| Arden | |
|---|---|
 Map showing the traditional territory of the Forest of Arden by reference to the Roman roads that formed its boundary | |
| Geography | |
| Location | West Midlands, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Shropshire. |
The Forest of Arden is a former forest and culturally defined area located in the English West Midlands,[1] that in antiquity and into the Early Modern Period included much of Warwickshire, and parts of Shropshire,[2][3][4] Staffordshire, the West Midlands, and Worcestershire.[5][6][7] It is associated with William Shakespeare as a territory of his youth, and the setting of some of his drama.
The Forest of Arden area was first mapped according to the Roman roads which conceptually bounded it: in the West by the Icknield Street, in the South by the Salt Road (the modern Alcester to Stratford Road), in the East by the Fosse Way, and in the North by the Watling Street.[8][9][10][11] The Gough Map shows this traditional extent of the forest.[1]
More recently the shorter term 'Arden' has been used to describe a smaller area primarily concentrated in the historic county of Warwickshire and parts of the modern West Midlands metropolitan county.
- ^ a b "Bodleian Library MS. Gough Gen. Top. 16". digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
- ^ "Wem's Shakespearean Connection: "Old Sir Rowland" Unmasked | Wem Rural Parish". Retrieved 23 August 2024.
- ^ Austin, Sue (23 February 2024). "Shropshire Day: Natural beauty and culture help county celebrate its own patron saint's day". www.shropshirestar.com. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
- ^ Austin, Sue (8 November 2023). "Shropshire's remarkable connections with Shakespeare are fascinating". www.shropshirestar.com. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
- ^ "Forest of Arden". 8 February 2012. Archived from the original on 8 February 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
- ^ Martineau, P. E. (1927). "The Forest of Arden". Empire Forestry Journal. 6 (2): 197–201. ISSN 2054-7447. JSTOR 42591666.
- ^ "Forest of Arden – Encyclopedia". theodora.com. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
- ^ Pawlowski, Anna (24 October 2023). "St James' Church Is A Neo-Classical Architectural Gem Sitting On The Packington Estate In Coventry". Secret Birmingham. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
- ^ "Dog trials". Packington Estate. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
- ^ Ross, James (20 November 2020). "Greater Landowners and the Management of their Estates in Late Medieval England". The Fifteenth Century XVIII: 93–104. doi:10.1017/9781800101128.009. ISBN 978-1-80010-112-8.
- ^ "cannot be reached" (PDF). eservices.solihull.gov.uk. Retrieved 8 October 2024.