The Forest of Middlesex was an ancient woodland covering much of the county of Middlesex , England , that was north of the City of London and now forms the northern part of Greater London . A path was cut through the forest for the creation of Watling Street . At its ancient extent the forest stretched twelve miles north from the city walls at Houndsditch . Following the Norman Conquest it became the royal forest of Middlesex, where citizens of the City of London enjoyed the right of free chase by charters granted by Henry I and Henry II .
7-419: William Fitzstephen , who died circa 1190, described it as "vast forest, its copses dense with foliage concealing wild animals – stags, does, boars, and wild bulls." After the area was disafforested in 1218 by Henry III , ceasing to be a royal forest, the land passed into private ownership. This led to the deforestation of the bulk of the forest and its opening for development and agriculture. The boundaries of
14-497: A subdeacon with responsibility for perusing letters and petitions involving the diocese. Fitzstephen appeared with Becket at the council at Northampton Castle , where the archbishop was disgraced. When Becket was then forced into exile, after refusing to sign the Constitutions of Clarendon , King Henry II accepted a petition, in verse, from Fitzstephen and pardoned him from the banishment meted upon his master. When Becket and
21-667: The Forest are not clear, but Domesday returns for Middlesex as a whole indicate that it was around 30% wooded (much of it wood-pasture ) in 1086, about double the English average. This would have been lower in the lower land, close to rivers that made it more attractive for farming, and higher elsewhere. The proportion of woodland in England decreased sharply between the Conquest and the Black Death due to
28-538: The King. This also included an account of London in the 12th century, which was included in the biography as a preface, Descriptio Nobilissimi Civitatis Londoniae . The three editions of this work demonstrate a continuing familiarity with the life of the city, and for this reason he is not thought to be the same William Fitzstephen whom Henry appointed to be Sheriff of Gloucester and itinerant justice in 1171. This biography article of an English religious figure
35-758: The forest later owned by the Order of St John of Jerusalem . This London location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . William Fitzstephen William Fitzstephen (also William fitz Stephen ), (died c. 1191) was a cleric and administrator in the service of Thomas Becket . In the 1170s he wrote a long biography of Thomas Becket – the Vita Sancti Thomae (Life of St. Thomas). Fitzstephen had been Becket's personal household clerk for ten years and, when Becket became Chancellor of England , Becket gave his clerk full authority to act in his name in diocesan matters . Fitzstephen became
42-473: The king reconciled, Fitzstephen became his administrator once more. Fitzstephen records that he was among those of Becket's advisors who cautioned against excommunicating king Henry. Fitzstephen was with Becket on the day of Becket's assassination in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170. Fitzstephen wrote a biography of Becket, in which he gives a clear description of the differences between the archbishop and
49-484: The pressure of a rapidly increasing population, and the same pressures would have been experienced here. Much of the loss of woodland in Middlesex appears due to wood-pasture being downgraded to heathland as a result of intensive grazing. Remaining fragments of the ancient forest include Harrow Weald Common , Highgate Wood , Queen's Wood and Scratchwood . The London neighbourhood of St John's Wood reflects that part of
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