royal forest
Monarch's hunting grounds
A royal forest was land set aside for the monarch's hunting, subject to special laws protecting game and timber.
In medieval England, these weren't necessarily wooded—"forest" meant a legal territory under forest law, which could include heath, grassland, and villages.
Penalties for poaching deer or felling trees were severe.
The New Forest in Hampshire remains the best-known example.
- venisonFlesh of cervids
- woodlandForested land area
- medievalOf the Middle Ages
- charterFounding organizational document
- Magna CartaCharter curbing royal authority
chase · fines · trespass · oak · monarchy · poaching · merry men · gamekeeper · folklore · deer · wild boar · purlieus · nobility · warden · king · preserve · feudalism · sovereign
- Robin HoodRobin Hood, Friar Tuck, Little John, Maid Marian, Sheriff of Nottingham
- crown propertycrown land, castle, estate, crown jewels, throne
- Protected Forestsnature reserve, nature preserve, ecological reserve, rainforest reserve, wilderness area
- royal huntingdeer, stag, boar, pheasant, falcon
- Royal thingspalace, castle, throne, crown jewels, coronation regalia
- royal treasurescrown jewels, imperial crown, imperial regalia, regalia, ceremonial regalia
land ownership and access rights
royal forestcommon land
Collectively held open ground
commons · public land · village green · open field · public domain