FORESTRY 



before the time of Henry II. And that the jurors referred to the reign of his grandfather can 

 hardly be in doubt, if we consider the character and fiscal policy of Henry I and the parallel case of 

 the forest of Essex. 1 Fosbrooke, however, in his History of Glouceitenhirt * quotes the finding of a 

 jury about 1300 that the extension of the Forest of Dean was due to King John. But this statement 

 was erroneous, or at best only partially correct, as we gather from other records* that in the anarchy 

 of Stephen's reign his predecessor's additions to the forests were allowed to lapse, and only under the 

 stronger Angevins was the enforcement of the forest law revived within the extended limits. 

 An entry in the Pipe Roll * of 1130 records that Hugh, the son of William FitzNorman the 

 Domesday holder of Dene, rendered account of the profits of the Forest of Dean and the 

 enclosures (haiii) of Hereford* to the amount of 13. In the next reign the defection of 

 Miles of Gloucester from Stephen to the empress won from Maud a grant in fee of the castle of 

 St. Briavel and the whole of the Forest of Dean.* On Miles' death, 7 the castle and the forest 

 were no doubt claimed by his son Roger, who had little to fear from the weakness of Stephen. 

 But it is significant that on Roger of Hereford's submission to Henry Plantagenet the castle of 

 St. Briavel and the Forest of Dean were excepted by name from the lands which Miles had held 

 and which were now granted afresh to his son. 



The constable of St. Briavcl's Castle appointed by the Crown was usually warden also of the 

 Forest of Dean, and the Pipe Rolls of Henry II and his sons abound in references not only to the 

 regular profits of the Forest of Dean, but also to the large amercements derived from the rigorous 

 enforcement of the forest laws within its extended boundaries. 8 



The period from 1217, the year when the Charter of the Forests was granted, till 1301, when 

 the bounds of Dean and other forests were reduced to nearly the ancient limits of the Conqueror's 

 days, furnishes abundant matter for the historian and a very small selection of illustrative details from 

 inquisitions and plea-rolls can alone be given here. 



Among the King's Remembrancer's records in the Exchequer has been preserved a very early 

 estimate of the profits * of the forest of ' St. Breavell ' or Dean which is attributed to the reign of 

 Henry III, and some of the items mentioned throw a welcome light on the economy of the forest. 

 The annual rent with the weirs was 44 in. lod. The customs duty for every load or seam of 

 sea-coal crossing the Severn was fixed at one halfpenny, and this was farmed 10 to Payn of Lydney 

 for 24. The toll on the forest road to Gloucester only brought in 2Of. Considerable income was 

 derived not only from the fees paid by owners of ' forgee forincece' 11 within the forest, but from the 

 leasing of mines of coal and iron. Besides these there were apparently mines in the king's hands and 

 a royal forge returned as worth 50 a year, but as to this last item a finding on inquisition which 

 was attached to the estimate is instructive. The jurors were asked to determine how much wood 

 had to be furnished to keep the forge at work, and what relation the value of the timber granted 

 bore to the issues of the forge. The verdict returned was that each week two and sometimes three 

 oaks were required, and that the value of the timber granted much exceeded the profits and issues of 

 the forge. 



The windfallen timber and branches (cablicium et ceptrones vento proitrata) were estimated to bring 

 in about 10 per annum, but much depended on the season. The pannage fees produced about 

 twice as much, and the perquisites of the forest and hallmote of St. Briavel locw. An entry of 



' For this see J. H. Round, Geoffrey de JAandevllle, 'Appendix on Forest of Essex,' and V.C.H. Essex, ii, 

 ' Forestry.' 



1 Page 98. Cf. Forest Proc. Exch. Tr. of Rec. 255. 



' Cf. Verdict of the ' leet before the foresters of fee ' in 1 300, and note the very specific statement as to 

 the similar history of the Staffordshire forests, Forest Proc. Anc. Chanc. 45. 



4 Ed. Hunter, 77. 



* It may be noted that according to Close iz Hen. Ill, m. loJ. the Bishop of Hereford had a 'chacia ' 

 in Laxpeniard Wood parcel of the forest. In the reign of Edw. I, about 1 300, the regarders found that part 

 of Dean overlapped into Herefordshire ; Forest Proc. Exch. Tr. of Rec. 255. 



* Round, Geoffrey de Mandevillt, 56. 



' He had been slain by a chance arrow shot at a deer, while under excommunication by the Bishop of 

 Hereford. The foundation of the Cistercian abbey of St. Mary de Dene (Flaxley) by Roger wa doubtless 

 part of the post-mortem rehabilitation of his father ; see Introduction to Cartel, of Flaxley, passim. 



' The Pipe RR. I and 2 John are particularly interesting in this respect. Among many entries may be 

 noted the case of William de Huntele who was fined 2 marks for the loss of the first regard of the Forest of 

 Dean which was burnt in his house, and that of the Lady of Blakeney who paid z marks ' ut carbonarii Regis 

 amoveantur de baillia sua.' Some at least of the bailiwick* mentioned in the regard of 1282 were already 

 in existence. 



* Forest Proc. Exch. K.R. ^. 



" As the customs duty paid on every seam of iron-ore was also one halfpenny it is probable, although not 

 directly stated here, that this farm included both coal and iron ; cf. article on ' Mining ' in the present volume. 



" Of these there were at the time twenty-six for the whole forest, a number trebled by the early yean of 

 Edw. I. 



267 



