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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.
The legal origins are not recorded, but the area may have been used by Edward the Confessor and his predecessors for hunting.Humphreys Large areas of Worcestershire were subject to forest law at the time of the Domesday Book. Forest law itself evolved greatly in the early Norman period. The forest boundaries were extended greatly during the reign of Henry II, expanding from 34 to 184 square miles. The forest boundaries were reduced back in 1301.
The wood was encroached to produce salt in Droitwich Spa, and was quite reduced by the time it was disafforested during the reign of King Charles I in 1629.V.C.H. Worcs. ii, 319., quoted in Parishes: Feckenham, A History of the County of Worcester: volume 3 (1913), pp. 111-120. The process of disafforestation created considerable social unrest and riots. A few areas of ancient forest still remain near Dodford and Chaddesley Corbett.
The underlying geology of the forest area is mostly clay or sands and gravels. There are also peatland bogs to the south of Feckenham.Worcs Council, Environmental Character Profile
Its extent prior to Henry II was around , encompassing an area with Tardebigge in the north, including Hanbury, approaching Droitwich in the west and approaching Alcester in the south east.
It was extended, along with many other forests, during Henry II's reign to encompass about . This stretched from Evesham in the south, close to Worcester, up to Droitwich and Wychbold in the west, to Stone, Chaddesley Corbett and Alvechurch in the north, and Redditch, Studley and Alcester in the east.Humphreys p120 These boundaries are described in an official Royal forest made for Edward I in 1300-1, which also sets out the then extent of the forest.
The Perambulation also recommended the reduction of the royal forest to its earlier size, to include only the Parish of Feckenham, Bradley, the western part of Hanbury, parts of Stoke Prior and Bentley Pauncefoot. Foxlydiate and Headless Cross were on the northeastern boundary.'Perambulation of the forest of Feckenham, 30 May 1300' Jean Birrell (ed.), Records of Feckenham Forest, Worcesterhire, c.1236-1377 (Worcestershire Historical Society, n.s. 21).
Disputes about the forest boundary continued. Edward II expanded the use of forest law in the 1320s, and areas again fell within expanded forest boundaries. Robert Burdet complained that his woodlands at Arrow had been re-afforested into Feckenham. His and other complaints were heard in at the king's Council in June 1326.Grant, p163
The 15th century were a period of decline of the forest courts in England, and weakness of the Crown. In 1444, Henry VI granted the Forest to Henry, Duke of Warwick to follow the male line.Grant, p169 He died a year later without an heir.
Forest law across the country was less and less enforced during the 16th century.
sheltered stocks of pheasant, partridge and woodcock. There were also fishponds near Feckenham and deer parks.
Wolves were a considerable problem in the Middle Ages. Hunters were paid to kill wolves in Worcestershire, at the rate of 3shilling in the reign of Henry III, and Edward I specifically ordered his new chief forester Peter Corbet of Chaddesley to destroy wolves in 1280:
to take and destroy in all forests and parks and other places within our counties of Glocester, Worcester, Hereford, Salop and Stafford, in which wolves are found, the wolves, with men, dogs and his own devices in every way he thinks proper. Royal Forests, JC Cox, quoted by Humphreys, p116
However, for a long time wolf populations were managed, rather than destroyed, as they were hunted for sport.Humphreys, p117 Wolves were eventually eliminated in England in the reign of Henry VII.
Some of the manors within the forest area were owned by the Bishop of Worcester, and a few were owned by the King, such as Feckenham, Inkberrow, Bromsgrove and Chaddesley Corbett. Inquisitions Post Mortem for the County of Worcester, pt ii p1; pt ii p8 ed. JW Willis Bund; quoted in Humphreys p122 Inkberrow had a royal deer park.
Land disputes are also recorded with the Abbotts of Evesham Abbey, who enclosed a large part of the forest, when it was at its greatest extent, arguing they had the right under old charters. Their wood at Sambourne was seized in 1280 as compensation.'Parishes: Sambourne', A History of the County of Warwick: Volume 3: Barlichway hundred (1945), pp. 86-88. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=56986 Date accessed: 13 February 2011.
Indeed, a great deal of the land in the forest had long been cultivated. The covert of the forest consisted of the walks of Walkwood and Berrow Wood (at Berrow Hill in Feckenham), but there were few deer, because of the great flock of sheep that grazed in the forest.Large, p 392 No less than 732 acres had been out of these by 1591.Large, 396. however, the forest was clearly a major support for those using its lands for fuel, timber and livestock. It also provided fruit.
Near the end of 1627, William Ashton and William Turnor were granted a lease of the forest in return for a fine of £4,000 and a small annual rent of £20. Ashton was a courtier, like many of the beneficiaries of the policy of disafforestation. The grant was confirmed in June 1629, when the disforestation of the forest was decreed, so that the 2100 acres (8.5 km2) of woodland and waste in the forest parishes of Hanbury, Feckenham and Bradley could be partitioned between the crown, the manorial lords and the commoners.
Miles Fleetwood was charged with surveying the lands before the disafforestation.Large, 407-8. The response of the inhabitants was to refuse to accept their allocation of common land, on the grounds that they had only agreed to them "for fear and by terrible threats" and that their allocations did not compensate them for the loss of common rights.Large, 409. Ultimately 155 of them complained to the Court of Exchequer.Large, 410.
A further commission in November 1630 reduced the Crown's allocation in Hanbury from 550 to 460 acres, but this was still not accepted locally. The new owners were ordered to enclose their lands by 1 March 1631.
| + Division of Feckenham Forest by acreageSharp, p88 |
| 900 |
| 900 |
| 300 |
At Feckenham, the 60 acres to the poor was divided into plots for the poor cottagers. In Hanbury, 80 acres went to cottagers, while 20 were given to the churchwardens to provide an income to distribute to the poor. The plots granted to cottagers can be estimated to be around 1.5 acres. At Bradley, ancient cottagers were to receive 1.5 acres, and newly erected cottages 1 acre.Sharp p95
Evidence of the inadequacy of the settlement for the poorest residents comes from the legal challenge they made in 1630 to express dissatisfaction with the proceedings. Only 30 of the 184 complainants were entitled to compensation. The others were tenants on lands cleared without permission or subtenants who had no right of common.Sharp p95-96 These residents were the main obstacle to reaching agreement on disafforestation. The area lacked important industries, so large numbers of cottagers had settled in the forest and survived by using the common.
300 people rioted in Spring 1632 and were met by the Sheriff, a Deputy Lieutenant and a Justice of the Peace with forty armed men. The rioters "in a most daring and presumptuous manner presented themselves unto us with warlike weapons (videlicet) pikes, forrest bills, pitchforks, swords and the like". On this occasion, the authorities acted to suppress this "flatt flat rebellion", tried to arrest the rioters and injured a number of them.Letter to Privy Council, quoted in Sharp, p61
These riots were part of wider disturbances including the Western Rising.Sharp, throughout Ultimately, the Crown and manorial lords were successful in Enclosure their lands.Large, 416. The Crown allocation in Hanbury was rapidly sold off and is now known as Forest Farm.Deeds in Worcesterhire Record Office. The Lord of Hanbury and Feckenham manors, Sir Edward Leighton, gained around 80 acres in Monkwood and 360 acres around Feckenham, including the Queen's Coppice, Ranger's Coppice, Timber Coppice, Fearful Coppice and Red Slough Coppice. Worcestershire Relics, John Noake, quoted by Humphreys, p. 129
The king had a large Parke abuttinge on Feckenham thoughe in the Paryshe of Hanbury. Neither wanted theare (in Hanbury) for the recreation our Kynges a fayre Parke sortinge in name with the Kinges vast forest, reachinge in former ages far and wide.
A large walk for savage beastes, but now more commodyously chaunged into the civill habitations of many gentellmen, the freeholds of wealthy yeomen, and dwellings of industryous husbandmen. Feckenham Parke cominge by attainder to the Crown, Queen Elizabeth bestowed it on Sir Thomas Leighton, who married her neere Kynswoman Mistris Elizabeth Knolles in which family continuing towe descentes, it is devolved (by purchase) to the honourable house of the Lord Baron Coventree, Lord Keeper of the greate seale.Thomas Habingdon, quoted by Humphreys, p128
The manor of Feckenham was sold by Leighton to Coventry in 1632, around a year after the forest was broken up. 'Parishes: Feckenham', in A History of the County of Worcester: Volume 3 (London, 1913), pp. 111-120 accessed.
| May record the name of a hamlet, Cutbaldesey, absorbed in the expansion of the forest |
| The site of a high status medieval moated building, See also Huntingdrop, Dodderhill Parish Survey Project |
| From Foxhuntlidgate "on the foxhunt way"Humpheys, p121 and 123 |
| From Smeethehedley |
| Place of forest executions, near Hanbury |
| Formed from the final division of the forest. Located on Forest Road |
| “where stags were penned ... to ensure sport for the monarch”. |
| Now jointly owned by the Worcestershire Wildlife Trust and Butterfly Conservation. Worcestershire Wildlife Trust Grafton Wood |
| Now designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. SSSI units for Feckenham Forest, English nature Nature on the Map: Map of Feckenham Forest SSSI |
| Ancient semi-natural mixed deciduous woodland near Chaddesley Woods. |
| Ancient woodland owned by the Woodland Trust (from the Forest of Pyperode and Fenny Rough)Humphreys p121 The Woodland Trust page on Pepper Wood. Now designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. |
| An area of “Ancient semi-natural woodland”. |
| Lies near the boundary of the forest, and is ancient woodland previously used in common; Pipers Hill and Dodderhill Common, Worcestershire Wildlife Trust but there is no reference found linking it with the forest |
The Forest of Feckenham area has been designated a "Biodiversity Enhancement Area" in the West Midlands Regional Spatial Strategy. This documents the area as comprising "ancient countryside with a mixed farmland mosaic of arable cultivation and temporary grass leys, ancient semi- natural woodland, old grassland, wetland, and traditional orchards". Green Infrastructure Interim Report; An evidence base study for the South Worcestershire Joint Core Strategy South Worcestershire Development Plan website However, others claim the Hanbury Park area "is best viewed as an agriculturally despoilt part of the greater forest area. Field size is large, arable is the prevalent land use and biodiversity low."Day, section 2.5.3
Worcestershire County Council's documents identify that the larger area includes many "irregular fields with hedges rich in woody species indicating their origins from assarts cut into the ancient wildwood";Landscape Character Assessment, Worcestershire Council, August 2013 p 78 examples would include Astwood Bank. Upper Bentley has a more wooded character. Part of the area near Feckenham also includes important peat wetlands. The council classifies these landscapes as 'Timbered Farmlands', 'Wooded Estatelands' and 'Wet Pasture Meadows'. The "Forest of Feckenham and Feckenham Wetlands" area is identified by the Council as a "hotspot for biodiversity" and a priority for protecting and developing 'green infrastructure' especially to protect "traditional field patterns, boundaries and small woodlands and enhance stream corridors".
The Forestry Commission identifies most of the former forest area as having a high potential for forestry, ("Woodland Opportunity Priority 1' or 'Priority 2') while the agricultural land quality is mediocre or poor (Grade 3 or 4 agricultural land).
Notes
Footnotes
Raymond Grant (1991). 086299781X, Alan Sutton. 086299781X
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