18 THE ROYAL FORESTS OF ENGLAND 



lack of due property qualification within the forest. The 

 verderers were always men of some position, and frequently 

 knights ; they had no salary, and perquisites of any kind 

 were the exception. They varied in number ; in the smaller 

 forests there were only two ; four seems to have been the 

 average, but in Sherwood there were six. It was the verderer's 



VERDERER'S SLAB 

 TWELFTH CENTURY 



Chelmorton, Derbyshire 



FORESTER'S SLAB 

 TWELFTH CENTURY 



Wirksworth, Derbyshire 



duty to view, receive, and enroll all manner of attachments 

 for vert or venison trespass ; and he had to attend all forest 

 courts and take the leading part under the steward or keeper 

 at the swainmotes. In the swainmotes, the verderers were the 

 judges in all vert cases of the value of 2cl. or under ; this was 

 afterwards raised to 4^. 



The verderer's symbol of office was an axe. In several 

 forests, as in Duffield, there was a chief verderer, styled the 



