Forest of Lyme

The Forest of Lyme (pronounced “Lime”) is a former forest in the present day counties of Cheshire, Staffordshire and parts of Derbyshire. Parts of the forest remain and its name is preserved in many local place names.

Location

The Forest of Lyme (probably named so after the abundance of lime trees in it) was a historic tract of forest land stretching from Ashton-Under-Lyne all the way roughly along Cheshire's border to the town of Audlem on the Cheshire/Shropshire border. It takes in the modern towns and villages of Ashton-under-Lyne, Macclesfield, Lyme, Congleton, Madeley, Newcastle-under-Lyme and others.

History

In historical times the forest was inhabited by the British Celts who would have been a part of the Cornovii tribe, or more probably the Brigantes tribe. The Forest seemed to act as a barrier to Anglo-Saxon conquest of Cheshire because when Cheshire finally came under Anglo-Saxon control, the army which effectively captured it came from the North. There is also a lot of evidence for the survival of a Celtic-Cultured enclave in the forest. A few place names around the town of Congleton (such as Radnor, Bridgestones, etc.) easily show a Celtic presence, even in Anglo-Saxon times. One great example is “Hulme Walfield”. The “Walfield” bit is the important bit. “Wal” is Proto-Germanic (which Old English evolved from) for Foreigner and especially for the British Celts and the “field” indicates field land. So “Hulme Walfield” means “British man's field”.

There is also evidence in the continuity of ancient pagan festivals into the modern age as well. One of these was Beltaine, practised around Leek. Another pagan custom is well dressing which formerly took place in the Forest of Lyme is the Derbyshire-connected well dressing, which was formerly carried out in Rushton Spencer near Biddulph. Indeed a lot of pagan festivals have been Christianized and continue to be carried out. Not so long age, maybe even less than 100 years ago a lot of the population of the former forest believed in the Celtic-connected fairies.

There is also some evidence for the towns and land located around Biddulph and Leek as formerly belonging to Cheshire in the early Middle Ages.

Today the forest survives as large tracts of ancient woodland, particularly in the valley of the River Dane, the Western Peak District and in a few other areas.

Name in modern place names

The name “Lyme” is preserved in a wide range of ways in many local place names. These include:

* Ashton-under-Lyne (a obvious corruption of “Lyme”)
* Audlem (Old Lyme)
* Lyme Park in Disley
* Lyme Handley, Sutton (Unofficially called Lyme Green)
* Linely (a corruption of Limely)
* Newcastle-under-Lyme

External links

* [http://www.forest-of-lyme.tk A local website on the Forest of Lyme]