by Bill Wiiliams

The origins of this title are obscure, but shortly after the Norman invasion of 1066, the rich tracts of forest were referred to under the enduring title of the Forest of Knaresborough and administered by a Chief Forester. This position was an extremely important one and at varying times the Chief Forester was referred to as Lord of the Forest. Clearly the Normans regarded the area as much prized and tended to guard it jealously.

The forest itself comprised of the lands between the rivers Wharfe and Nidd which were dense woodlands, rich in game and an expanse broken only by isolated areas of moorland where trees would not grow. The only really accessible route into the area was alongside the rivers, although over the centuries, much land was cleared and routes opened up along both dales.

The original occupants of the area were seen as a special breed, foresters, who followed a way of life geared to the forest and had it not been for them, the forest would have been lost much earlier. For example, they regarded trees as crops, rotating them at long intervals. Trees were planted in half a dozen sites, each of several acres and cropped at three yearly intervals. It thus took eighteen years for the sic sites to rotate and all were composed entirely of hardwoods.

Initially the top of the tree was removed so that all the wood grew from the bole and was used for fencing and housing. The brash was used for firewood and for several centuries the foresters managed an efficient, self supporting, way of life. Felling was only carried out after very long intervals depending on the type of tree. Oaks, for example, would easily endure for a couple of centuries.

The reason things changed was largely because of greed. Growing trees were of no value until they could be sold; people wanted the wood and they were prepared to pay for it. The time honoured rituals of planting and cropping were quickly overtaken by events. There was more money to be made in felling than in planning and thinking of the future. The parallels with modern society are inescapable.

The historian, Hargrove, tells us that the rotation of the tree cropping ended in 1767. Just three years later he records that a quarter of the trees had been felled and 20 000 acres laid waste.

There were inevitably similar losses with game: deer became scarcer, wild boar were completely wiped out along with bears and wolves, whilst the continuous demand for fuel added to the problems; even good, mature trees became firewood.

Precious little now remains. Curiously, the only survival of any note was the Forest Court, where, up to 1926, sellers had to surrender their land to the King. A prospective buyer had to pledge loyalty to the crown before he could be approved. That ended well under a hundred years ago.