Could somebody tell me what were the rights of pannage and estboot in the Forest of Dean in the 1660's? I don't know what these words mean. Giles Colchester, researching family COLCHESTER, any place any time any spelling

The Forest of Dean is subject to ancient rights and customs. Management of the Forest takes place in consultation with the Verderers, who are responsible for overseeing the "vert and venison" (trees and deer). Meetings of the Verderers Court have been held in the Speech House since 1218. In practice, the Verderers are consulted about the whole range of management issues affecting the statutory Forest. Though not officially regarded as a common, there is a tradition of open grazing dating back at least five hundred years which means that free-roaming sheep grazing is officially suffered as a privilege outside the enclosures. There is a continuing tradition of estovers (firewood collection), although formal rights to this were removed by the 1668 Dean Reafforestation Act and the tradition of pannage (pig grazing) also continues. The other Common Rights frequently encountered are :- common of pasture : the right to turn stock on to the common to graze; common of pannage : the right to allow the commoner's pigs to enter a given wood in order to eat the acorns or beech mast which there fall to the ground; common of estovers : the right to take underwood and/or small branches, bracken etc, either for fuel, for animal litter or for repairing the commoner's fences or buildings; common of turbary : the right to dig turf or peat for use as fuel in the commoner's house; common of piscary : the right to take, for consumption in the commoner's own household, fish from a common pond or stream; and common in the soil : the right to take sand, gravel, stone or minerals for use on the commoner's land.