The History, Ecology and Archaeology of Medieval Parks and Parklands
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The History, Ecology and Archaeology of Medieval Parks and Parklands Edited by Ian D. Rotherham Landscape Archaeology and Ecology, Volume 6, September 2007 The History, Ecology and Archaeology of Medieval Parks and Parklands Landscape Archaeology and Ecology, Volume 6, 2007 Front Cover Picture - © Ian D. Rotherham Edited by Ian D. Rotherham ISSN 1354-0262 ISBN 1-904098-03-7 Printed by: B&B Press (Parkgate) Rotherham Published by: Wildtrack Publishing, P.O. Box 1142, Sheffield, S1 1SZ Typeset and processed by: Diane Harrison and Christine Handley Supported by: Biodiversity and Landscape History Research Institute, Hallam Environmental Consultants Ltd, Tourism Leisure and Environmental Change Research Unit at Sheffield Hallam University. © Wildtrack Publishing and the individual authors All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The History, Ecology and Archaeology of Medieval Parks and Parklands - Landscape Archaeology and Ecology, Volume 6, 2007 Medieval Parks and Parklands: a Preamble and Introduction Ian D. Rotherham Sheffield Hallam University Medieval parks have been the subject of research and debate for many decades, but until relatively recently have remained neglected in terms of their conservation. There is a rich literature, with studies of invertebrate faunas and their ecologies, rare lichens and bryophytes, and grazing stock such as deer and old park cattle. Researchers have considered their fishponds, and other productive features. Political historians and medievalists have written on the politics of fashion and taste and the importance of parks in providing sport and entertainment for the wealthy elite. There are also regional studies that document parks in their county or national contexts, and individual case studies that look in depth at particular locations. A major area of research is the study of old trees in parks and also of the need today, to manage these effectively. Yet it is only by understanding the economic and political forces that generated and safeguarded these magnificent trees and their landscapes, alongside the unique ecological interest for example, that we can fully engage with them. It is only then that we can most effectively find ways in which to both celebrate their histories, and seek to conserve them for the future. Many of these topics are covered by the papers in this volume. It is clear that parks present opportunities for in-depth, multi-disciplinary research. However, it is also apparent that much more could be done in this respect. The conference at Sheffield Hallam University in September 2007 will hopefully be a catalyst for further co-operation. It is only through such collaborations that the complex nature and variety of medieval park landscapes can be most fully appreciated. However, with each specialist area of interest and expertise having its own meetings and publishing it’s own literature, many opportunities are lost. The work of each discipline is excellent in its own sphere, but they cry out for a coming together and a synergy of shared efforts. There is also the issue that many relevant areas of interest are covered by work on areas other than parks. Aspects of forests and chases, their history and ecology, are also pertinent to an understanding of parklands. In many cases, there is an intimate if changing relationship between parks, forest and other unenclosed landscapes. Parklands, steeped in history and driven by economy and politics, have evolved uniquely rich ecologies and fascinating heritage interest. It is important to understand and appreciate the wildlife and heritage of medieval parks in the context of not only their ecology, but of the social factors that underpin their origins and survival. Their academic study of medieval parkland therefore crosses with that of recreation, of hunting, and of productive landscapes (chases, forests, wooded commons, and wastes). There is a rich vein of literature on hunting, on deer and on associated activities such as falconry. Food production literature includes that on warrens and fishponds The dead and dying wood of historic parks provides unique opportunities for specialist biodiversity: fungi, invertebrates, slime moulds, with birds such as woodpeckers, and owls benefiting, along with bats, from ancient trees. Indeed it is the veteran trees and their dead wood that nature conservationists see as the priority resource. There are even EU regulations that target dead wood because of its diverse associated faunas and floras. Habitat loss and degradation have led to critical declines across Europe. Finding, preserving, and conserving this heritage is a major challenge with no single approach or correct answer. The work of the Woodland Trust and other organisations such as the Ancient Tree Forum in involving local people and engaging local communities is surely the way forward. However, to be most effective it is important that this The History, Ecology and Archaeology of Medieval Parks and Parklands - Landscape Archaeology and Ecology, Volume 6, 2007 engagement and education reflects the multi-disciplinary nature of these wonderful landscapes. If we accept that at least in part, these remnants of medieval parks are vestiges of more ancient landscapes transformed by human hand over centuries, but with a lineage to primeval origins of the European forest and savannah, then the story is even more important. These landscapes evoke a rich past but they also throw out a challenge to our future visions of the environment. Our deeply embedded precepts of nature conservation may be changed through a new understanding of the now scattered and fragmentary, but once numerous and great, medieval parks. This is a powerful lineage and an exciting future. Contents Keith Alexander Old growth: ageing and decaying processes in trees 8 John Barnatt Chatsworth: the Parkland Archaeology 13 Lawrence Bee Conservation of Arachnids in Ancient Trees 18 Jill Butler Securing a future for our parkland ancient and veteran trees 22 Christopher Dingwall Deer Parks in Scotland: A Neglected Heritage 25 Joy Ede Natural England Crusader for the Environment (Poster) 29 John Fletcher The rise and fall of British deer parks: their raison d'etre in a 31 global and historical perspective. Julian Forbes-Laird Tree Management in Historic Parks 45 Monica Gillespie 'The living dead - A quantitative study of standing dead wood 46 in three ancient wood pasturesites in Derbyshire' (Poster) Ted Green Stating the Obvious - From Acorn to Ancient 48 Stephen Hall Chillingham Wild Cattle Park, Northumberland 53 Peter Hammond & Nigel Saproxylic beetle survey of Richmond Park 2005-7 (Poster) 58 Reeve Peter Herring Historic and Archaeological Survey of Cornish Deer Parks 60 Melvyn Jones Deer Parks in South Yorkshire: The Documentary and 65 Landscape Evidence Roger Key Chatsworth: Invertebrates and the Veteran Trees 79 Rob Liddiard The disparkment of medieval deer parks 82 Stephen Mileson The Social Impact of Park Making in the Middle Ages 83 Stephen Moorhouse Medieval Parks in Yorkshire: range and context 84 Amanda Richardson "The King's Chief Delights": Visits to the Royal Deer Parks 85 in the Later Middle Ages Ian Rotherham The Ecology and Economics of Medieval Deer Parks 86 Naomi Sykes Animal bones and animal parks 103 David Thackray The National Trust's Historic Parkland Project 105 Frans Vera The Park in the Forest Landscape 107 Tom Williamson Chatsworth: the Parkland History 113 Mary Wiltshire & Sue Medieval Parks in Duffield Frith and elsewhere in Derbyshire 114 Woore (joint) The History, Ecology and Archaeology of Medieval Parks and Parklands - Landscape Archaeology and Ecology, Volume 6, 2007 Old growth: ageing and decaying processes in trees Keith N A Alexander Ancient Tree Forum Introduction Each new annual ring has a genetically Old growth covers two key aspects of trees and defined life expectancy, which is around 20-30 shrubs - their growth, development and decay, years in English oak Quercus robur (D. on the one hand, and the unique biological Lonsdale, pers. comm.). So, by the time the communities associated with sites with a long canopy is maturing, the trunk and main boughs and unbroken history of ageing and decay. of an oak tree contain a high proportion of dead Neither has achieved much prominence in annual rings within their core, and this core of biodiversity conservation in the UK, but this dead woody tissue is referred to as the does seem to be changing, albeit slowly. The heartwood. In some trees, beech Fagus understanding of the processes involved has sylvatica and ash Fraxinus excelsior for increased dramatically in recent decades but example, the death of the inner annual rings is adoption into mainstream nature conservation less precisely controlled by age, and there is a continues to be problematic - twentieth century middle zone of mixed living and dead tissues hypotheses and attitudes still dominate between the inner dead rings and the outer conservation thinking and land management young live rings; this situation is referred to as practices. ripewood. The accumulations of dead woody tissues in Growth, development and decay in the core of tree trunks and boughs provide trees and shrubs opportunities for colonisation by wood-decay Given adequate space and time, most broad- fungi, particularly bracket fungi. It remains leaved trees develop and age in a very unclear how the fungi find their way in to the characteristic way. The young tree develops a central core but one suggestion is through the canopy that optimises its light-gathering base of the tree, where the original taproot of potential, with variations in canopy size and the seedling tree is long dead and gone, shape tending to reflect differences in genetic replaced by networks of lateral roots, but composition, soil conditions, and climate. A key leaving the base of the trunk as exposed dead driving force in the development of the tree is tissue.