Some of the oak trees on Shotover Hill, may have been already growing, when it was still part of a Royal Forest
These old Oak trees on Shotover Hill (see picture), are several hundred years old and may have been already growing whilst this was still part of the Royal forest.
Royal forests had an unusual status in medieval and early English History. Originally established as private hunting grounds for the Kings with their own law courts and rights for the ‘resident’ foresters.
The local Royal forests of Woodstock, Wychwood and Shotover were originally Saxon Royal Forests. Others were created after the Norman conquest, of which the New Forest is the the most well known. Royal Forests were not only for hunting, they also became a source of revenue for the monarch.
To manage this important piece of land, the king appointed one of the local gentry as the Bailwick, some of whom resided at Shotover Lodge. The first of these appointments is recorded during the reign of Richard I. The last person to hold this position was Sir Timothy Tyrell, appointed by Prince Henry son of James I in 1615. The extent of the forest was far greater than the area of Shotover Hill, now managed by the City of Oxford (see map below).
Thirteenth Century Shotover extended to the River Cherwell, and included all of St Clements, Headington and Marston.
Whilst the Venison and Boar hunted in the forests were dined upon at Windsor Castle, this game was also a great temptation to others; in particular the impecunious students of Oxford, who were often held in stocks outside the Black Horse or issued with fines for poaching.
This happened so frequently that the Oxford University authorities were forced to object to the officials of Shotover, on a number of occasions.
The court of the Royal Forest was called a Swainmottes. It was keen to exert its rights, as the fines were a revenue stream for the crown.
The wood from the trees as well as the grazing of livestock from the surrounding villages also provided revenue. Pannage, the name given to pigs grazing on the acorns, was charged at the rate of 1 shilling and 6 pence per pig in 1303, a third of this was taken by the Bailwick, the remainder went to the Crown. So to be appointed Bailwick was a valuable source of income.
It also paid to make sure that poachers, and other encroachments were caught and fined. One William Wiloughly was fined £2,000, for illegally felling 50 Oak trees, which was a lot of money in the seventeenth Century.
Courts for Shotover Royal Forest were held at the Old Black Horse in St Clements, which at the time was still within the Royal forest (see map).
The front courtyard of the Old Black horse used to have stocks for the punishment of some convicted criminals , presumably, for those who were unable to pay the fines.
The Old Black Horse is the oldest building in St Clements, as all other buildings were destroyed by the Parliamentarian army in the siege of Oxford 1644-46. Both the Royalist and parliamentary armies managed to decimate Shotover forest during this siege, making it impossible to be maintained.
Following the restoration of Charles II, the Royal Forest of Shotover was finally disbanded in 1661. The major land holding was given to Sir William Tyrell, whose father had been appointed Bailwick of Shotover under James I. Sir William and his son commenced the building of Shotover Park creating the early eighteenth century mansion, near the site of Shotover Lodge. The Park and its estate continue to thrive.
The seventeenth century ‘Old Black Horse’ used to be the place where Shotover Royal Forest Courts were held. It is the Oldest building in St Clements.