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October 2022 October 2022

Highways can be found on the Dorset Council Planning Portal and accessed via
the Dorset Council website. BERE REGIS HISTORY SOCIETY

Parish Lengthsman The Law of the Forest
Today Bere Regis is partially surrounded by woodland, on
Most residents are aware that we are in the very fortunate position that we have the East, South-East and to some extent on the South.
a Lengthsman but perhaps not many know what he actually does. So here is a 1,300 years ago we would have been totally surrounded
breakdown of the work he undertook for the parish during August.
except for trackway-gaps in several directions. The old-
16 hours at the Cemetery keeping the grass and hedges neatly cut, clearing litter, English word "voorst" became “forest” later and by about
and maintaining the graves. 780 AD all forests in England were "royal woods". The hunting rights were
exclusively for the king, but normal management of the timber was run by
9.5 hours clearing rights of way around the village. foresters allowing extraction of timber for building and firewood by ordinary
14.5 hours continuing the repairs to the various finger posts around the parish. people.
34.5 hours at the play area – undertaking maintenance of all the play equipment After the 1066 Norman invasion, England's woods were
and repairing the boundary fence. Litter picking the area and carrying out weekly a much more severe place and Forest Laws were
inspections. extended, but still included the King's hunting rights.
Timber extraction over a diameter of 3-inches (76mm)
9 hours clearing litter and fly tipping from around the parish, emptying litter bins was punished after trial in the swainmote courts, held
and taking it to the tip. three times a year and with the verderers being the
judges. Those cases were presented to the woodmote
17 hours maintaining the grass verges around the village, the Elder Road open which consisted of the foresters themselves, and held
space and Souls Moor. every 40 days. The judgement, however, only took

11 hours clearing fallen trees and branches and removing the debris from around place by one of the two chief justices every three
the parish. years. A typical case could go on for years before
sentence was made. Punishments were sometimes
His duties vary depending on the time of year and what events or issues arise. Had horrific, and included cutting noses or ears off the
we not got a Lengthsman, much of the work he does would have to be done by guilty, or for certain offences the man having a hand
Dorset Council or volunteers. This means, rather than have someone who can cut off.
respond instantly, any defect would have to be logged with Dorset Council and
then could take over a month before anything was done. “Deer Hunter” by Nichols & The process became so complicated that by 1216 it
Bentley, 1818 was amongst the grievances presented to King John
and dealt with in the Magna Carta, but it had to wait

Next Meeting until 1217 with Henry III's forest charter where the rules allowed purlieu, and the
forest rules were not allowed to extend outside the forest itself, which often
The next meeting will be held on Thursday 13 October 2022, commencing 7pm happened.
th
at the Drax Hall. If you wish to have an item added to the agenda for discussion,
please contact the Clerk or a member of the Parish Council by the end of June. Charles I revived the old forest laws to raise more income, but in 1640 his plans
were abolished back to the rules of 1623, and not long after that the old forest
Amanda Crocker, Clerk to Bere Regis Parish Council laws fell into complete disuse.
The Ancient Order of Foresters, which many villagers will remember had a Court
Prospect at Bere Regis, rose out of "local obscurity" at Leeds, Yorkshire, in 1834,
more as a social organisation than to impose forest law. By 1926 the Order had
3,438 branches (Courts) and about 600,000 members in the UK.
John Pitfield, Projects Secretary

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