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As traditional rural ways of life face growing economic pressure and cultural change, a new audio portrait by documents the language, labour and land-based traditions of New Forest Commoners – preserving the voices of a community whose knowledge has shaped the landscape for centuries.

Created during a year-long artistic commission funded by the , the project – titled Pannage – documents the people whose lives remain shaped by the ancient practice of Commoning – a centuries-old system of land rights that continues to define life in the New Forest today.

Established in 1079 by William the Conqueror as a royal hunting ground, the New Forest remains one of Britain’s oldest working landscapes. Covering 220 square miles across Hampshire and Wiltshire, it is defined by the ancient system of Commoning – a traditional form of land management that allows Commoners to exercise rights over shared land, including grazing livestock, gathering firewood and seasonal pig foraging.

At the heart of this system are the “five rights of Common”: pannage (the right to release pigs into the forest to forage on fallen acorns, protecting ponies from poisoning), estovers (the right to gather firewood), turbary (the right to cut turf for fuel), pasture (the right to graze livestock), and marl (the right to dig clay for fertiliser).

While some are rarely exercised today, together they form a living vocabulary of land stewardship and ecological knowledge that remains central to forest life.

Through layered interviews and environmental sound recordings, Pannage captures not only these traditions but the labour behind them: livestock welfare, habitat management, rising costs, and the passing down of knowledge through generations.

Dr Jordan-Baker, Senior Lecturer at the 亚洲麻豆精品在线’s School of Humanities and Social Science, said: “Commoning is a way of life that is deeply rooted in place, but much of it goes unnoticed by those outside it – and often by those within it too, simply because it’s ordinary to them. What struck me while making this work was how much knowledge about the land is held in ordinary words and everyday practices – things that can easily go unnoticed, even by the people living them.

“The New Forest is often seen as a place of beauty and escape, but it is also a working landscape shaped by labour, care and centuries of shared knowledge. I wanted to create something that captured the sound and texture of that life, and to preserve some of the voices and language that make it possible.”

Dr Craig Jordan-Baker

Mary Davies, New Forest National Park Authority member and chair of the Sustainable Communities Fund, said: “It is truly inspirational to read the work of Craig Jordan-Baker, it has the effect of feeling you are in the New Forest, immersed in the Commoning Culture and Traditions so vital to the current and future heritage of the New Forest. The National Park Authority is delighted to have supported such a meaningful and insightful project.”

The audio portrait combines interviews with Commoners, Agisters (officials who oversee livestock welfare and grazing) and Verderers (elected custodians of the forest’s legal protections) to explore how language, labour and landscape remain deeply intertwined.

Using a technique known as contrapuntal radio – layering voices and field recordings so they overlap, merge and interrupt – the work creates an immersive listening experience that reflects the rhythms of work, weather and community life in the forest.

The audio portrait arrives at a moment of uncertainty for the New Forest community. Recent UK government plans to divide the Forest’s administration between two new local authorities have prompted widespread protests, with many residents warning that splitting governance could weaken protections for the landscape and the traditional rights that sustain it.

Against this backdrop of economic pressure, environmental change and political uncertainty, Pannage offers a timely record of a community whose knowledge, language and traditions continue to shape one of Britain’s most historic landscapes.

Listen to Pannage on , where you can also read Dr Jordan-Baker’s article about the commission.