and cottage lands, while the 

 sole woods remaining under the charge of the 

 Commissioners of Woods and Forests are Salcey 

 Woods (1,247 a-cres) and Hasleborough Woods 

 (489 acres). The sale of the timber from these 

 realized ^^1,441 and fj'i.'^ respectively in 1899, 

 which is somewhat below the average returns for 

 a few years previous. The income from timber, 

 thinnings, and underwood in 1888-89 was 

 ^2,508.^ 



The existing woodlands of this county, aggre- 

 gating about 28,017 acres, chiefly form parts of 

 the estates of the great landowners, of whom 

 the largest are Mr. G. C. W. Fitzwilliam, 

 the duke of Buccleuch, Earl Spencer, K.G., 

 Lady Wantage, the marquis of Exeter, the 

 duke of Grafton, and the marquis of North- 

 ampton. Deducting the 1,736 acres of woods 

 on the crown lands, there are 26,281 acres 

 of woodland belonging to private land-owners. 

 But as to the precise extent of the woods on 

 the different estates, or as to the nature, age 

 and treatment of the different kinds of high- 

 woods, copses, and coppices, the statistics at our 

 disposal are scanty and incomplete. 



For the purpose of making this article as com- 

 plete as is practicable, endeavours have been 

 made to obtain information from all the principal 

 landowners regarding (i) the acreage of wood- 

 land and the ages of different portions ; (2) the 

 nature of the woodcrops, and the kind of trees ; 

 (3) the system of management adopted for 



' Appendix to Report from Select Committee on 

 Woods and Forests, etc. 26 July, 1889, p. 234. 



350 



