Bring back the Norman forest laws!

[SueEllen]

Sounds good! I am rewilding my garden. No, it's not cos I'm a lazy old git who can't be bothered with gardening.

Make sure you tell your neighbours your garden is a wild life haven....

[xoggoth]

Sounds good! I am rewilding my garden. No, it's not cos I'm a lazy old git who can't be bothered with gardening.

[OwlHoot]

Back in the 1100s a significant part of England was so-called royal forest land, and this included entire counties such as Essex.

The penalties for "trespass on verd and venison" in a royal forest were pretty severe (castration and blinding), so any poacher the forest verderers caught in one with a deer over his shoulder or even a brace of rabbits, knew he was in for a Very Bad Day!

Actually, the problem for poachers wasn't so much being caught hunting or killing the animals or being in possession of them, but cooking them, because the smell of cooking game could be detected several miles away by hungry hounds the verderers kept for that purpose.

But anyway, now there's a petition to rewild what remains of royal forest land (although much of it has been sold off over the centuries, mainly to finance mostly futile wars and crusades) :

Royal family: 'Rewild' your land to boost wildlife and fight the climate crisis!

Actually, I don't think there's any thought of bringing back the forest laws. That was just my attempt at a provocative Daily Mail style headline.