After the earldom lapsed in 1237, the forest rights passed to the Crown, with the monarch's heir being given the title of Earl of Chester.

The boundary might have coincided with a road known as "Peytevinisti" or "Peytefynsty", which also defined the limit of the grazing rights of Vale Royal Abbey; this is believed to have run from Weaverham in the north through Cuddington to Tarporley in the south.

It was created by Hugh d'Avranches, a keen huntsman, soon after he became Earl of Chester in 1071, although the area might have been an Anglo-Saxon hunting forest before the Norman Conquest.

[3] The original woodland was mixed, predominantly oak, but also including elm, lime, yew, chestnut, fir, larch, beech, ash, silver birch, hazel, willow and alder.

Ranulf de Blondeville, the 6th Earl, issued a charter in 1215–16 which granted a more humane legal code for the Cheshire hunting forests.

Enclosure and assarting in Mara and Mondrem during this period is poorly documented, but is known to have occurred at Frodsham, Weaverham and Darnhall.

[9] Agricultural exploitation of the eastern edge of the forest was hampered by outbreaks of Black Death at Over, Little Budworth and Vale Royal Abbey in 1349, 1361 and 1369.

[13] The northerly Forest of Mara remained wooded in the 14th century, and still retained a population of wild boar, lynx and wolves.

[4] The remaining Mondrem woodland in the mid-14th century appears to have been concentrated in the north around Castle Northwich, Hartford and Winnington, and to a lesser extent in the south east around Aston juxta Mondrum, Calveley, Cholmondeston, Church Minshull, Poole and Wettenhall.

[7] The master-forester had a lodge, known as the "Chamber of the Forest", in which he occasionally stayed; it was built in Peckforton in 1351 and later moved to Eddisbury Hill.

[1][7] Additionally, agisters collected monies charged for grazing, verderers attended the forest courts, and inspectors termed "regarders", huntsmen and kennelmen were also employed.