The Ancient Forest of Arden

Unveiling the Lost Eden: In Search of the Forest of Arden’s Boundaries

It feels helpful to note a few things about the Ancient Forest of Arden and how that identity was carried in the culture of Shropshire. Because, to understand Shropshire’s culture, it’s helpful to consider the influence of Arden.

There has been a modern trend to truncate the extent of this ancient territory.

This has generated significant challenges in understanding identities that were deeply ingrained in the cultural memory of High Medieval, Tudor (and earlier) societies, particularly within the region itself. Modern scholars often apply a truncated, anachronistic definition of this territory, seeking rigid boundaries defined by modern administrative divisions. This approach obscures the fluid and complex identities that emerged from prehistory.

This issue persists today, as evidenced by the renowned and influential Poly-Olbion, a topographical poem describing England and Wales. Authored by Michael Drayton (1563–1631) and published in 1612, it laments the decline of Arden, describing how it has been diminished over time.  He weaves together historical and mythological elements, connecting Arden to ancient legends and folklore.

For Drayton Arden is the source of numerous rivers, highlighting its role in shaping the English landscape, and the poem emphasizes the connection between Arden and the rivers that flow from it. He describes the Forest of Arden as being located between the River Severn and the River Trent:

Muse, first of Arden tell, whose footsteps yet are found
In her rough woodlands more than any other ground.
That mighty Arden held, even in her height of pride;
Her one hand touching Trent, the other, Severn’s side.
The very sound of these, the Wood-Nymphs doth awake:
When thus of her own self the ancient Forest spake

Arden is not just a geographical location in “Poly-Olbion” but a significant symbol of English history, mythology, and the changing relationship between humans and the natural world. Drayton uses Arden to explore themes of environmental change, the passage of time, and the enduring power of the natural world.

Another Tudor source we can look at is A Treatise and discourse of the laws of the Forest (1598) by John Manwood:

The Antiquity of Forests.

The antiquity of Forests needs to be very great; for they are so ancient, that there is no certain beginning of them that can be given. However, there may be many testimonies to prove that Forests have been of long time, yea many hundred years, but yet in what place of the world, or in what time they did first begin, no man can certainly tell. We read in the 50th Psalm of David, verse 10, whereas David speaking in the person of God saith, ‘I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor he-goats out of the folds, for all the beasts of the forests are mine, and so are the cattle upon a thousand hills.’ Hereby we may gather that there were Forests of wild beasts in the time of the Prophet David. And likewise in the 131st Psalm, verse 13, it saith, ‘Lo, we heard of it at Euphrates, and found it in the fields of the Forests:’ By this we may likewise gather that there were Forests in the time of King David. Polidor Virgil in his book De Inventoribus Rerum says that Forests, Parks, and Warrens were first made by Fulvius Herpinus, which is not true.

In the French Chronicle of John Crispin, that Philip of Macedon, had Forests to hunt in, for places of recreation and delight: so then if Forests were in his time, they were before the coming of Christ. We read that Canute the Dane, and king of this land, made certain Laws for Forests in the year of our Lord 1016, but Forests were here in England before his time.

This passage from A Treatise and discourse of the laws of the Forest argues for the ancient origins of forests, suggesting they predate recorded human history, citing biblical passages (Psalms 50 and 131) as evidence for the existence of forests during the time of King David. Manwood adds historical references, including works by Polidor Virgil and the French Chronicle of John Crispin, further support the idea of ancient forests, predating the Christian era. While acknowledging King Canute’s forest laws in 1016, the passage emphasizes that forests existed in England long before his reign. The passage highlights the difficulty in defining the exact origins and boundaries of ancient forests, as they are dynamic ecosystems constantly evolving due to factors like climate change and human activity.

Ancient records lack the detailed mapping necessary to establish fixed boundaries. This underscores the limitations of applying modern concepts of “boundaries” and “territories” to the fluid and ever-changing nature of ancient landscapes.

The Forest of Arden’s elusive nature, with its shifting boundaries and evolving interpretations throughout history, contributes to its mythic status. This lack of a fixed identity allows it to remain a powerful symbol, adaptable to various meanings and capable of evoking enduring fascination across generations.

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This has created difficulties in accessing historical identities that were commonplace in the Early Modern and Tudor periods.

For instance, the 1989 Arden Shakespeare (with a 1967 introduction) says:

“It is tempting to try and make some distinction between the forest where the Duke hunts.. and the cleared land, where Corin keeps sheep… Doubtless the whole neighbourhood was known locally as ‘The Forest’. Shakespeare would be familiar with such usage with reference to the Warwickshire Arden, by his day barely forested at all”

This quotation, while unfortunately implying that the English Arden is located only in Warwickshire, is nonetheless useful.

It demonstrates that dense tree cover wasn’t a necessary condition for an area to be considered a forest in earlier times. Forests often held a legal jurisdiction and cultural significance that went beyond their physical characteristics.

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The Forest of Arden is much better thought of as the land not served by the Roman Roads that sits in the Welsh Marches, shown white on the map below. Watling Street (repaired by Old Sir Rowland Hill), providing access to London, is shown in red for its entire relevant length (other relevant Roman roads include Icknield Street, the Salt Road, and the Fosse Way):

Placing this map before you should shift your perspective on the Forest of Arden, particularly if you previously held the view that it was limited to the area surrounding a few quaint villages near Stratford. In this new light, the well-documented practice of praying for safe passage at the Coughton Wayside Cross before traversing the expansive and treacherous Arden takes on a whole new meaning.

This is especially true when you consider that real-life stories of highway robbery in medieval Shropshire served as an inspiration for the Robin Hood legend. Evidence of this connection can be found in the prominent role played by Fulk FitzWarin, the outlawed Lord of Whittington, Shropshire, in incubating the folk-story.

You can also see this on a map of Mercia in the time of St Chad, shown below.

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The geography of the English Arden, characterized by its rural and bohemian culture, aligns with its continental counterpart, the Forest of Ardennes. And both names likely share a common root.

The Forest of Ardennes takes its name from the vast, ancient forest known as Arduenna Silva in Roman times. This name likely derives from a Gaulish word related to the Brythonic “ardu” (meaning “high” in Welsh: ardd and Latin: arduus) and possibly the Celtic element “*windo-” (meaning “fair” or “blessed” in Welsh: wyn/wen). This suggests a potential original meaning of “forest of blessed/fair heights” for both Arden and Ardennes.

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Let us look at some sources.

A good place to start is the The Gough Map or Bodleian Map, a Late Medieval map of the island of Great Britain, likely made between 1355 and 1366, to a  prototype of around 1280. It shows the location of The Forest of Arden as people thought about it before the Tudors, and inclides Tamworth and Birmingham in the meaning, as we can see from this closer image:

Here are some additional resources more local to Soulton (and not easily available away from Shropshire) for those interested in learning more about this topic:

• In 1102, a rebellion against King Henry I led by Robert de Belesme of Shrewsbury erupted. Wem’s Norman Lord Pantulf remained loyal to the crown and joined the king’s forces. Notably, records indicate that the dense woods along the roads provided cover for archers, hindering the king’s army. To address this, 6,000 foot soldiers were deployed to clear the woods and improve passage.
• A jury was appointed by Edward I to decide the boundaries of the Royal Forest in Shropshire (Shropshire hasa Royal Forest and its scope is not clear in the 1200s). Interestingly, Sir William de Ludlow was one of the jurymen, the first of the de Ludlows to be Lord of Hodnet and a Hodnet-Vernon ancestor.
• The tree-covered area near Wem, known as Northwood, only began to be cleared during the reign of Henry VIII. Lord Dacre (d. 1563) initiated the project, but it wasn’t completed until the time of his granddaughter, the Countess of Arundel (d. 1630).
• The Soulton Deeds themselves, in a document called The Soulton Rental, show that the lands Old Sir Rowland Hill owned were thickly-tree covered in the memory of his own time: the 14th-century grants of land to Thomas de Haukeston in Hawkestone show that some of the lands were only recently cleared of tree cover.

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The above notes were provoked by renewed interest in the Shakespeare-Old Sir Rowland-As You Like It links.

In that context, the existence of the caves in Hawkstone Cliffs that face Soulton are not irrelevant, and we might close on a quotation from the play:

DUKE SENIOR
If that you were the good Sir Rowland’s son,
As you have whisper’d faithfully you were,
And as mine eye doth his effigies witness
Most truly limn’d and living in your face,
Be truly welcome hither: I am the duke
That loved your father: the residue of your fortune,
Go to my cave and tell me….

–As You Like It, William Shakespeare. Act 2, scene 7. The Forest of Arden.

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You can find Liam Byrne MP discussing the Forest of Arden in these territorial terms in 2019, as part of a campaign to for ” a West Midlands Forest – to help drive our green industrial revolution, and reconnect with our history as the home to the ancient Forest of Arden, the mighty Midlands forest made world-famous by William Shakespeare in As You Like It“:

….the last of Arden Forest.

This legendary forest, through which no Roman roads were built once stretched from the river Avon to the river Tame. Bounded by the old Roman roads of Icknield Street, Watling Street, Fosse Way and a prehistoric salt track leading from Droitwich, it covered the land from Stratford to Tamworth from which the great cities of Birmingham and Coventry were carved.