Today’s "Tale from Watnall Hall" looks at this coloured picture of a "woodman" and his dog that hung in Watnall Hall until it was auctioned off in 1954. The picture is an echo of the hall's own history. It takes us back to the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1st in 1600 when the old hall was still entwined in the verdant arms and forest laws of ancient Sherwood Forest...
The woodman is heading off into the forest to carry out his daily duties. Watnall Hall's resident back then was the first Lancelot Rolleston (there's been 8 of them over the years) and he was an important part of Sherwood Forest's administration team. Men like the woodman pictured here were employed by the forest officials to patrol and care for the forest. It was an illustration for William Cowper's "Tasks" poem part of which describes a woodman with his pipe and his hound. His dog's antics will sound familiar even to today's dog walkers!
A fine stipple engraving by Francesco Bartolozzi after the painting by
Barker of Bath, illustrating Cowper's fifth task book. English circa 1800.
"The Woodman"
Forth goes the woodman, leaving unconcerned
The cheerful haunts of man ; to wield the axe
And drive the wedge in yonder forest drear,
From morn to eve his solitary task.
Shaggy, and lean, and shrewd, with pointed ears
And tail cropp'd short, half lurcher and half cur,
His dog attends him. Close behind his heel
Now creeps he slow ; and now, with many a frisk
Wide scampering, snatches up the drifted snow
With ivory teeth, or ploughs it with his snout ;
Then shakes his powder' d coat, and barks for joy.
Heedless of all his pranks, the sturdy churl
Moves right toward the mark ; nor stops for aught,
But now and then with pressure of his thumb
To adjust the fragrant charge of a short tube,
That fumes beneath his nose : the trailing cloud
Streams far behind him, scenting all the air.
In 1600, the forest would have been an important source of work and resources for the residents of Watnall (or "Watnowe" as it was called then). The new Lord of the Manor, Lancelot Rolleston, had just moved into Watnall Hall. He was an important part of the admin team in the forest. In 1598 he had been a member of...
"a Commission [that] sat in Mansfield to enquire into the condition of Sherwood Forest. The Commissioners were Mr. William Cartwright, Mr. Lancelot Rolleston, Mr. James Leake, Mr.William Lyndesby, and Mr. Gervase Wyeld [a Verderer of the forest]. At this time, Mansfield Wood [a sub-division of Sherwood Forest] contained 480 oaks of more than 200 years’ growth".
Lancelot's everyday life was intimately governed by the ancient laws and rituals of the forest. "Forest" was a legal term, and meant an area subject to special Royal laws designed to protect the valuable resources of timber and game (Vert and Venison) within its boundaries. These laws were strictly and severely imposed by agisters, foresters, verderers, wardens and rangers, who were all were employed by the Crown. Notorious or persistent law breakers could be punished by being placed outside the protection of the law¹ so becoming that most famous of Sherwood rogues, an "outlaw". Lancelot also carried out stock checks of the deer in the local area as part of his responsibilities.
Another famous image of a woodman/hunter, from the same period, can be found in Annesley. A brass rubbing from Annesley old church shows a picture of a typical woodman of the period, called William Breton, out hunting with longbow, arrows, knife and trusty hound. He lived to almost 100 years of age. Obviously it was a healthy life out in the woods!
The rare brass was analysed in an early Thoroton article... "This brass is in many respects unique and possesses features of special interest. Taken as a whole it falls into a class of brasses that illustrate incident; such brasses are by no means common. The brass represents William Breton on a hunting expedition accompanied by his hound. He is habited in a long skirted coat with tight fitting breeches and I should suppose hose, (but unfortunately the brass is in but an indifferent condition and some of the details are not quite clear), boots and a stiff felt hat. The hat is very similar to that sometimes represented on brasses as worn by ladies of this period. In his left hand he carries a long bow, a weapon much used in the chase even in the days when firearms were becoming generally used, on account of its silent discharge. In his right hand he holds an arrow which he is about to fit to the bow. Three other arrows are shown stuck through his belt. On the left side he carries a curved, broad-bladed couteau-de-chase, and on a long leash, also attached to his belt, is his dog.
One naturally compares this brass with that to John Selwyn, 1587, at Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, who was "Gentleman., Keeper of her Majestie's Park of Otelande" (Oatland Palace), who, on a separate plate between the figure of himself and wife, is represented seated on a stag which he is about to kill with his hunting sword. He is dressed in precisely the same manner as Breton with the exception of the hat, which, in Selwyn’s case, has a flat crown. This costume was evidently that of a huntsman, as contemporary brasses to civilians show the ordinary dress which is entirely different. The representation of the long bow is also of interest. I can call to mind no other example in which the principal figure is shown armed with this weapon. Other brasses to hunters are at Baldock, Herts., c. 1420, and Hunsdon, Herts., 1591, to James Grey."
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| John Selwyn, 1587, at Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, who was "Gentleman., Keeper of her Majestie's Park of Otelande" (Oatland Palace) |
The full story of Watnall Hall and Lancelot Rolleston's links to Sherwood Forest can be read here...
Lancelot's own life story can be read here in the Rolleston family tree article...
Sources and notes
1954 auction catalogue https://watnallhall.blogspot.com/2024/02/the-1954-watnall-hall-auction.html; Watnall Hall and the Rollestons - T.Horton 2000; Laws of the Forest and officials https://www.mercian-as.co.uk/1287.html; Thoroton Society online articles resource provided by the Archaeology Data Service https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/library/browse/series.xhtml?recordId=244&recordType=Journal
1 - Forest law - The Magna Carta and the Charter of the Forest
The Charter of the Forest: your guide to the 13th-century law
Two years after the issuing of Magna Carta, another piece of landmark legislation that curbed the monarchy's power received royal approval. Rhiannon Davies explores how the Charter of the Forest came about, what it changed, and why its legacy can still be felt to this day...
What was the Charter of the Forest?
The Charter of the Forest was a piece of legislation issued in 1217 on behalf of King Henry III, England’s 10-year-old monarch. The Charter curbed the unbridled power of the monarchy over England’s forests and reasserted the rights of the common people. Since the Norman Conquest of 1066, England’s kings had been able to seize swathes of forest and turn them into hunting grounds, or Royal Forests, meant exclusively for their use. (It’s worth noting that at this time, a ‘forest’ was not quite what we would think of today – it could also refer to heaths, moorland, fields and even villages and towns in rural areas.) This had deeply frustrated the barons, who were unable to develop land unless the king granted them the right to do so. It also caused great misery for the common folk, who had traditionally used the forests to sustain themselves – cutting down trees for firewood and to build their huts; gathering water from streams; foraging for vegetables, fruits and nuts; and hunting the game that darted through the undergrowth.
What changes did the Charter of the Forest herald?
The Charter contained 17 clauses, which were all centred around issues connected to forest land. It drastically reduced the amount of Royal Forest, by vowing that all land that had been claimed as royal hunting grounds by Henry II, King John and Richard the Lionheart would be “disafforested” if it was not legally part of their estates. It also reinstated the forest’s status as common land, meant for the use of the community.
According to the Charter, “every free man” could gather firewood there and was entitled to “conduct his pigs through our… wood freely and without impediment”. Moreover, every person that resided in the forest was allowed to “make in his wood or in land he has in the forest a mill, a preserve, a pond, a marl-pit, a ditch, or arable outside the covert in arable land, on condition that it does not harm any neighbour.”
Thus, the Charter took power out of the hands of the king and returned it to the people who lived and worked in the forests. This was a watershed moment in England’s history: rights had been granted to the nobility and clergy before, but never to the common people.
How is the Charter of the Forest linked to Magna Carta?
In 1215, when Magna Carta (then called the ‘Charter of Liberties’) was sealed by King John, it included four clauses related to the Royal Forests: as well as signalling improvements to the enforcing of Forest Law, there was also a vow to turn the Royal Forests John had created back into common land, as well as the riverbanks he had claimed for his own. However, the document was quickly repealed, and in 1217 the new boy king – Henry III – issued a fresh version. This time, though, there was one major change. All four clauses relating to the forest were removed from the original document, expanded upon and put into a new charter: the Charter of the Forest. At the time, this newly created charter was seen as just as important as Magna Carta. While Magna Carta was largely devoted to the problems that affected society’s elites, the Charter of the Forest was more useful to everyday people – most of all for those whose homes were in, or close to, a Royal Forest.
How did the Normans change the use of forests in England?
In 1066, William the Conqueror and his Norman followers totally transformed England’s forests. William brought the French tradition of Royal Forests – land that was marked out as royal hunting grounds, where the monarch could come to shoot deer and spear fish – to his newly conquered territory. These Royal Forests sprung up all over England: by 1086, around 25 of them had been created, including Sherwood Forest and the New Forest. The kings who succeeded William continued this practice, with each monarch creating more Royal Forests. Henry II in particular claimed huge swathes of land, as he apparently found great solace in his monumental hunting grounds. His royal treasurer, Richard fitz Nigel, commented: “In the forests are the kings’ retreats and their greatest delights. For they go there to hunt, leaving their cares behind, to refresh themselves with a little rest.”
William the Conqueror brought the French tradition of Royal Forests to his newly conquered territory. These sprung up all over England
By the early 13th century, approximately one-third of southern England had been turned into Royal Forests – and those who lived in them had to adhere to the onerous Forest Law. This law was meant to protect the royal hunting ground – from the animals living there that the king would wish to hunt, to the trees that game would shelter below. Therefore, according to Forest Law, no one living on land that was designated a Royal Forest could impinge on its suitability as a hunting ground.
People were prohibited from constructing buildings, hunting animals or fish, cutting down trees or bushes, and putting their animals out to pasture. The Peterborough Chronicle stated of the Forest Law: “Powerful men complained of it and poor men lamented it.” Royal foresters were tasked with making sure that these strict regulations were followed – and those who broke Forest Law often faced serious consequences.
What were the punishments for breaking Forest Law?
Punishments were often extreme: according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, King William I decreed that the killing of deer and boar in his hunting grounds was strictly forbidden, and anyone who slew a deer “should be deprived of his eyesight”. And during Richard the Lionheart’s rule, anyone who killed a deer would be blinded and mutilated – although Richard was only in England for a handful of months throughout his entire reign, and he rarely went on hunts when he was in the country.
As well as corporal punishment, fines were often imposed on those who broke Forest Law. If a royal forester couldn’t track down the individual who had flouted Forest Law, they could fine the whole community. These hefty fiscal penalties went straight into the royal coffers: John, for example, received a large portion of his income from them.
The Charter of the Forest lessened the severity of punishments, although the killing of deer was still deemed illegal, as they all belonged to the monarch. As the tenth clause of the Charter stated: “No one shall henceforth lose life or limb because of our venison, but if anyone has been arrested and convicted of taking venison he shall be fined heavily if he has the means; and if he has not the means, he shall lie in our prison for a year and a day.”
How long did the Charter of the Forest remain part of English law?
The Charter has the accolade of being the longest-standing statute in England’s history. On 11 February 1225 Henry III issued his final version of Magna Carta – along with a revised version of the Charter of the Forest, which is now regarded as the definitive version.
It was reissued numerous times after this, including in 1297, when Edward I reconfirmed it and Magna Carta in the Confirmation of the Charters. He declared that the two documents would become England’s common law, and twice a year they both should be read out loud in every cathedral in the land. In 1642, the Charter was still part of law and relatively well-known, although in later centuries it faded into obscurity. The 16th/17th-century jurist and politician Sir Edward Coke reflected on the Charters: “It is called Magna Charta, not that it is great in quantity… nor comparatively in respect that it is greater than Charta de Foresta, but in respect of the great importance, and weightiness of the matter, as hereafter shall appeare: and likewise for the same cause Charta de Foresta is called Magna Charta de Foresta, and both of them are called Magnae Chartae Libertatum Angliae [Great Charters of English Liberties].”
The Charter of the Forest was only repealed in 1971, when the Wild Creatures and Forest Laws Act took its place. As part of this act, the monarchy lost its claim over “wild creatures… together with any prerogative right to set aside land or water for the breeding, support or taking of wild creatures; and any franchises of forest, free chase, park or free warren.”
What is the legacy of the Charter of the Forests today?
Even though the Charter of the Forest no longer remains part of English law, it has continued to have a huge impact – in Britain and beyond. In 2015, for instance, the UK Forestry Commission was embroiled in a case about whether sheep could graze freely in the Forest of Dean, as claimants argued that this right had been given to them by the Charter of the Forest. And in the US, the Charter has influenced laws relating to the regulation of forests and natural resources. Forests are viewed as common lands, which can be used by all who live there – this concept perhaps finds its best expression in the country’s National Parks, which are meant to be enjoyed by all citizens. Centuries on, the Charter of the Forest continues to shape how we use our land, all over the world.
https://www.historyextra.com/period/plantagenet/charter-forest-what-why-important/
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