Needwood Forest

Needwood Forest
Cottage in Needwood Forest by Joseph Wright 1790
Type	Woodland
Location	Staffordshire
Coordinates	52°49′N 1°46′W / 52.81°N 1.76°W / 52.81; -1.76
Area	9,437 acres (38.19 km2)
Created	1266
Status	some parts remain

Needwood Forest was a large area of ancient woodland in Staffordshire which was largely lost at the end of the 18th century.

The forest was on extensive lands owned by the Berkeley family of Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire, home to extensive stocks of wolf, wild boar and fallow deer.

In the 13th century Thomas de Berkeley was assigned to be the keeper of the Tutbury ward, and while resident at Tutbury Castle liked to hunt the forest, and had a hunting lodge built, Byrkley Lodge. In 1267, Thomas married the daughter of William de Ferrers, the Earl of Derby.

During the rebellion of Simon de Montford against King Henry III, the de Ferrers family allied themselves with the rebellion. After the rebellion was put down, the de Ferrers were forced to forfeit their estates to the crown. Henry III gave the forest to his son Edmund Crouchback, 1st Earl of Lancaster, in 1266. Renamed Needwood Chase or royal forest, it was subsequently owned by the Duchy of Lancaster until it passed into the possession of Henry IV in 1399.

By this time the lodge had become the residence of the local keeper (judge). The lodge was redeveloped by King Edward IV, and used extensively for hunting by both him and King James I. It was during this period that the forest became commonly associated with Sir Gawain's Green Knight.

In 1776, Francis Noel Clarke Mundy privately published a book of poetry called "Needwood Forest" which contained his own poem of the same name and supportive contributions from Sir Brooke Boothby Bt., Erasmus Darwin and Anna Seward. The purpose of Mundy's poems was to resist calls for the enclosure of the forest. Seward wrote a poem called "The fall of Needwood Forest", which she regarded as "one of the most beautiful local poems". Seward's parents adopted Hannah Sneyd, who was probably related to the engraver, Mary Emma Sneyd. By the early 1790s, Thomas Gisborne held the perpetual curacy of Barton-under-Needwood. Gisborne regarded Needwood much as Gilbert White did Selborne, and wrote of his walks in the forest to resist enclosure.