Forests (and chases) were areas over which land use was regulated to provided cover and forage for hunting quarry – mainly deer. Special laws, courts and officers ensured that vegetation cover (‘vert’) contained adequate supplies of holly, ivy and other berry-bearrng plants for winter deer-feed, which, with measures to enable deer to move freely, produced very distinctive landscapes over the large areas of England subject to Forest Law.
Dr. Langton was official fellow in geography at St. John’s College and lecturer in human geography in the Oxford University School of Geography and Environment 1980-2009.