THE KING’S FOREST OF THE HIGH PEAK
BY HENRY KIRKE, ESQ. M.A. Circa - 1864

I have often thought in the course of my studies, how very partial are the accounts of historians; so diffuse upon some subjects, which are of little interest, to the neglect of others, which would seem to have a greater claim upon their regard. In the various histories of the County of Derby, where everything has such a great interest for us, we are less likely to feel indignant over the diffuseness of their authors, than regretful if we discover any neglect of an interesting or deserving object. This neglect is peculiarly conspicuous in the subject which I have selected for this paper, a subject which might, I think, have inspired the pens of our county historians so full of interest and pleasure is it to the patient investigator. I have looked in vain through the several printed accounts of Derbyshire for any description of the Peak Forest. Glover never mentions it, and Lyson dismisses it in half-a-dozen lines. And yet I must say that I don't think that it deserves such neglect. Extending over a considerable area, and embracing some of the loveliest valleys and all the loftiest hills in the county, it was tended and guarded by a race of bold and hardy men who were the ancestors of many of the most noble families in the county, and who acquired in many cases, both their names, their arms, and their lands from the position which they held in the King's Forest. It is not to be despised on account of its size, which was very considerable, though small in comparison with most of the Royal Forests of England. And though it has not been rendered famous by being the scene of the exploit of Robin Hood, that great ballad-hero, yet it can boast of having been the native land of Little John, whose bones now rest in peace within its precincts. *1
The Kings Forest of the High Peak or De Campanâ, as it was invariably called in the old law papers formerly comprised the whole of the parishes of Glossop, Castleton, and Chapel-en-le-Frith, and part of Hathersage, Hope, Tideswell, and Bakewell. In an Inquisition held in the 3rd year of Edward I., it was ascertained that the metes and bounds of the Forest were as follows: - " Beginning at the South side of the river Goyt, and so along that river to river Ederowe, and so by the river Ederowe to Langley Croft, near Longdendale Head, and so by a certain byeway to the head of Derwente, and from the head of Derwente as far as Mittemforde, and from Mittemforde to the river of Bradwell, and from the river of Bradwell to a place called Rotherlawe, and from Rotherlawe to the great cave of Hazlebache, and from the great cave to Little Hucklowe, and from Hucklowe to Tideswell, and so to the river Wye, ascending to Buxton and the springs of Goyt." It will be seen by this, that in the year 1274 the Peak Forest occupied the whole of the North-West corner of the county, that corner which, as my readers will perceive if they refer to their maps, projects from the irregular parallelogram formed by the rest of the shire. It was divided into three wardships for the purposes of government, called Longdendale, which contained the North and North- Western portion; Edale, which contained the East part; and the Champaign, which contained amend the South and South-Western portion, and which sometimes, as we have seen, improperly gave its name of De Campanâ (afterwards corrupted into Champion*2) to the whole extent of the Royal Chase. These divisions were marked out by crosses of stone on the hills, several of which still exist. Ormerod mentions several crosses in the Forest of Macclesfield, which were erected for the same purpose. The division between Longdendale and the other wardships is clearly marked. It is bounded by the river Goyt on the South, and the Ederowe on the West. On the North by a line of crosses from beyond Hayfield, over Kinder and South-head, to Sparrowpit, near Chapel-en-le-Frith (of which the best know is the one called Edale, or the Champion Cross engraved at the head of this paper); and on the East by three crosses, one on Paisleys, another at Sittinglow, of which nothing but the base remains, and another on Combs Moss, leading to the river Goyt.
We know not what was the state of the Forest in olden times. If I might hazard a conjecture on an obscure subject, I should say that the country was never very thickly wooded, though in some of the valleys, such as Hope, Edale, and Bowden, there must have been a great amount of timber and that of considerable size. The tops of the hills were most likely as bare as they are now, their sides clothed with stunted oaks and underwood, and their bases surrounded by treacherous bogs and reedy pools. With such a varied country we may expect a great variety of game, and such was the case. The red deer browsed in great numbers through the sunny glade, sheltered on all sides by the dark woods of oak and pine. The wild boar sharpened his tusks against the rugged bark of the forest trees: whilst from their mountain fastness the hungry wolves came howling in search of prey.
The wild cat prowled with stealthy tread through the heather, waiting for the chattering grouse or timid hare; and the shriek of the golden eagle was heard from the dark heights of Kinder. In the stagnant pools the otter sank with a sullen plunge, frightening the wild ducks from their home amongst the reedy banks.

But let us turn to the History of the Forest. At the time of the Saxons the Peak Forest was held by several Saxon Thanes,*3 with strange names which convey no meaning to us, and I shall pass over the mythological period of British History, and begin with the Norman Conquest that great starting point in English History, when, as every one knows William the Bastard gave to his bastard son, William Peverell, the manor and forest of the High Peak. And in this forest Peverell built his castle " perched on a rock" as Thierry says, " like the nest of a foul bird of prey" This castle*4 though it had at first a constable of its own, soon became merged into the Forest, and in fact after the reign of Henry III. the constable of the castle was only a minor officer under the steward of the Forest. The family of Peverell did not long remain in possession. William Peverell II. being banished the realm for foul conspiracy, his estates were confiscated to the King. Henry II. gave the manor and forest of the Peak to John, Earl of Mortaigne, afterwards King. Edward II. granted this manor and forest to his unworthy favourite Piers Gaveston, at whose death they were given to John, Earl Warren, for his life. In 1328, on his marriage with Philippa of Hainault, Edward III. granted to her the manor and forest of the High Peak, and at her death in 1372, to John of Gaunt, Earl of Lancaster, and so they became parcel of the Duchy of Lancaster. From this period the History of the Castle is the History of the Forest, to which we will now return.

We are told on the authority of Giraldus Cambriensis that King Henry II., in a letter to the Emperor Emanuel, told him that in a certain forest in the Peak the deer were in such plenty that when they were hunted they helped by their numbers to their own destruction.
It was this King who made a grant to the Abbot and Convent of Basingwerke, in Flintshire, of "decem libratas terrae in Longdendale scilicet Glossop cum ecclesia que ibi est cum omnibus terris et rebus ad eam pertinentibus sicut Gulielmus Peverell eam plenius habuit tempore Regis Henrici avi mei.'' But in this grant the King reserved the venison, but allowed the grantees to kill hares, foxes and wolves.

The Forest of the Peak was governed by the same laws as the other Royal Forests, and so came under the jurisdiction of the Justices of the Forest North of the Trent. These justices had more power than the justices of oyer in many respects, such as judging by deputy, and their power was more arbitrary and final. They had juristiction over all persons dwelling within the precincts of the Forest, and even over those who dwelt without its boundaries but owned any land within.
Two great courts were held at Tideswell every year, and the lesser court, called the Swain-mote, was held three times a-year. This Swain-mote was an inferior tribunal, composed of the Steward of the Forest and not less than twenty foresters, before which offenders were brought, and if the evidence against them was strong they were committed to the Peak Castle until the great court met, when they were brought before the justices. Besides these two courts, there was a meeting of the foresters every three weeks, when any complaints or informations were brought forward to be inquired into. Any person found offending against "verte or venyson" might be arrested, or attached as it was called, by the forester on duty, if he was caught under any of the following circumstances:- Stable stand- when found with bow drawn or dogs in a leash. Dog-draw - when he had wounded a deer and was following with a dog on the scent. Back-bear - when he was found carrying a dead deer on his shoulders. Bloody-hand when his hands were found to be bloody as if with killing a deer. But no peer of the realm could, under any circumstances, be arrested by a forester. There were many oppressive laws for regulating the King's forests. Amongst others, the law for disabling dogs which might be necessary for keeping flocks and herds from running the deer. This custom was called lawing, and was introduced by Henry II. in place of a still more barbarous custom called boxing. The Charter of the Forest designed to lessen these evils, declares that Inquisition or view of lawing dogs shall be made every third year, and shall be then done by lawful men not otherwise ; and they whose dogs shall be found unlawed shall pay three shillings for mercy, and for the future no man's ox shall be taken for lawing. Such lawing also shall be done by the assize commonly used, which is that three claws shall be cut off with- out the base of the right foot. The forests were driven throughout by the foresters twice a-year, once after the beginning of the fence months and again about Holyrood Day, when the agisters began to take in their cattle. Severe punishments were inflicted upon offenders against the venison, which included the following animals called Beasts of Venery-Hart, Deer of all kinds, Bears, Wild boars, and Wild Bulls.
The hare is called a beast of venery by some old writers, but it was not generally considered so. The following were the King's officers of the High Peak forest :-

1. The High Steward.
2. The Master Forester.
3. The Receiver.
4. Constable of the Castle.
5. The Surveyor of the Forest.
6. The Lieutenant of the Forest.
7. The Bowbearer
8. The Ranger.
9. Foresters of Fee.
10. The Beremaster.
11. The Bailiff of the Franchises.
12. The bailiff of the Winland.
13. The County Bailiff.
14. The Bailiffs Collector of Attachment and Assessment.
15. Woodmasters.
16. Keeper and Verderers.


The High Steward was the King's deputy in the Forest and its highest officer. There was no High Steward for the Peak alone, but one for the Peak, Duffield Frith, and Needwood Forest. He received £10 in fees from the Peak Forest. It was his duty to preside at the courts of the woodmote, either in person or by the under Steward; and all the foresters and keepers were under his orders. He was appointed by the King, by letters patent under the Great Seal, and the office was personal and not hereditary.*5 The following is a Grant of the Stewardship and other offices to Godfrey Foljambe:- " Rex etc sciatis quod nos pro bono et fideli servicio per dilectum servientem nostrum Glodfridum Foljambe militem nobis Impensis et durante vita sua dedisse et concessise eidem Godfrido Foljambe offcium seneschalli Alti Pecci in com .Derb. et officium Magistri Forestarii Foreste Alti Pecci et necnon officium vocatum Beremaistership de Alto Pecco." (No date).
Not many names of Stewards have come down to us. In the reign of Henry VII. the office was held in turns by two members of the family of Savage, of Castleton. Sir Henry Vernon, of Haddon, was made Steward by Henry VIII.

Of the Master Forester I know little. I think that it was an honorary title given generally to a nobleman or person of considerable importance. In early times it was united with the office of Constable the Castle, when the combined fees of the two positions amounted to £18 5s. They were afterwards separated, but I am not aware what persons exercised the office of Master Forester, except the Earl of Shrewsbury in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. In the Pleas of the Duchy of Lancaster, we find the following:- " Humfrey Barley, William Needham, Thomas Bagshawe, and William Bagshawe, Foresters of Fee, v. The Earl of Shrewsbury, Master of the Forest, for not preserving and taking proper care of the King's red deer."
The Receiver was the principal Civil Officer of the Forest. It was his duty to receive all the rents and fines due to the King, and to keep proper accounts of the same. He attended the several courts, to enforce the payment of all taxes and rents. The office was enjoyed for several generations by members of the great family of Eyre.

The Constable of the Castle after the merger of the Manor into the Duchy of Lancaster, was an inferior officer, who was in fact the goaler of the Forest. It was his duty to bring offenders and defaulters into the Castle and keep them there until the sessions, or their discharge in other ways. He was paid 2/4 for every person taken to prison, and fees to the amount of £4 per annum.

The Bowbearer was the Chief Huntsman of the Forest. It was his
duty to attend the King when hunting, to find the game and arrange the sport. He must warn the keepers when there was going to be a hunt. All the inferior officers of the Forest were under his authority, and it was his duty to present all the defaults of the keepers " as well in the verte as in the venyson," before the woodmotes. He received certain fees from the King, but to what amount I am ignorant.

The Ranger was appointed by the King. He collected all the rents and taxes, which he paid to the Receiver. He also seized all waifs and strays; and it was his duty to see that the bounds of the Forest were not encroached upon.

The Forester of Fee were tenants in capite of the King as Lord of the Manor, who held land to themselves and their heirs by the service of guarding the King's Forest of the High Peak. They were the original landed gentry of the Forest, from which many of our greatest county families are descended. Their office was hereditary, and passed with their lands, which they held. Their duty was to walk the King's forest and see that the deerand wood were not destroyed. There are several lists of these Foresters of Fee extant, of different times in English history.
At an Inquisition held at Wormhill in the 11th year of Edward II., the following Foresters of Fee attended to testify on oath: - "Thomas le Ragged, Reg. de Meluer, Rich. le Ragged, Rich. Brown, Thos. Foljambe, Rich. Danyel, Rich. le Archer, Nich. Foljambe, Adam Gounfrey, Wm. Hally, Peter de Stratton, Robt. le Eyre, Nicholas de Baggeshaugh.'' Another list of later date gives the following as Foresters in Fee:

The heirs of Barley.
The heirs of Walter Hychley.
The heir of Woodrofe.
Thomas Needham.
The heirs of Bagshawe.
Thomas Meverell.
Nicholas Eyre.
The heirs of Stanley.
The heirs of Oliver Woodrofe.

The frequent mention in this list of the heirs of a deceased forester as foresters by right, proves that the office was at any rate at this time hereditary, even if it had not been so from the first, though the use of the word "fee," which means an estate of inherited, would incline us to think that the office was from the first hereditary. As all the Foresters in Fee held their lands by virtue of their office, so many of them derived both their names and their arms from the same source.
As examples of names, the families of Archer and Eyre may be mentioned, and as to arms, those of Bagshawe, Needham, Bradshawe, Wadschefe, Kirke, with many others.*6

At divers Inquisitions at the death of several of these foresters, the tenure by which their land was held is made very evident, e.g.
"Edward II., Nicholas Foljambe, at his death held one messuage and thirty acres of land by the Serjeanty of keeping the King's Forest de Campana in the Peak, 'per corpus suum cum arcu et sagittis.' ''
" Edward II., Thos. Foljambe held in Wormhill fifteen acres of land by the service of finding a footman with bows and arrows in the Peak Forest to keep it."
" Edward III, Maria Hansted tenet Blackbrook, Fairfield, Hope, Bowden, Chapell in the Frith, per servicium custodiendi wardam de Hopedale in fforesta de Pecco."
" Edward I., Adam de Gounfrey died possessed of one messuage and fifteen acres at Wormhill, ' per servicium custodiendi pecci forestam.''
" Edward I., Walter de Nevil died possessed of thirty acres of land at Wormhill, which he held per servicicum custodiendi forestam."
" Edward I., Michael de Burton died possessed of land in Blackbrook and Fairfield, ' et custodian Foreste de Pecco concessam sibi et haeredibus.' ''

By a plea mentioned before, we know that Humfrey Barley, William Needham, Thomas Bagshawe, and William Bagshawe, were amongst the Foresters of Fee in the reign of Elizabeth. And in another plea, Geo. Meverell and John Bagshawe, are mentioned as Foresters in Fee.
In a scarce Roll preserved in the Office of the Duchy of Lancaster, there is the following interesting account of the Foresters of Fee in the 17th year of Henry VIII. :-


















































The Bailiff of the Forest was a name given to one of the King's Chief Officers in the Forest, but I cannot exactly say what were his duties.
I think that the exact nomenclature was not in all cases preserved, and that in a small forest like that of the Peak, several offices, such as Ranger, Bowbearer, etc., were comprised under the name Bailiff.
Thomas Foljambe was Bailiff of the Forest in 1272. He paid four hundred marks for the fines of the Castle of the Forest for nine years, and held an oxgang of land by the serjeanty of keeping the King's Forest de Campanâ, himself serving on horseback and his servant on foot. Anthony Tunstead, of Tunstead, was the Bailiff under Queen Elizabeth.

The Beremaster was made by the King by letters patent under the Duchy Seal. He recieved no fee from the King, but had certain profits at the weighing of the ore. It was his business to look after the King's rights in the mines,*7 and see that the King and the Church had their duties paid, and also to provide the dish in which the ore was measured. The Beremaster also sat at the inquest over every miner that was killed, instead of the Coroner. He held two great courts every year at Easter and Michaelmas, at which all mining disputes were settled. The miners paid a tax of every thirteenth dish, and 4d. a load to the King.

The Woodmasters were appointed by the King by letters patent under the Seal of the Duchy of Lancaster, and each received in the Peak Forest ten marks per annum. They were able to appoint deputies, which they called Lieutenants, who received no fee from the King, but were paid by the Woodmasters. The Woodmasters office was to oversee the King's game and wood, to serve warrants, and to order the game when any one was hunting ; to correct offences done in the forest, and appoint a woodmote when necessary, " and take hunters and men suspected of huntinge, that bee bloudie-handied and back- bearinge, or be at the death-places, or suche lyke suspicious." They were also to take a survey of the deer every year at the end of March, and burn those that had the murrain. The Woodmasters perquisities were "grass for one stoned horse ; a deer in the summer and another in winter; a stobble of wood, or three loads of wood; and all the trees that were broken by the winde."

The Verderers and Foresters were the inferior officers of the forest, whose duty it was to walk the forest as keepers, the former having particular care of the " vert," the latter of the " venyson." They were formerly very numerous, but became considerably lessened as the forest diminished in size. In the Inquisition before-mentioned, held at Wormhill by Edward II., the following Verderers, Foresters, and Freemen were present - Philip de Studleigh, Will. de Gratton, Will. del Hough, Verderers. Rich. de Addeley, John de Smalley, Robt. de Clough, Robert de Wardlowe, Rich. de Buxton, Adam del Hall, Benedictus de Shakelcross, John Brown, John de Bradwell, Robt. de Baggeshaugh, Foresters. Will. de Stafford, Hugh de Bradbury, Rich. de Clough, Wm. le Ragged, Rich. de Baggeshaugh, Wm. del Kyrke, Robt. le Tailour, John de Chinley, Rich. de la Forde, Thos. Martyn, Freemen.

To return to our History, the church at Bowden, now called Chapel- en-le-Frith, was built by the foresters about A.D. 1220, which showed that their numbers at this time must have been considerable, and as they increased it was found necessary to pay more attention to farming* and it was discovered that the Forest wilds, bleak and barren as they were might be occupied to some advantage in breeding young and depasturing lean cattle, which were afterwards fattened in the lower domains. Vaccaries, or great upland pastures were laid out for this purpose; booths or mansions erected upon them for the residence of the herdsmen; and at the same time that herds of deer were permitted to range at large as heretofore, lawnds, by which are meant parks within a forest, were enclosed in order to chase and capture the deer with greater facility. A great number of these vaccaries, with booths for the men, were formed in the Peak, of which the names have come down to us; almost the whole of Edale was laid out in this way, which accounts for the number of places in and near that valley being called booth, as Lady booth, Ollerbrook booth, and many others. As population increased the bounds of the forest were very much encroached upon; and it does not appear that any efforts were made to prevent trespassing. The uncertain possession of the Crown during the wars of the Roses encouraged this state of things, as the foresters knew not who was their master, and the king of today might be the exile of to-morrow. Henry VI. granted the manor and forest of the High Peak to his wife Margaret, as her dowry, but he never visited the place, nor did any other king ever visit his Royal forest of the High Peak except perhaps Edward I., about whose visit to this forest there is a pretty well authenticated legend.*8 At the accession of Henry VII. a great change took place. The kingly power was now firmly established, and his Majesty raking up all the old rights of the crown, managed to fill his coffers with the fines and exactions imposed on trespassers. In the Pleas of the Duchy of Lancaster, which have been published from the commencement of this king's reign, are a great many prosecutions for encroachments on the King's Forest; and in fact, from this time to the Great Rebellion, there was a continual struggle on the part of the Crown to recover the land and rights which it had lost in the preceding century. In Henry the Seventh's and following reigns, when the Royal Prerogative in England attained its highest pitch, several Commissions were appointed to inquire into the King's rights in the Forest of the Peak.

In the Court held at Tideswell before-mentioned, nearly one hundred persons, whose names are given, were fined for trespassing, though the whole amount which they paid was only 33/4. In the reign of James I., a special commission was appointed to inquire into the metes and bounds of the King's herbage of Maystonfield or Chinley. "Commission dated 7 James I., certified that they on the 18th October, 7 James I., repaired to his Majesty's said herbage of Maystonfield, and found upon oath of the persons therein named, that the metes and bounds of the said herbage were as follows:- It begins at the ende of the hunters Sitch and so to the Mere gutter, from thence to the Dry Clough road, and so following the old ditch through the stoppers, and from thence to the Wein Hills, and so down from the height of Chinley Hills, following the Green track to the Over-horse way, etc., etc." Land in Chinley was granted at this time to different persons, amongst others to the Earl of Devonshire, Grace Bagshawe, Ralph and Geo. Lowe, Chas. Ashton, Geo Bowden, Gent., and Thos. Moult.
In 1634, the King appointed John Shalcross, of Shalcross, receiver and bailiff of the Peak Forest, and ordered him to make a report of the King's rents and dues; which he did, and from which report I have extracted the following:-













The Forest was much neglected in the Civil Wars, about which time the deer had been all destroyed by a great snow which happened in the reign of Charles I., and the freeholders petitioned the King to disafforest the same, which he complied with. However nothing was done till the end of Charles the Second's reign, when the High Peak was disafforested, part of the land being given up to the freeholders, and the rest of the Commons, etc., amounting to nearly eight thousand acres, were granted to Thomas Eyre, Esq., of Gray's Inn.
So the Forest passed away for ever, much to the benefit no doubt of the then existing and future generations; but still we may regret that we have lost altogether the woodland scenery and pleasant associations of a Forest life. But regretting the loss of trees and deer, we must much more bewail the extinction of so many of our old Forest families, descended from Bailiffs and Bowmakers appointed by the Norman Kings, and who, about the middle of the 17th century, disappeared from the roll of our county gentry. From what cause this happened I am ignorant, unless it was occasioned by the Rebellion, that great game on which so many noble fortunes were staked and lost. At the time of St. George's Visitation in 1611, more than thirty families of note and consideration were living within the Forest boundaries: but how many of them are now extinct or unknown in the county the following list will show *9 :-

Foljambe, of Walton,
Eyre of Highlow,
Bagshawe, of Ridge,
Mellor, of Mellor,
Buxton, of Buxton,
Beards, of Beard,
Ashton, of Castleton,
Bowden, of Bowden,
Legh, of Blackbrook,
Litton, of Litton,
Meverell, of Tideswell,
Radclyffe, of Mellor,
Shallcross, of Shallcross,
Bradshawe, of Bradshawe,
Browne, of Marsh,
Bradbury, of Ollersett,
Ashenhurst, of Beard,
Savage, of Castleton,
Woodrofe, of Hope,
Needham, of Thornsett,
Tunsted of Tunstead.

All these are gone, and they have left none to fill their places. Their old halls are levelled with the ground, or used as farm-houses; and instead of exciting the admiration of historians and travellers by the number and nobility of its inhabitants, the forest is now singularly destitute of resident gentry. But though we have lost so much, let us be thankful for what is still left to us. Our hills and valleys though shorn of their woodland glories, still smile beneath the summer sun, or glisten white and cold clothed in the snows of winter; and few counties in Merrie England can boast of greater beauties in rock and fell*10 than are even now to be found within the bounds of the King’s Ancient Forest of the Peak. *11

NOTES -

*1 He was buried at Hathersage.

*2 The Champion Cross is supposed by some to be so called from a crusader who ended his life in that spot, having dwelt there some time as a hermit, in expiation of some unknown crime, and who erected the cross that bears his name. This romantic legend is prettily given by Mr. Bennett, in his “Kings of the Peak.” But I think the more probable supposition is, that the cross took its name from the forest, which was often called De Campanâ, or the Champion Forest. There is a highly respectable family of the name of Champion, now living in Edale, who evidently acquired their name from the same source.

*3 Gundeborn and Hundine owned the valley of Hope in the reign of Edward the Confessor.

*4 I believe myself, that a castle of some kind existed here prior to Peverel’s time. It was most likely built at the same time as Bakewell Castle, by King Edmund, when he expelled the Danes from Derbyshire.

*5 Land was sometimes held in the Peak by petit serjeanty, as in the following grant which I have seen :- “100 acres of waste in Fairfield granted by Edward II., at the request of Isabella, his Queen, to John de Thwait, ‘valeto nostro,’ on payment of ‘unam sagittam barbatam,’ at the feast of St. John the Baptist.” Appended to this grant by a cord of green and orange coloured silk, is the Great Seal of England.

*6 Bagshawe, a bugle horn between three roses; the rose being the King's badge.
Wadschefe, three swords erect argent, from his office as constable and bailiff.
Needham, Argent a bend engrailed azure, between two bucks heads cabossed sable. Buxton, Sable, two bars azure, on a canton argent, a buck trippant sable. Bradshawe - Crest - a stag at gaze under a tree.
Kirke - Crest - a wild boar passant sable.

*7 The Mines in the High Peak were very extensive, and the Miners were governed by curious laws and customs, which were said to be derived from the time of Edward I. All these laws were collected and published in 1734, by George Steer. Many very curious words were used by the Miners, e.g. Feaigh, refuse washed from the ore. Stowses, marks set in the ground. Coes, huts to keep their tools in. Buddle, the troughs for washing the ore. Lot and Cope, the two duties paid on the ore.

*8 Edward I. is said to have been hunting in the Peak Forest when he heard of the death of his wife Eleanor.

*9 We know the ends of many of these families, others left the county and still exist in other places, but some disappeared in the most sudden and mysterious manner; of these were the Bowdens, Tunsteads, Browne, of Marshe, ect.

*10 Perhaps the grandest piece of scenery in the county, and which by-the –bye is not mentioned in any of the Guide Books, is to be found by ascending Kinder Scout from Hayfield, then crossing the Moor and descending on the other side into Edale.

*11 There was a family called Halley, of considerable note in the Forest. I have proofs of the following short pedigree:-

William de Hally, temp. Edward I.

William de Hally, Bailiff of the Peak Forest, 11 Edward II.

Robert de Hally, living 5 Edward III.

Hugo de Hally, 25 Edward III.

Robert de Hally, 10 Richard II.