Pannage is the practice of releasing

livestock Livestock are the Domestication, domesticated animals that are raised in an Agriculture, agricultural setting to provide labour and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, Egg as food, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The t ...

- pigs in a

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

, so that they can feed on fallen

acorn The acorn is the nut (fruit), nut of the oaks and their close relatives (genera ''Quercus'', ''Notholithocarpus'' and ''Lithocarpus'', in the family Fagaceae). It usually contains a seedling surrounded by two cotyledons (seedling leaves), en ...

beech Beech (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of Mesophyte, mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted ...

mast, chestnuts or other nuts. Historically, it was a right or privilege granted to local people on

common land Common land is collective land (sometimes only open to those whose nation governs the land) in which all persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person ...

or in

royal forest A royal forest, occasionally known as a kingswood (), is an area of land with different definitions in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The term ''forest'' in the ordinary modern understanding refers to an area of wooded land; however, the ...

s across much of

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. H. R. Loyn, ''Anglo-Saxon England and the Norman Conquest'', 2nd ed. 1991:369. The practice was historically referred to as ''Eichelmast'' or ''Eckerich'' in

German-speaking Europe This article details the geographical distribution of speakers of the German language, regardless of the legislative status within the countries where it is spoken. In addition to the Germanosphere () in Europe, German-speaking minority languag ...

while the fee to feed one's livestock in such a way was historically referred to as ''žirovina'' in Croatia and Slovenia. Pannage had two useful purposes in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. While rooting around looking for nuts, pigs also turned the soil and broke it. Pig-rooting prevented soil compaction and released nutrients for plant growth. It also fattened pigs for slaughter. Especially in the eastern shires of England, pannage was so prominent a value in the economic importance of woodland that it was often employed, as in ''

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

'' (1086), as a measurement. Customarily, a pig was given to the

lord of the manor Lord of the manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England and Norman England, referred to the landholder of a historical rural estate. The titles date to the English Feudalism, feudal (specifically English feudal barony, baronial) system. The ...

for every certain number of pigs loosed ''de herbagio'', as the right of pannage was entered. Edward Hasted quotes the Domesday Survey details for Norton in Kent. "Wood for the pannage of forty hogs". Pannage is no longer carried out in most areas, but is still observed in the

New Forest The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror, featu ...

Southern England Southern England, also known as the South of England or the South, is a sub-national part of England. Officially, it is made up of the southern, south-western and part of the eastern parts of England, consisting of the statistical regions of ...

, where it is also known as common of mast. It is still an important part of the forest

ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...

, and helps the husbandry of the other New Forest

– pigs can safely eat acorns as a large part of their diet, whereas excessive amounts may be

poison A poison is any chemical substance that is harmful or lethal to living organisms. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figurati ...

ous to ponies and

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

. The minimum duration of the New Forest pannage season is 60 days, but the start date varies according to the weather – and when the acorns fall. The Court of Verderers decides when pannage will start each year. During other times, pigs are not allowed to roam the forest, with the exception that breeding sows (known as "privileged sows") are by custom allowed out, providing that they return to the owner's holding at night and are not a nuisance. The pigs each have several nose rings clipped into their noses to prevent them rooting too much and causing damage to grassland.

References

External links

*
Local government website detailing the Common rights in the New Forest

New Forest Verderers' CourtPigging out in the forest: the Common of Mast in Britain
{{Property navbox History of agriculture Pig farming Transhumance English forest law Acorns

References

Further reading

External links