DUFFIELD FRITH 183 



wild Peak district the bounds of the forest were only known 

 from encircling rivers or streams, or from boundary stones 

 and crosses ; and there was but one kind of park, namely, 

 the great stone enclosure of Champion or Campana. Con- 

 trariwise, Duffield Forest had pales all round it, which the 

 adjacent tenants were bound to keep in repair, and it abounded 

 in a number of separately paled and specially preserved parks. 



The Peak Forest was never in any way wooded throughout 

 by far the larger part of its area ; but Duffield was wooded 

 almost everywhere when first it came into the hands of the 

 Ferrers. Nevertheless, in the stonier stretches of parts of 

 Duffield and Colebrook wards there must have been much 

 that was always thinly covered with undergrowth, whilst a 

 considerable part of the area had no resemblance to what is 

 now understood as forest by the time that it became part 

 of the earldom of Lancaster. 



The singularly full accounts of the opening years of 

 Edward II. show that Duffield Frith not only included within 

 its area a great number of parks, which were the special 

 homes of the deer though the park fences, whilst excluding 

 cattle, etc., permitted them to wander at will through other 

 parts of the forest but also cow pastures, small sheep walks, 

 coal mines, and iron forges. 



As to the parks, they were thus distributed in the time of 

 Edward I., and remained so (save for the speedily extinguished 

 Champagne park) until the seventeenth century. Ravensdale 

 (where was the central lodge or manor house of the whole 

 forest) and Mansell parks, in Hulland ward ; Champagne, 

 Postern, and part of Shottle park, in Duffield ward ; Milnhay 

 (not always reckoned as a park, but separately paled) and the 

 larger part of Shottle park, in Colebrook ward ; and Lady 

 or Little Helper and Morley parks, in Helper ward. 



In an account of Helper ward for 1272-3 occurs the earliest 

 known mention of the chapel adjoining the Helper manor 

 house, which was expressly founded for the use of the foresters. 

 John, the chaplain who celebrated at that chapel, held 7 acres 

 and i rood of demesne land in Fishyard, in lieu of rent of 

 nine cottages built on 3 acres of land that had been previously 

 granted to the Helper chaplain. 



At a Helper woodmote court of 1304, various offenders pre- 



