WHERE A NORMAN FELL. 147 
years the Norman Conquest the soil of England 
consisted, over nearly two-thirds of its surface, of 
either wood, scrub, heath, or moor, a large por- 
tion in all probability being woodland. Accord- 
ing to its legal designation the word < forest’ 
meant a large space consisting of woodland and 
pasture, chiefly appropriated for the use of the 
King ; a ‘chase’ being a space of the same cha- 
racter but of smaller extent, suitable for and 
capable of being held by a subject; whilst a 
‘park’ was an enclosed space generally of small 
size. Forest and chase were open and unen- | 
closed, the resort of, and appropriated for, wild 
animals and fowl, and suitable for the hunting- 
ground respectively of King and subject. But, 
of course, access to no woodland was barred to 
the Sovereign—the ‘lord paramount’ under the 
feudal system. In England there were included 
in William the Conqueror’s domain about sixty- 
eight ‘forests,’ thirteen ‘chases,’ and seven 
hundred and eighty-one ‘parks.’ Amongst the 
largest spaces—the King’s hunting-grounds— 
were, naming them in alphabetical order, the 
forests of Dartmoor, Dean, Richmond, Rock- 
