Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Rabbits galore!
METHWOLD WARREN, NORFOLK, 1580
Sixteen rabbits are drawn in silhouette on this map, one facing the opposite way from the rest.
They are all found on the area coloured yellow, Methwold Warren, and represent many others
of their kind. These 'conies', and their tendency in reality to stray beyond the warren, were
the cause of many local disputes. The warrener paid a fee to the Duchy of Lancaster, who
owned the manor of Methwold, to farm rabbits there, which he expected to recoup by sales
of their meat and fur. He suspected his neighbours of trespass on the warren to take rabbits,
but these neighbours said that they were merely dealing with rabbits that strayed on their land
and ate their crops.
