NOTTINGHAMSHIRE. 203 
diftrift was originally conftituted a foreftis unknown, but 
that event mull have occurred previous to the time of 
Henry II. as, in the firft year of that monarch’s reign, it 
appears, from official records, that William Peverel was 
called upon to anfwer “ De Placitis Foreftae in Comitatu 
Nottingham.” At that time Peverel had the whole profit 
and command of this fored ; but it mud foon afterwards 
have reverted to the crown, for in 1161 the flier iff of the 
county prays to be difcharged of “ 4I. in vado foredse ;” 
and in 1163 he prays for a fimilar difcharge, and for the 
difcharge of “ 40). paid to the canons of Shirewood for 
alms.” In the Fored-books is inferred a copy of a charter 
by king John, granting to Matilda de Caux, ana Ralph 
Fitzdephen her hufband, and their heirs, all the liberties 
and free cudoms which any of the ancedors of the faid 
Matilda, lords of Laxton, had held in Nottinghamfhire, 
including the fored of Shirewood. The fame rights af¬ 
terwards fell to John Birking, as heir-general to Matilda 
de Caux ; and in 1220 the fored is mentioned as being- 
then in poll'effion of his fon ; but this line failing, it de- 
fcended to the family of the Everinghams, who, having lod 
their poffellions by forfeiture in the reign of Edward I. it 
reverted to the crown. Since that time, its civil jurifdic- 
tion has been generally veded in the fheriffs of the county, 
and its fored-juridlifiion only granted to various indivi¬ 
duals among the nobility and gentry, as fpecial marks of 
royal favour. An inquifition taken before Geoffrey de 
Langley, in the reign lad mentioned, illudrates the cuf- 
toms of this fored. By it the chief keeper appears to 
have been obliged tq.have three deputy-keepers for alike 
number of diftri&s^ in order to attach all trefpaffies, and 
prefent them at the attachment before the verdurers. In 
the firlf keeping, which lay between the rivers Lene and 
Doverbeck, he was to have one foreder riding with a 
page, and two foreders on foot, two verdurers, and two 
a°ifters. This keeping contained the three hays of Balk- 
wood, Lindeby, and Willay. The High Forelt, includ¬ 
ing the hays of Birkland and Bilhagh, and the park of 
Clipdone, formed thefecond keeping; and here were two 
foreders riding, with two pages, and two agiders. The 
third keeping, Rumwode, had one foreder on foot; two 
woodwards, one at Carburton, and the other at Budby ; 
and the fame number of verdurers and agiders. The chief 
keeper was further bound to have a page bearing his bow, 
whofe duty it was to gather “ chiminage,” which is ufu- 
ally fuppofed to have been a tax for the formation and pre- 
fervation of roads. 
By the lad furvey made of this fored, in 1609, it was 
parcelled out into three walks, called the North, Middle, 
and South, Walks. The foreft-officers, under the fuper- 
intendance of the chief-judice in eyre north of Trent, are 
a lord-warden, a bow-bearer, and ranger, four verdurers, 
-a deward,-and nine keepers, befides two (worn woodwards 
for Sutton and Carleton. The furvey or-general of the 
woods has likewife a jurifdidtion over this fored, as far as 
regards the wood and timber of the crown. He has a de¬ 
puty in the fored, who has a fee-tree yearly, and a falary 
of 20I. Thorney-wood Chace, though a branch of this 
fored, is didinft from it in jiiril'didion, having been 
granted by queen Elizabeth to John Stanhope, elq. and 
his heirs, as hereditary keepers. This chace comprehends 
a large portion of the fouth walk, and was formerly well 
docked with fallow-deer; but thefe, of late years, have 
greatly diminiffied in number. Of the ancient wood-land 
in this extenfive trad, little remains except in the hays 
of Birkland and Bilhagh, which form an open wood of 
large old oaks, covering about 1500 acres of ground; but 
modern plantations have lately increafed rapidly; and 
there are, in different didrifts and parks, a few trees re¬ 
markable alike for their great age and magnitude. In 
Clipdone-park is an immenfe oak, called the parliament- 
oak, from a tradition that a parliament was affembled here 
by Edward I. and in the fame park is another tree, dyled 
the broad-oak, the bole of which meafures 27^ feet in 
circumference. Many of thefe venerable oaks may like¬ 
wife be feen in Welbeck-park, on the fkirts of the foraft, 
where fome of them are upwards of 34. feet round. Rooke, 
in his Sketch of the Fored, mentions a recent difcovery 
of a very curious mode of alcertaining the great anti¬ 
quity of fome of thefe trees. He tells us that, in cutting 
down fome timber in Birkland and Bilhagh, letters were 
found cut or damped in the body of the trees, denoting 
the king’s reign in which they were fo marked. The ci¬ 
phers were of king John, James I. and William and Mary. 
The mark of John was eighteen inches within the tree, 
and about a foot from the centre ; it was cut down in 
1791 ; now the middle of John’s reign was 1207, from 
which if we fubtraft 120, the number of years requifite 
for a tree of two feet diameter to arrive at that growth, 
it will make the date of its planting 1087. 
The fored of Shirewood was, in ancient times, fre¬ 
quently the feene of royal amufement. As early as the 
reign of Henry II. Mansfield was the general refidence 
of the court upon thefe occafions; and it was in this vi¬ 
cinity, according to tradition, that Henry made acquaint¬ 
ance with the miller of famous memory, fir John Cockle. 
This fored was likewife the retreat of another perfonage, 
equally celebrated in the chronicle of ballad, the iiluf- 
rrious Robin Hood, who, with Little John and the reft 
of his affbeiates, making the woody feenes of it their afy- 
lum, laid the whole county under contribution : 
The merry pranks they play’d would a Ik an age to tell, 
And the adventures ftrange that Robin Hood befell; 
When Mansfield many a time for Robin hath been laid, 
How' he hath coufen’d them that him would have betray’d : 
How often he hath come to Nottingham difguis’d, 
And cunningly efcap’d being let to be furpris’d. 
In this our fpacious ille I think there is not one 
But he hath heard lame talk of him and Little John ; 
And to the end of time the tales ffiall ne’er be done. 
Of Scarlock, George-a-Green, and Much the miller’s fon. 
Drayton's Polyolbiou. 
The antiquities, properly fo called, of Nottinghamfhire, 
are neither fo numerous nor lb important as in molt of 
the central counties of England. The only Britilh.camp 
is that at Barton, about four miles fouth-weft of Notting¬ 
ham ; but at Oxton there are three large tumuli, one of 
which was bpened by the late major Rooke, and found to 
contain an iron urn, filled with allies and burnt bones, a 
large fword with a wooden fcabbard, two daggers, and a 
great variety of glafs beads. On the fummiTof the hills 
called Robin Hood’s Hills, is a feat, cut out of the folid 
rock, which is faid by fome to have been the work of 
Robin; but others regard it as of much higher antiquity. 
Roman remains are more frequent than Britilh ; and no 
doubt that people had many Rations within this county, 
of which the principal were Verometum near Willoughby, 
Margidunum near Bingham, and Scgelocum at Littiebo- 
rough. Crocolana was fituated on the verge of the county, 
partly within it and partly in Lincolnlhire. The two firft- 
mentioned Rations were fituated on the Fofteway, which, 
entering the county from Leicefterfhire, croffes the Ennin- 
ftreet from London to York. This road may be eafily 
traced for many miles along the wolds, and is literally a 
fpfle. In the forelts are many veftiges of military roads, 
which run invariably in a north-welt direction, and have 
exploratory camps fituated, at intervals, dole to them. 
On Holly-hill, near Arnold, in Sherwood Foreft, may be 
feen a very large encampment, fuppofed to have been the 
central depot of the Roman forces in this diftrict, as, from 
its height, it commands a view over all the exploratory 
camps around. Gale conjeftured that Nottingham was 
the Caufennis of Antoninus, but without fufficient au¬ 
thority. Some notices of the caves in the vicinity of that 
town will be found under the article Nottingham ; and 
for other particulars as to the trade and manufactures, &c. 
of this county, fee the articles Mansfield, Newark, 
Southwell, and Worksop. See alfo Thoroton’s Hilt, 
of Nottinghamfhire, by Tlirofby, 1799. Lowe’s General 
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