The Bailiwick of Ennerdale Est 1251 - Hon. George Mentz JD MBA CWM

Ennerdale Bailiwick — Stone Circles, Forest, and Liberty Heritage

From Royal Forest to Independent Liberty

The Forest of Copeland, a vast medieval hunting preserve, was divided into three bailiwicks in 1338 after the death of John de Multon, last Baron of Egremont.

• Ennerdale Bailiwick — Encompassing roughly 17,000 acres, including fell, moor, and woodland, it retained its liberty status and unique jurisdiction. Unlike the other divisions, it was later sold outright into private hands by the Crown, transforming it into a liberty in fee simple — a rare alienated palatine-like jurisdiction.

• Middleward Bailiwick — Including Kinniside, Nether Wasdale, and Stockdale Moor; reverted to the Crown in 1539.

• Eskdale & Wasdalehead Bailiwick — Passed to the Percy family as part of the Egremont barony.

Each bailiwick had its own bailiff and operated under forest law, enforcing game rights, regulating common pasture, and administering local justice through forest courts. In Ennerdale’s case, these rights combined with liberty status meant unusual tax exemptions, autonomous administration, and the ceremonial dignity of a royal forest free chase.

The Royal Forest Free Chase of Ennerdale

As a free chase, Ennerdale stood apart from ordinary royal forests. The Lord of the Bailiwick exercised many of the Crown’s own forest prerogatives within its bounds:

• Holding courts for forest offences and common pasture disputes.

• Regulating hunting, grazing, and timber cutting.

• Naming wardens, keepers, and forest officers.

• Overseeing access to fells, waters, and moors.

These powers, combined with liberty rights, gave Ennerdale a semi-sovereign local identity — a fact that still echoes in its surviving ceremonial traditions and manorial appointments.

Ancient Monuments in the Bailiwick — The Stone Circles

Within Ennerdale’s rugged uplands lie two notable prehistoric stone circles, enduring reminders that this was a landscape of ceremony long before the Norman forest laws were imposed.

Kinniside Stone Circle (Blakeley Raise)

• Located near the fell road from Ennerdale Bridge to Calder Bridge.

• Comprises 11 granite stones in a near-perfect ring with a central cairn.

• Thought to date to the Bronze Age, possibly marking a burial or ceremonial site.

Blakeley Moss Stone Circle

• Sometimes considered the same as Kinniside in local tradition.

• Dismantled in the 18th century for use as farm gateposts, then restored in 1925 by Dr. Quaine of Frizington.

• Stones were reset in concrete, attempting to match original sockets; authenticity of exact layout is debated.

Historical & Cultural Significance

• Oral tradition holds that the original circle once stood near Standing Stones Farm, suggesting deep local memory of prehistoric ceremonial sites.

• Whether fully authentic or partially reconstructed, these circles anchor Ennerdale’s history in Neolithic and Bronze Age ritual landscapes, linking the Bailiwick’s manorial heritage to its far older role as a gathering place.

• Their presence complements the forest free chase tradition — both representing controlled, bounded spaces of special significance, whether for royal hunting or ancient ritual.

A Living Heritage Landscape

Today, the Bailiwick of Ennerdale unites three intertwined legacies:

1. Ancient ceremonial landscapes — stone circles and cairns recalling prehistoric assemblies.

2. Royal forest and free chase governance — the unique local administration of land, game, and commons.

3. Liberty status in fee simple — preserving an unusually independent manorial jurisdiction within England.

This blend makes Ennerdale not only a rare survivor of medieval constitutional history but also a living cultural landscape where prehistoric, feudal, and ceremonial traditions meet.