Legal Definitions - regarder

A regarder was a historical legal official, primarily active in medieval England, whose role was to regularly inspect and oversee a designated forest area. Their main responsibility was to identify and report any unauthorized activities or infringements, known as trespasses, committed within the forest boundaries. These trespasses could include illegal hunting, logging, grazing of livestock, or encroachment upon the land.

• Imagine a regarder in the 13th century making their rounds through a royal forest. They discover a freshly cut clearing where several valuable oak trees have been felled and removed without the necessary royal permission. The regarder would then document this illegal logging, which constitutes a trespass, and report it to the forest court for appropriate legal action against those responsible.

• Consider a scenario where a local farmer, seeking better pasture for his animals, allows his cattle to graze within a protected section of the forest, an area specifically reserved for the king's deer. A diligent regarder, during a routine inspection, would observe these unauthorized animals and identify this as a trespass, reporting the farmer for violating the forest laws.

• Picture a villager attempting to expand their property by clearing a small patch of forest land adjacent to their farm and beginning to construct a new shed. A regarder patrolling that section of the forest would notice this unauthorized building and land alteration, recognizing it as an act of encroachment and a trespass against the forest's established boundaries and ownership.