The Royal Forest of Whittlewood was a medieval hunting forest
and contains many remnants of the area's ancient woodlands. Today
the forest consists of a core of ancient woodlands and stone built
villages to the west of Silverstone, and scattered remants across
to Milton Keynes.
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Medieval Northamptonshire was dominated
by the king’s forests. At their height, during the late 12th and
13th centuries, the royal forests of Rockingham, Salcey and
Whittlewood extended in an unbroken band from the River Welland in
the north to the Great Ouse in the south, encompassing about half
of the total area of Northamptonshire. This does not mean that
about half of the county was covered by woodland, but that this was
the area subject to forest law. Thus, not only heaths, parks and
woods, but also many of Northamptonshire’s towns and villages,
together with their fields of arable and pasture, fell within the
jurisdiction of the king’s forest officials. This was a substantial
tract of countryside. Across England as a whole during this period,
no more than a third of the country’s land area lay within the
boundaries of the royal forest. Northamptonshire was, therefore,
affected more than most counties by the imposition of forest
law. |
When the bluebells are in bloom this is a glorious woodland
walk. But even at other times of the year the route is designed to
take you through the prettier parts of the wood. There is a more
direct route back to the car park on your return. Please look out
for the "cache guardian" (pictured above), and make sure you
replace the cache exactly as you found it. Thanks.
Take a note of the "bonus code" from the back of the log book
- it might be useful one day to find the bonus cache..!
As with the others in the series, this cache has been placed
with kind permission of the Northants Forestry Commission.
