ABSTRACT
England in 1400 was a very well-wooded country, though even at this date there were great variations in the amount of woodland to be found from manor to manor and region to region. The substantial areas of land, much of it wooded, were devoted principally to hunting. These were the royal forests, the chases which were in fact private 'forests', and parks, securely enclosed areas belonging to the lord of the manor. The concept of the royal forest was introduced into England by the Norman kings whose love of hunting led them to place large areas of the country under the forest law. Moreover, in former forest areas such as Purbeck in Dorset, there were still extents of woodland and deer were plentiful. The formal gardens occupied the foreground of the new parks and were placed immediately below the windows of the great houses so that the pattern could be looked down upon.
