the Domesday Book, and a few stray references to people or places in this
locality, we are largely dependent on the buildings that have survived
those tempestuous years.

Pickering appears to have been a royal possession during the whole of this
time, and it is quite probable that the Norman kings hunted in the forest
and lodged with their Courts in the castle, for a writ issued by Henry I.
is dated at Pickering.



CHAPTER VIII

_The Forest and Vale in the Time of the Plantagenets_

A.D. 1154 to 1485


The story of these three centuries is told to a most remarkable extent in
the numerous records of the Duchy of Lancaster relating to the maintenance
of the royal Forest of Pickering. They throw a clear light on many aspects
of life at Pickering, and by picking out some of the more picturesque
incidents recorded we may see to what extent the severe forest laws kept
in check the poaching element in the neighbourhood. We can also discover
some incidents in connection with the visits of some of the English kings
to the royal forest of Pickering, as well as matters relating to the
repair of the castle.

In the Parliament of 1295, in Edward I.'s reign, Pickering, for the first
and only occasion, sent representatives to the national assembly. The