This year, Pannage will take Place in the New Forest from Monday, September 16th, until Friday, November 22nd. During the autumn months, it’s common to see pigs roaming the forest floor. Pannage is the practice of releasing domestic pigs into a forest (also known as ‘Common of mast’).It goes all the back to William the Conqueror, who founded the New Forest in 1079.

The pigs are released into the forest to eat fallen acorns, beech mast, chestnuts, and other nuts. Green acorns are poisonous to New Forest ponies and cattle, that roam the forest.

Up to 600 pigs and piglets will wander through the forest eating the acorns and nuts from the forest floor. It is the only time of year that the pigs are allowed to ‘roam’ the open forest, the rest of the time they are kept in their smallholdings by the commoners. In the 19th century, the number of pigs released for pannage was as high as 6,000.