Forest of Galtres
Encyclopedia
The royal Forest of Galtres was established by the Norman kings of England in North Yorkshire
, to the north of the county town of York
, extending right to its very walls.. The main settlement within the royal forest
was the market village of Easingwold
, but in 1316 the forest comprised 60 villages in 100,000 acres. The Forest of Galtres was intimately connected with York: Davygate in the city was the site of the forest court and prison, a royal liberty within the city of York; Davygate, from which the forest was administered, commemorates David Le Lardiner, whose father, John the Lardiner, was the Royal Lardiner (steward of the larder, in this case providing venison
as well as "tame beasts") for the Forest of Galtres, a title which became hereditary in the family.
During the reign of Henry II
, the Forest stood at its greatest extent, but by the fifteenth century, concerns were being voiced over the extent of deforestation
.
Aside from the kings' pleasure in deer hunting, the forest was a dependable source of timber. For the timber palisade
s of York Castle
, which preceded the stone construction of the 13th century, Galfredo de Cumpton, forestario de Gauterio ("forester of Galtres"), was ordered to supply timbers from the Forest to York, to repair the bridge and breaches in the palicium, in 1225.
During the Middle Ages, other rights in the royal forest
s were also valuable, though they conflicted with the preservation of trees. Pannage
, the practice of turning out domestic pig
s, in order that they may feed on fallen acorn
s, beech
mast, chestnut
s or other nut
s, was so important that the Domesday Book
often valued forest in terms of its capacity to support pigs. The king's forester
s collected fees for pannage rights in a typical year, 1319, from pig farmers, at least one of whom was a pork butcher of York. Some appointments were for a lifetime: on 14 June 1626 Charles I granted footfostership, the keepership of the king's deer in Galtres, to James Rosse, with 4d per diem. Defending the valuable traditional rights of the local peasantry to pasturage within the confines of Galtres led to violence against incursions, even ones legitimated by the king's will: a band of forty armed men assembled from five villages threw down enclosure
s and burned hedge
s in the Forest of Galtres in the plague year
of 1348.
Within the Forest of Galtres a motte-and-bailey
castle was built at the site of Sheriff Hutton
by Ansketil de Bulmer on land given to him by William the Conqueror; it was rebuilt in 1140 by Bertram de Bulmer, Sheriff of York, during the reign of King Stephen
The extant remains of the stone-built Sheriff Hutton Castle
were built at the western end of the village by John, Lord Neville
in 1382–98.
The poet John Skelton
set his musing dream in "The Garlande of Laurell" (1523), "studyously dyuysed at Sheryfhotton Castell, in the Forest of Galtres", where
From the poem the reader learns that Elizabeth, Countess of Surrey
, with the ladies of her household, was living at Sheriff Hutton. At the time it was a seat of her father-in-law the Duke of Norfolk, who was occupied as general-in-chief of an army raised for the invasion of Scotland.
of Sheriff Hutton
, which incidentally revealed the ghostly presence of the former village of East Lilling within the park, recalled by the jurors:
The house known as Sheriff Hutton Park, southeast of the village, was built in 1621 for Sir Arthur Ingram, whose main seat was Temple Newsam
; it was recased in more up-to-date style in 1732 for a member of the Thompson family.
Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford
held a new park enclosed within Galtres in 1633 and was attempting unsuccessfully to purchase it outright; Sir John Bourchier had lands in Galtres and was fined and even imprisoned for destroying the fences of Strafford's new park there. Sir Allen Apsley accepted Crown lands in Galtres in lieu of the debt owed him by Charles I
.
The Act of Dis-Afforestation of 1629 put an end to the Forest.
When York Guildhall was reconstructed after wartime bomb damage, a single oak tree trunk from the Forest of Galtres was used for each oak pillar.
.
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest...
, to the north of the county town of York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
, extending right to its very walls.. The main settlement within the royal forest
Royal forest
A royal forest is an area of land with different meanings in England, Wales and Scotland; the term forest does not mean forest as it is understood today, as an area of densely wooded land...
was the market village of Easingwold
Easingwold
Easingwold is a small market town and a civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It has a population of 4,233.It is located north of York, at the foot of the Howardian Hills....
, but in 1316 the forest comprised 60 villages in 100,000 acres. The Forest of Galtres was intimately connected with York: Davygate in the city was the site of the forest court and prison, a royal liberty within the city of York; Davygate, from which the forest was administered, commemorates David Le Lardiner, whose father, John the Lardiner, was the Royal Lardiner (steward of the larder, in this case providing venison
Venison
Venison is the meat of a game animal, especially a deer but also other animals such as antelope, wild boar, etc.-Etymology:The word derives from the Latin vēnor...
as well as "tame beasts") for the Forest of Galtres, a title which became hereditary in the family.
During the reign of Henry II
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
, the Forest stood at its greatest extent, but by the fifteenth century, concerns were being voiced over the extent of deforestation
Deforestation
Deforestation is the removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted to a nonforest use. Examples of deforestation include conversion of forestland to farms, ranches, or urban use....
.
Aside from the kings' pleasure in deer hunting, the forest was a dependable source of timber. For the timber palisade
Palisade
A palisade is a steel or wooden fence or wall of variable height, usually used as a defensive structure.- Typical construction :Typical construction consisted of small or mid sized tree trunks aligned vertically, with no spacing in between. The trunks were sharpened or pointed at the top, and were...
s of York Castle
York Castle
York Castle in the city of York, England, is a fortified complex comprising, over the last nine centuries, a sequence of castles, prisons, law courts and other buildings on the south side of the River Foss. The now-ruinous keep of the medieval Norman castle is sometimes referred to as Clifford's...
, which preceded the stone construction of the 13th century, Galfredo de Cumpton, forestario de Gauterio ("forester of Galtres"), was ordered to supply timbers from the Forest to York, to repair the bridge and breaches in the palicium, in 1225.
During the Middle Ages, other rights in the royal forest
Royal forest
A royal forest is an area of land with different meanings in England, Wales and Scotland; the term forest does not mean forest as it is understood today, as an area of densely wooded land...
s were also valuable, though they conflicted with the preservation of trees. Pannage
Pannage
Pannage is the practice of turning out domestic pigs in a wood or forest, in order that they may feed on fallen acorns, beechmast, chestnuts or other nuts. Historically, it was a right or privilege granted to local people on common land or in royal forests...
, the practice of turning out domestic pig
Domestic pig
The domestic pig is a domesticated animal that traces its ancestry to the wild boar, and is considered a subspecies of the wild boar or a distinct species in its own right. It is likely the wild boar was domesticated as early as 13,000 BC in the Tigris River basin...
s, in order that they may feed on fallen acorn
Acorn
The acorn, or oak nut, is the nut of the oaks and their close relatives . It usually contains a single seed , enclosed in a tough, leathery shell, and borne in a cup-shaped cupule. Acorns vary from 1–6 cm long and 0.8–4 cm broad...
s, beech
Beech
Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...
mast, chestnut
Sweet Chestnut
Castanea sativa is a species of the flowering plant family Fagaceae, the tree and its edible seeds are referred to by several common names such Sweet Chestnut or Marron. Originally native to southeastern Europe and Asia Minor, it is now widely dispersed throughout Europe and parts of Asia, such as...
s or other nut
Nut (fruit)
A nut is a hard-shelled fruit of some plants having an indehiscent seed. While a wide variety of dried seeds and fruits are called nuts in English, only a certain number of them are considered by biologists to be true nuts...
s, was so important that the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
often valued forest in terms of its capacity to support pigs. The king's forester
Forester
250px|thumb|right|Foresters of [[Southern University of Chile|UACh]] in the [[Valdivian forest]]s of San Pablo de Tregua, ChileA forester is a person who practices forestry, the science, art, and profession of managing forests. Foresters engage in a broad range of activities including timber...
s collected fees for pannage rights in a typical year, 1319, from pig farmers, at least one of whom was a pork butcher of York. Some appointments were for a lifetime: on 14 June 1626 Charles I granted footfostership, the keepership of the king's deer in Galtres, to James Rosse, with 4d per diem. Defending the valuable traditional rights of the local peasantry to pasturage within the confines of Galtres led to violence against incursions, even ones legitimated by the king's will: a band of forty armed men assembled from five villages threw down enclosure
Enclosure
Enclosure or inclosure is the process which ends traditional rights such as mowing meadows for hay, or grazing livestock on common land. Once enclosed, these uses of the land become restricted to the owner, and it ceases to be common land. In England and Wales the term is also used for the...
s and burned hedge
Hedge
Hedge may refer to:* Hedge or hedgerow, line of closely spaced shrubs planted to act as a barrier* Hedge , investment made to limit loss* Hedge , intentionally non-committal or ambiguous sentence fragments-See also:...
s in the Forest of Galtres in the plague year
Black Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
of 1348.
Within the Forest of Galtres a motte-and-bailey
Motte-and-bailey
A motte-and-bailey is a form of castle, with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised earthwork called a motte, accompanied by an enclosed courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade...
castle was built at the site of Sheriff Hutton
Sheriff Hutton
Sheriff Hutton is a village and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England. It lies about ten miles north by north-east of York...
by Ansketil de Bulmer on land given to him by William the Conqueror; it was rebuilt in 1140 by Bertram de Bulmer, Sheriff of York, during the reign of King Stephen
Stephen of England
Stephen , often referred to as Stephen of Blois , was a grandson of William the Conqueror. He was King of England from 1135 to his death, and also the Count of Boulogne by right of his wife. Stephen's reign was marked by the Anarchy, a civil war with his cousin and rival, the Empress Matilda...
The extant remains of the stone-built Sheriff Hutton Castle
Sheriff Hutton Castle
Sheriff Hutton Castle is a quadrangular castle in the village of Sheriff Hutton, North Yorkshire, England.-History:The original motte and bailey castle, the remains of which can be seen to the south of the churchyard. was built by Bertram de Bulmer, Sheriff of York during the reign of King Stephen...
were built at the western end of the village by John, Lord Neville
John Neville, 3rd Baron Neville de Raby
John Neville, 3rd Baron Neville de Raby, KG was born at Castle Raby, County Durham, England to Ralph Neville, 2nd Baron Neville de Raby and Alice de Audley. He fought in the Battle of Neville's Cross on 17 October 1346 as a Captain in his father's division...
in 1382–98.
The poet John Skelton
John Skelton
John Skelton, also known as John Shelton , possibly born in Diss, Norfolk, was an English poet.-Education:...
set his musing dream in "The Garlande of Laurell" (1523), "studyously dyuysed at Sheryfhotton Castell, in the Forest of Galtres", where
That me to reste, I lent me to a stump
Of an oke, that sometyme grew full streyghte....
Whylis I stode musynge in this medytatyon
In slumbringe I fell and halfe in a slepe...
From the poem the reader learns that Elizabeth, Countess of Surrey
Elizabeth Howard, Duchess of Norfolk
Elizabeth Howard was the eldest daughter of Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham and the wife of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk...
, with the ladies of her household, was living at Sheriff Hutton. At the time it was a seat of her father-in-law the Duke of Norfolk, who was occupied as general-in-chief of an army raised for the invasion of Scotland.
Disafforestation
During the second quarter of the 17th century, Galtres was disafforested piecemeal, as a result of the Crown's desperate need for ready money. In 1625 a survey was drawn up in relation to the impending sale of the demesneDemesne
In the feudal system the demesne was all the land, not necessarily all contiguous to the manor house, which was retained by a lord of the manor for his own use and support, under his own management, as distinguished from land sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants...
of Sheriff Hutton
Sheriff Hutton
Sheriff Hutton is a village and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England. It lies about ten miles north by north-east of York...
, which incidentally revealed the ghostly presence of the former village of East Lilling within the park, recalled by the jurors:
East Lilling it is called and retaineth the name of East Lilling township though at this day there do remain but only one house. But by tradition and by apparent ancient buildings and ancient ways for horse and cart visibly discerned and leading unto the place where the town stood within Sheriff Hutton park, it hath been a hamlet of some capacity, though now utterly demolished"
The house known as Sheriff Hutton Park, southeast of the village, was built in 1621 for Sir Arthur Ingram, whose main seat was Temple Newsam
Temple Newsam
Temple Newsam is a Tudor-Jacobean house with grounds landscaped by Capability Brown, in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England...
; it was recased in more up-to-date style in 1732 for a member of the Thompson family.
Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford
Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford
Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford was an English statesman and a major figure in the period leading up to the English Civil War. He served in Parliament and was a supporter of King Charles I. From 1632 to 1639 he instituted a harsh rule as Lord Deputy of Ireland...
held a new park enclosed within Galtres in 1633 and was attempting unsuccessfully to purchase it outright; Sir John Bourchier had lands in Galtres and was fined and even imprisoned for destroying the fences of Strafford's new park there. Sir Allen Apsley accepted Crown lands in Galtres in lieu of the debt owed him by Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
.
The Act of Dis-Afforestation of 1629 put an end to the Forest.
When York Guildhall was reconstructed after wartime bomb damage, a single oak tree trunk from the Forest of Galtres was used for each oak pillar.
Legacy
The name is commemorated in several North Yorkshire schools, the Forest of Galtres Golf Course and the Forest of Galtres Festival at Crayke, near EasingwoldEasingwold
Easingwold is a small market town and a civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It has a population of 4,233.It is located north of York, at the foot of the Howardian Hills....
.