Soon after the
Norman Conquest of England this area became a
royal forest. The word forest in this sense did not necessarily mean a wooded area but one that was set aside for hunting, though several areas of Inglewood were heavily wooded. The animals that were hunted in this area were mainly
deer and
wild boars. The forest boundaries changed many times and included at one time most of the Cumberland
wards of
Leath and
Cumberland but the core or heart of the forest was the parishes of
Hesket-in-the-Forest,
Skelton and
Hutton-in-the-Forest. Higham places the "core of the forest between the
Chalk Beck and the
River Petteril, in particular the townships and civil parishes of
Dalston,
Sebergham,
Hesket,
Mungrisdale,
Catterlen,
Hutton,
Skelton, and
Castle Sowerby". The forest ultimately belonged to the
English Crown and was governed by the strict
forest law exercised by wardens. In the reign of
Henry VIII the forest laws were repealed and Inglewood ceased to be a royal forest although it is still to this day marked on maps as such". The borough and city of Carlisle (the area within the city walls) was outside the forest though Penrith was within it and was the main administrative centre and
market town for the southern part of the region.
Border reivers were active in the area and it contains a number of fortified buildings referred to as
Peel towers. ==Literature==