The Forest of Dartmoor is an ancient royal forest covering part of Dartmoor, Devon, England.
A royal forest was an area reserved by the king for hunting, and William the Conqueror introduced the concept of forest law in England in the 11th century. [1] Until 1204 the whole of Devon was a royal forest, but in that year King John agreed (subject to the payment by the county's commonality of a "fine" of 5,000 marks) to disafforest all of Devon "up to the metes of the ancient regardes of Dertemore and Exmore, as these regardes were in the time of King Henry the First". In other words, all of Devon except for Dartmoor and Exmoor was freed from forest law. [2]
This disafforestation was confirmed by King Henry III in 1217, [3] and in 1239 he granted the Forest of Dartmoor (and the Manor of Lydford) to his brother, Richard, Earl of Cornwall. From that date it technically became a chase, not a forest, though the name did not change. [4] The next year, in a writ dated 13 June 1240, the king directed the Sheriff of Devon and twelve knights of the county to perambulate the Forest to record its exact bounds. This was because Richard had been in dispute with four knights who owned land adjoining the forest. The perambulation (known ever since as "the 1240 Perambulation") took place on 24 July 1240. [3] It was around this time that the first of the Ancient Tenements, such as Babeny, were founded within the Forest. [5]
Richard's son, Edmund inherited the forest, but when he died in 1300 with no heir, the forest reverted to The Crown. King Edward II granted it to his favourite, Piers Gaveston, in 1308; on Gaveston's beheading in 1312, it reverted to The Crown again. [6] Then in 1337 King Edward III granted the forest to Edward, the Black Prince, at the same time as he created him the first Duke of Cornwall, [3] and today, the forest still belongs to the Duchy of Cornwall. [1] A walk that follows the forest bounds as far as possible was set up in 1982. [7]
Although the original document detailing the route of the 1240 Perambulation has been lost, a number of near-contemporary copies still exist, differing only in spelling. [3] A modern transcription of the places mentioned is as follows: [7] [8]
Original text of 1240 (alternative spellings in brackets) | Modern placename | Notes |
---|---|---|
…ad hogam de Cossdonne | Cosdon | A prominent hill on the northern edge of Dartmoor |
et inde linealiter usque ad parvam hogam que vocatur parva Hundetorre, | Hound Tor | |
et inde linealiter usque ad Thurlestone, | Watern Tor | |
et inde linealiter usque ad Wotesbrokelakesfote que cadit in Tyng, | Hew Lake Foot | |
et inde linealiter usque ad Heigheston (Hengheston) | The Longstone on Shovel Down | A Bronze Age standing stone |
et inde linealiter usque ad Langestone (Yessetone) | The Heath Stone | |
et inde linealiter usque per mediam turbariam de Alberysheved (Aberesheved) | The marsh at the head of the Metheral Brook | |
et sic in longum Wallebroke | Acknowledged to be a scribe's error [9] | |
et inde linealiter usque ad Furnum regis | King's Oven | |
et inde linealiter usque ad Wallebrokeshede | The head of the Walla Brook | |
et sic in longum Wallebroke usque cadit in Dertam, | Along the Walla Brook to its confluence with the East Dart River | |
et sic per Dertam usque ad aliam Dertam, | Dartmeet | |
et sic per aliam Dertam ascendendo usque Okebrokysfote, | Up the West Dart River to the foot of the O Brook | |
et sic ascendendo Okebroke usque ad la Dryeworke, | Up the O Brook to Dry Lake | A tinner's gulley |
et ita ascendendo usque ad la Dryfeld ford, | The Sandy Way | |
et sic inde linealiter usque ad Battyshull (Cattyshill, Gnattishull) | Ryder's Hill | |
et inde linealiter usque ad caput de Wester Wellabroke | The head of the Weston Wella Brook | |
et sic per Wester Wellabroke usque cadit in Avenam, | Down the Weston Wella Brook to its confluence with the River Avon | |
et inde linealiter usque ad Ester Whyteburghe | Eastern Whittabarrow | A large cairn |
et inde linealiter usque ad la Redelake (Rodelake) que cadit in Erme | The confluence of Red Lake and the River Erme | |
et inde linealiter usque ad Grymsgrove | The head of the River Erme | |
et inde linealiter usque ad Elysburghe | Eylesbarrow | |
et sic linealiter usque at crucem Sywardi | Nun's Cross | |
et inde usque ad Ysfother | South Hessary Tor | |
et sic per aliam Ysfother | North Hessary Tor | |
et inde per mediam Mystor (Mistmore) | Great Mis Tor | |
usque ad Mewyburghe | White Barrow | |
et inde usque ad Lullingesfote (Hullingssete) | Limsboro Cairn | |
et inde usque ad Rakernesbrokysfote, | The confluence of the Rattle Brook and the River Tavy | |
et sic ad caput ejusdem aque | Up the Rattle Brook to its head | |
et deinde usque ad la Westsolle | Stenga Tor | |
et inde linealiter usque ad Ernestorre | High Willhays [10] | Some sources say this is Yes Tor |
et inde linealiter usque at vadum proximum in orientali parte capelle Sancti Michaelis de Halgestoke | Halstock Chapel | |
et inde linealiter usque ad predictum hogam de Cossdonne in orientali parte | Return to Cosdon |
There was another perambulation of the forest bounds in 1608 which introduced a number of changes and added boundary points between the existing ones. [11] The exact boundaries continued to be unclear or disputed until the later 19th century. [12]
Dartmoor is an upland area in southern Devon, South West England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers 954 km2 (368 sq mi).
The industrial archaeology of Dartmoor covers a number of the industries which have, over the ages, taken place on Dartmoor, and the remaining evidence surrounding them. Currently only three industries are economically significant, yet all three will inevitably leave their own traces on the moor: china clay mining, farming and tourism.
Dartmeet is a popular tourist spot in the centre of Dartmoor, Devon, England at grid reference SX672731.
Fox Tor is a relatively minor tor on Dartmoor in the county of Devon, England.
The Ancient Tenements are the oldest surviving farms in Dartmoor, England, established during the 14th century and possibly earlier.
A stannary was an administrative division established under stannary law in the English counties of Cornwall and Devon to manage the collection of tin coinage, which was the duty payable on the metal tin smelted from the ore cassiterite mined in the region. In Cornwall, the duty was passed to the Duchy of Cornwall; in Devon to the Crown.
North Hessary Tor is a 517 metres hill just above Dartmoor Prison, in Princetown within Dartmoor Forest civil parish, which is in the borough of West Devon, Devon, England. The tor is one of the boundary points mentioned in the perambulations of the Forest of Dartmoor.
Beating the bounds or perambulating the bounds is an ancient custom still observed in parts of England, Wales, and the New England region of the United States, which traditionally involved swatting local landmarks with branches to maintain a shared mental map of parish boundaries, usually every seven years.
Lydford Castle is a medieval castle in the town of Lydford, Devon, England. The first castle in Lydford, sometimes termed the Norman fort, was a small ringwork built in a corner of the Anglo-Saxon fortified burh in the years after the Norman conquest of England. It was intended to help control Devon following the widespread revolt against Norman rule in 1068. The Norman fort had been abandoned by the middle of the 12th century.
At 515 m, Ryder's Hill is the highest point on the southern part of Dartmoor, Devon, England. On its summit there are two standing stones and a low cairn, on top of which is a triangulation pillar.
Events from the 1240s in England.
Isabel de Forz was the eldest daughter of Baldwin de Redvers, 6th Earl of Devon (1217–1245). On the death of her brother Baldwin de Redvers, 7th Earl of Devon, in 1262, without children, she inherited suo jure the earldom and also the feudal barony of Plympton in Devon, and the lordship of the Isle of Wight. After the early death of her husband and her brother, before she was thirty years old, she inherited their estates and became one of the richest women in England, living mainly in Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight, which she held from the king as tenant-in-chief.
The Dartmoor crosses are a series of stone crosses found in Dartmoor National Park in the centre of Devon, England. Many of them are old navigational aids, needed because of the remoteness of the moorland and its typically bad weather. Some mark medieval routes between abbeys. Other crosses were erected as memorials, for prayer, as town or market crosses, in churchyards, and as boundary markers. The crosses were erected over a long period of time, some as recently as 100 years ago, the earliest probably almost 1,000 years ago.
Sheepstor is a village, civil parish and former manor on the western side of Dartmoor in the county of Devon, England. In 2001, its population was 53, down from 95 in 1901. For administrative purposes the parish is grouped with the parishes of Meavy and Walkhampton to form Burrator Parish Council, and for electoral purposes it is grouped with the same two parishes to form Burrator Ward. Burrator Reservoir, constructed in 1898, is to the north of the village and forms part of the northern boundary of the parish.
Feckenham Forest was a royal forest, centred on the village of Feckenham, covering large parts of Worcestershire and west Warwickshire. It was not entirely wooded, nor entirely the property of the King. Rather, the King had legal rights over game, wood and grazing within the forest, and special courts imposed harsh penalties when these rights were violated. Courts and the forest gaol were located at Feckenham and executions took place at Gallows Green near Hanbury.
Tor Royal is a Grade II listed building near Princetown, Dartmoor, in the English county of Devon. Built between 1785 and 1793 by Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt, it was added to in c.1815–20, and restored by A. E. Richardson in 1912.
Cosdon Hill, also called Cosdon Beacon, or Cawsand Beacon, is one of the highest hills on Dartmoor, in Devon, England. It has numerous traces of prehistoric occupation.
The Stannary Convocation of Devon, also known as the Great Parliament of the Tinners or as the Devon Stannary Parliament, was an assembly in the English county of Devon, with the power to amend and expand the stannary law in the county. Initially assembled in the Middle Ages by the Lord Warden of the Stannaries, the Stannary Convocation developed out of the predecessor to the judicial Courts of the Vice-Warden of the Stannaries but was established as an institution in its own right by the sixteenth century, with the power to both proclaim the existing customs as English law and to legislate regarding the laws by which tinners, who were exempt from the jurisdiction of the ordinary English courts until 1896, conducted their business.
The Lustleigh Cleave is a steep sided valley above the River Bovey in the parish of Lustleigh on Dartmoor. The cleave has been noted for its beauty since the 1800s, and features extensively in guidebooks.