A-Z Challenge 2013: V is for Verderer, Vert and Venison

A verderer (there were four per forest) was the officially-elected individual who looked after and administered the "vert and venison".  The 'vert' was described as "the trees and shrubs which bore green leaves and thus provided food and shelter for livestock" (The Oxford Companion to Local and Family History, David Hey).  The 'venison' was not just deer, it was all livestock.

The Verderer's Court of the Forest of Dean still meets to settle disputes, with records dating from the seventeenth century.