During the mediaeval period the Royal Forest of Feckenham was created and Forest Law applied to parts of Dodderhill, then still the manor of Wychbold. The origin of the forest is likely to go back to Saxon times as the kings then reserved the right to hunt in many areas which were heavily wooded, and Worcestershire was one of the most wooded counties. These hunting rights were taken over by Norman kings and lords, and enshrined in Forest Law which applied to wooded areas, cultivation and habitation sites within the defined area of a forest.

Feckenham forest as enlarged by Henry II in the mid-12th century extended from the River Severn in the west across to the River Arrow in the east, and thus included the whole manor of Wychbold as well as most of the county. In 1229 Ombersley and an area to the south-east of Worcester were disafforested and this changed the western boundary of the forest so it no longer included all of the manor; the boundary came in from the south along the Roman road from Worcester to Bromsgrove, and a little distance south-west of Wychbold village it went off to the north-east, meaning that Wychbold village, the Astwoods and Impney were still in the forest but the rest of the manor to the west was not. In 1301 Edward I agreed that Feckenham forest should be reduced in size to its pre-12th century limits, which removed all of Wychbold manor from the forest. Further encroachments took place so that by 1591 Feckenham forest had been reduced to an area of only 34 square miles centred on Feckenham village. Royal interest in hunting had declined, and the state of the trees was poor: Elizabeth I issued a special commission to inquire about what wood and timber trees had been cut down and carried away from Feckenham forest in the past 7 years, and ordered a large-scale plan of the forest to be made. As a result of a royal survey of all forests, in 1608 it was decided to disafforest Feckenham but this did not take effect until 23 June 1629. The land was sold, and people living in the forest were compensated based on the land they held.

The intention of Forest Law was to protect the four ‘beasts of the forest’, namely red deer, roe deer, fallow deer and wild boar, with their habitat. Fox, rabbit, hare and badger were also protected. The monarch, and others with royal permission, could hunt these animals within the forest. Inhabitants could cut wood and timber for their immediate needs, and pasture their livestock. Offences such as killing deer or making clearings in the wooded forest to create fields for arable or pasture were ‘punished’ by fines, although in the 13th century death or maiming was also a legal punishment for lower-class local people (who would not have been able to pay a large fine). In later years these ‘fines’ or ‘licences’ came to be seen almost as a ‘fee’ for taking an animal or part of the forest’s land. Forest courts and officials administered the forest law, and they and the monarchs profited from the fines imposed. An unqualified or incapable holder of office could be removed by the king, and this happened in 1274 when Edward I removed a verderer, requiring a new election for a replacement. The heaviest fine imposed was £30, equivalent to thousands of pounds today, on Sir Walter Beauchamp in 1271; but pardons were granted to the bishop of Worcester in 1290 and at about the same time to the prioress of Westwood for offences relating to taking animals. After Dodderhill parish ceased to be part of Feckenham forest in 1301, the lives of local people would have been a little less constrained as they did not have to contend with living under forest law.

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