IN the Middle Ages, much of south Northamptonshire was covered by royal hunting forests, which still determine the historic landscape. Salcey and Whittlewood Forests and Yardley Chase were divided into Walks and Lawns for hunting deer, a sport that had been developed in England since the Norman Conquest and remained popular down to the Tudors and Stuarts. The Forest Lawns had hunting lodges for the residence of the Keepers of the Forest. Wakefield Lawn (enlarged in about 1600) is one of the most interesting survivals, a wide, shallow, grass saucer completely encircled by woods.
After the Restoration in 1660, it was granted in reversion by Charles II to his son, the 1st Duke of Grafton, by Barbara Villiers, Duchess of Cleveland. The Duke’s son inherited it in 1705, after the death of the King’s widow, Catherine of Braganza (who had a life interest in the property). He became Hereditary Ranger of Whittlewood Forest, too, and moved into the Ranger’s official residence, the Great Lodge.
