Bernwood Forest - Glossary

A

Abbey – a religious house – place where monks lived and worked.

Abbot – the head of an abbey (a community of monks.

Acorns – seeds of an oak tree.

Acres – an area of land.

Afforested – turned into Royal Forest.

Agisters – one of the Royal Forest officials – they were in charge of collecting money paid to the king by local people to graze their farm animals on the king’s land in the Royal Forest.

Agistment – the charge for grazing your animals on the king’s land.

Ale – type of weak beer.

Anglo-Saxon – the people living in England from about 500 – 1066 A.D.

Aristocracy - rich and powerful people such as the king, lords and knights.

Augustinian Abbey – a community of monks who followed rules set down by Saint Augustine.

B

Bailiff – the person who made sure that the lords work was carried out by the people living in the village.

Barne Wood– the Anglo-Saxon name for Berrnwood Forest.

Battle of Hastings – The battle where William the Conqueror of Normandy beat Harold the king of England to become King of Engand in 1066.

Beech mast - the nuts of the beech tree.

Boar – a wild pig (very large and fierce).

Brewing – making beer or ale.

Broken meat – leftovers.

Buck (male deer).

C

Cablish – the right to take dead or windblown wood from the Royal Forest.

Canons – a type of monk.

Carter – someone who carries goods from one place to another.

Chaplain – a type of priest.

Chetwode Priory – a small community of monks which belonged to Notley Abbey.

Church – not a building – the medieval church was a very powerful and rich organisation. It was a major part of the way people lived. Everyone had to go to church and to pay money or tithes to the church. To find out more click here.

Clergy – men of the church like monks and priests.

Charcoal – burnt wood that could be used as fuel.

Charcoal burner – a person whose job was to make and sell charcoal.

Charter – a written document usually issued by the King which gave people the right to do something, gave a present of land or set out a new law.

Cheminage – the charge for travelling through a royal Forest.

Christened – naming and welcoming of a new baby into the church.

Chronicle (Anglo-Saxon) – a sort of national diary written by monks that told people about the important things that happened in England each year in Anglo-Saxon times.

Church – the organisation that controlled all the churches, priests, monasteries and nunneries. There was only one religion and everyone had to obey the church if they wanted to go to heaven when they died.

Claygavel – the charge for digging clay from the king or lord’s lands.

Common Law – the law of the England that everyone had to obey.

Cottar – the poorest type of peasant or villager who had no strips of land in the field to farm, only a house and garden.

Culprit – person who broke the law or committed the crime.

D

Daughter house – a small community of monks or nuns that belonged to a larger monastery.

Decree - an official order or decision by the king or government.

Deer park – a special area of land usually fenced off where noblemen could keep and hunt deer.

Deputies - people appointed to help and sometimes act in the place of someone else.

Demesne – the land belonging to the lord of the manor e.g. the King.

Disafforestation – the ending of forest Law in the Royal Forest.

Disaforrested – removing land from the Royal Forest.

Domesday Book – a survey written for King William making a record of all the land in England and who owned it.

Dovecote – a special building for keeping pigeons so that you can collect eggs and eat them. 

Duke William of Normandy – beat King Harold at the Battle of Hastings and became William I, King of England also called William the Conqueror.

E

King Edward the Confessor – Anglo-Saxon king of England (1052 –66). He is said to have enjoyed hunting in Barne Wood or Bernwood Forest and to have built a hunting lodge at Brill.

Ermine – a type of white fur from the winter coat of a weasel. Only Kings or Queens could wear ermine on their clothes.

Executed - killed.

F

Falcon – a type of bird – bird of prey used for hunting small animals such as rabbits.

Fallow deer – a type of deer.

Fine – sum of money to be paid for breaking the law.

Fined – made to pay a sum of money for breaking Forest law.

Forester – one of the Royal Forest officials whose job it was to protect the venison and the vert.

Forester in Fee – the man in charge of the Royal Forest – his job was handed down from father to son.

Forest Eyre – the special court where people accused of breaking Forest Law would be tried and sentenced.

Forest Law – special rules and regulations that everyone living in the Royal Forest had to obey.

Forge – the place where metalworking took place.

Freeman – a man who paid rent for his land instead of working on the lord’s land. He was free to travel and leave his village.

Furlongs – strips of land in the medieval fields.

Furrows – grooves in the soil created by the plough.

G

Game – wild animals hunted for sport or for food.

Grazing - to feed on growing grass or other plants.

H

Hares – animal like a large rabbits with long ears and very strong back legs used for jumping.

Hart – another name for deer.

He – King William the Conqueror.

Hind – another word for deer.

King Harold – the Anglo-Saxon King killed by William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

Hunting horn – a horn blown to make a sound to call dogs and people together when out hunting.

Hunting lodge – special building used as a place to stay when out hunting.

Huntsman – a man whose job it is to organise hunts and to go hunting for the King.

I

Income – money.

Imposed – put into place something that needs to be followed, done, or obeyed.

J

King John – King of England from 1199 to 1216, father of Henry III.

Justices in Eyre – Forest Officials who took charge at the Forest Eyre.

K

Kilns - an oven for burning, baking, and drying. A kiln is used to make pottery and bricks or to dry wood.

L

Lamented – felt sorry or complained.

Lawed / lawing – removing the claws on the front paws of dogs in the Royal Forest so that they cannot run quickly and catch deer.

M

Manor – the lord’s house, buildings and all the land (fields, woods, waste) that belonged to him.

Meadows - an open field of grass that is growing wild or is used for pasture or to grow hay.

Medieval – to do with the Middle Ages – from the year 1066 to 1485.

Monasteries or Monastery – communities or groups of monks.

Monk - a man who has joined other men in a religious community and taken vows to live a simple life.

Moreover – not only that but.

N

Nobleman / nobles – lords, rich important people.

Nobility – the class (group) of rich, important people.

O

Officials – people who have been selected to carry out particular jobs.

Outlaw – someone who has be cast out – they are not protected by the common Law and cannot live in a village or town.

Oxen - a large cow / cattle mostly used for pulling carts or ploughs.

P

Pannage – tax paid to graze your pigs in the forest.

Pardoned – forgiven and let free without punishment.

Parishes – an area that usually has its own church and priest.

Pasture – fields kept as grass for animals to graze or feed in.

Partridge – a type of bird eaten for food.

Peasants – ordinary people, not nobility.

Perambulation – a survey of the boundaries (edges) of the forest.

Pheasants– a type of bird eaten for food.

Pitchers - large jugs for holding and pouring water.

Plough – tool used to cut through soils and turn it over so seeds can be planted.

Poacher – someone who goes hunting for animals in places they are not allowed.

Poaching – hunting for animals (normally for food) in places where you are not allowed to.

Pottage – a sort of vegetable stew – sometimes with meat added.

Preserved – kept safe.

Q

Quiver of arrows – a container for arrows.

R

Rancour - bitter, resentment, hatred.

Red deer–one of the four animals that were the Venison in the Royal Forest.

Reeve – a village man chosen to organise the villagers to do the lord’s work.

Regard– a special survey of the Forest to make a list of any problems or crimes that needed to be considered at the forest Eyre.

Regarders – forest officials who carried out surveys of the Forest before the Forest Eyre (court) took place.

Reign – the amount of time a king or Queen was alive and in charge.

Relic – a special item that has survived from the past. Churches and Monasteries often had religious relics such as bones said to be from the body of a saint or a piece of wood said to be from Christ’s cross.

Ridges – a raised line of soil caused by ploughing.

Ridge and furrow – the grooves and raised lines caused by medieval ploughing.

Roe Deer - one of the four animals that were the Venison in the Royal Forest.

Royal hunting forests – areas declared by the King to be under Forest Law.

Rye – a type of corn used to make bread, especially in medieval times.

S

Sanctuary - protection from being arrested for a crime.

Secluded – quiet and away from people and villages.

Serf – a villein – peasant who belonged to the lord of the manor.

Slew - killed.

Stags – male deer.

Stocks – place where people might be imprisoned for punishment.

Survey – make a record.

Swanimote – a Forest Court which meet to organise the grazing of animals in the forest and to collect the taxes (agistment) that had to be paid by people to graze their animals.

Swear an oath – make a solemn promise.

Swineherd – person whose job it was to look after a herd of pigs.

T

Trespasses – crimes or wrong doing.

Trespassing against the vert – breaking Forest law by damaging the trees or vegetation in the Royal Forest e.g. by cutting down a tree or collecting firewood without permission.

Trespassing against the venison – breaking Forest Law by disturbing or killing the deer or boar (wild pigs) in the Royal Forest e.g. by hunting or letting your dogs loose in the Forest.

Timber – wood used for building – houses, fences, town walls, ships.

Tithe – money paid by everyone each year to the medieval church.

U

V

Venison - forest animals - red deer, fallow deer, roe deer and boar (wild pigs).

Verderers – one of the special Royal Forest officials, usually a local knight or nobleman.

Vert - trees and vegetation that the forest animals lived in or ate).

Villein – peasant or serf – person who lived in a village and belonged to the lord of the manor.

Vouch – stand up for or promise for.

W

Warden – job of looking after the royal Forests.

Ware – type of pottery.

Warren - a network of many rabbit burrows, usually specially made to keep rabbits that could be killed and eaten by the lord of the manor.

Weasal – a type of small animal that could be hunted and eaten by peasants.

William the Conqueror – Duke of Normandy who defeated King Harold at the Battle of Hastings and became King of England.

Woodwards – forest officials chosen and paid for by noblemen to look after their woods in The Royal Forest. Although the noblemen had to pay them the woodwards had to obey the king and the Forester in Fee.

X

Y

Z