The earliest mention I have yet found is in one of the Rufford Charters, f. 49 in the cartulary, that details a grant by Rocelin and Ralph, sons of Richard, of the wood called 'Rahage' to 'the monks of Rufford' (monachis de Rucford) in perpetuity, and which is dated 1146 X 56. There is further confirmation of the grant by Rocelin's son, Joslen, 1176 X 97. A Papal bull of Adrian IV dated 1156 confirms this grant and calls the site a 'grange' (...illius grangiam sitam in nemore quod vocatur Rahage...). The next mention we have is c. 1170 X 84 when one William of Hockerton gave all the land he had in 'Woodhouse' (Wdehusa) on the west of the ditch near the chapel (... ab occidentali parte fossati quod fuit circa capellam...) and which he places on the south side next to the monks' land and the mansura (Med.Latin 'mans/a' house, holding, land; C12th) into which their grange was moved.

The implications from all this are that Roe Wood (Rahage) is of some considerable age and that from c.1150 it was held as a grange by Rufford Abbey, but probably had much earlier origins. Woodhouse was a separate place, a small vill, though it had a chapel, now long lost (it does not appear in any later records), and lies adjacent to the south of the land held by Rufford.

The tithe map of 1845 marks two fields named Upper and Lower Sheep Cotes, almost certainly the furlongs given to Rufford which had survived right through to the mid-C19th. They lie adjacent with their south sides on the stream and their north sides abutting a field called Roe Green that lay just to the west of the present footpath that follows the western edge of Roe Wood. Roe Green appears to be a likely candidate for the Rufford grange.

There are many ‘hay’ or ‘haga’ names in Nottinghamshire, of which perhaps Bilhaugh is the most obvious – a possession of the King from Domesday, central to the royal Sherwood Forest, with the King’s Stand nearby. Other ‘hay’ names include Kingshaugh – another early royal possession, and Bestwood – a royal park by 1349, but originating as a hay (Crook, 2002, 71). There are many others, by no means all of them royal, for instance Roe Wood in Winkburn, which was part of Sherwood until 1225-7. Originally recorded as Rahage, the name means the haga or hay of the roe deer (Gover et al, 1940, 198).
The Domesday hays specifically cited by Liddiard appear to have been parks in all but name (Liddiard, 2003, 16). However, just going from the place-name, all pre-Conquest ‘hays’ were not necessarily fully enclosed parks – the word ‘haga’ can mean a linear boundary or hedge, or even in some instances a net (Liddiard, 2003, 6). A hedge in Saxon times could comprise live hedging plants or stakes with pliable branches woven between them (Pollard et al, 1974, 22) and it did not of itself necessarily enclose anything – it is only when hedges are linked that they enclose land.

Brooke, C.J., and Bennett-Samuels, M, Forthcoming, Nottinghamshire Deer Parks (Published document). SNT5214.