In a 2007 edition of the Radio 4 series Things We Forgot to Remember Michael Portillo considered the Magna Carta & argued that in truth its impact was a good deal less far-reaching than is popularly believed.
The Charter of the Forest, issued by Henry III, the son of Bad King John, had more far reaching & long lasting implications for the liberty of the English because it applied not just to barons but all good and lawful men, & guaranteed that henceforth no one ‘shall lose life or limbs on account of our hunting rights.’
The agitation of the people of the Forest of the High Peak, which alas no longer exists, played an important part in the restoration of those charter freedoms.
Sadly I think that Caroline Spellman will turn out to have lost a lot of political capital if she is deemed to have got her government & her party into an unnecessary & unholy mess over the ownership of our modern forests. We may have forgotten to remember the Charter of the Forests, but it is still there as part of our deep history.
