The Landscape Legacy of Deer Parks in Kent & Bromley
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The Landscape Legacy of Deer Parks in Kent & Bromley Knole park EARLY DEER PARKS IN THE BROMLEY AREA (up to c.1660) PART ONE - GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO DEER PARKS Slide 1- Fallow deer, Knole. The aim here is to give an overview of deer parks, before concentrating on early deer parks in the London Borough of Bromley. Map Kent deer parks Slide 2 - Distribution map of all early deer parks in the ancient county of Kent. The green dots indicate very early parks, which have not so far found to have been documented after 1558 (when Elizabeth I ascended the throne). The red dots indicate parks which have appeared in documents during Elizabeth I's and James I's reigns (1558-1725). The blue dots indicate parks, which might well have existed earlier, but have only cropped up in documents from 1625-1660. The map shows geological zones, and the uneven distribution of parks in the county. The Greensand ridge provided poor farming and was sparsely settled, so parks could more easily be established along its length. The Low Weald west of Tonbridge was favoured as woodland was cleared and large estates established, while the estates of the Archbishop of Canterbury east of Tonbridge concentrated on timber production. Deer parks did not become common until the Norman period. Two deer parks in Kent were mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 - Sutton Park (no.85) near Maidstone and Wickhambreaux Park (no.20) near Canterbury. (Elizabethan and Jacobean Deer Parks in Kent, thesis submitted to University of Kent, 2011, copies in Bromley Local Studies, Kent History and Library Centre. Unless otherwise given, most references can be found in Volume II 'Park Profiles' section)) Royal hunting party Slide 3 - Elizabeth I during a break in hunting for a picnic. Elizabeth I and James I were passionate hunters, and the monarchs had their own parks in Kent, notably Greenwich park and three royal parks at the nearby Eltham Palace, where later James I added a fourth. Their love of deer parks, their own and visiting their subjects while on Progresses, encouraged their courtiers to continue with deer parks they had inherited, or in some cases to enclose new parks. (G. Gascoigne, 'The Noble Arte of Venerie or Hunting, 1575) French C15th manuscript Slide 4 - Hunting scene from C15th manuscript. The deer keeper or huntsmen blows his horn, and two types of dogs follow the deer - greyhounds for speed and bloodhounds to pick up scent. Owning a deer park was one of the greatest status symbols one could have. Only the richest gentlemen or those higher in the social scale could afford to set aside land and fence it in for preserving deer to hunt and to supply venison. Hunting was an elite sport. To hunt deer required royal permission given by 'liberty of free warren'. There were legal restrictions as to the ownership of weapons and dogs. The cost and upkeep of the superior breed of horse for hunting was beyond the reach of ordinary men. There was strict hunting etiquette to underline elitism. Lastly, venison was a highly prized meat and because no price was put on it, its sale was forbidden, but it could be given away to display one’s generosity. (Book of Hours of Marguerite d'Orleans, 1426-1438, Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris) Greenwich E. Wickham Bexley ElthamParks near Bromley Beckenham Bromley Scadbury Langley Ruxley Sandling Park Lullingstone W. Wickham Langley ^ Parkland in West Kent Halstead > Close-up Bromley area Bertred W. Wickham Otford Aperfield Slide 5 - Map of deer parks in west Kent. Parks in Kent averaged just under 300 acres in area, though Maidstone Park was only 25 acres, and larger parks could be over 1000 acres. The perimeter shape tended to be compact to enclose the maximum amount of land with the minimum length of fence. Ten early deer parks have so far been found in the London Borough of Bromley. Sometimes the shapes of deer parks have been imprinted on the countryside and can be detected by comparing old and modern maps. Even after the park had ceased to operate as a deer park, because the surrounding countryside had already been established, the continuous line of the park boundary was kept and the later field boundaries abutted onto it. The road and footpath pattern can still delineate the ancient park boundaries. Broxham park bank, pre-1297 Broxham park bank, pre-1297 Slide 6 - Broxham park bank. Medieval parks, like this C13th park near Edenbridge, often were enclosed with substantial banks with fence or hedge on top, and a ditch on the park side. Such structures kept the deer in and poachers out. The only contemporary depiction of a deer fence so far found in Kent is on a pictorial map of Canterbury c.1550 at Canterbury Cathedral Archives (CCA M29). This shows a solid paled fence, each pale with pointed top, (which had to be between 7-9 feet high to be higher than the leap of a deer) supported by posts and attached to rails. It ran miles across the countryside, so symbolised the power and exclusiveness of the park owner. Canterbury Park was a new park ordered by Henry VIII after he had confiscated the land from the Archbishop of Canterbury during the Reformation. By C16th fences seem to have been erected onto the ground without a bank, of which there is no sign on the image. Wood pasture remnant, Lullingstone Slide 7 - Lullingstone parkland trees. It is rare to find a contemporary image of the interior of a deer park in Kent, but a map of Scot's Hall park of 1656 in Kent History and Library Centre (U274 P1) is one such rarity. It shows the deer keeper with a hefty staff his dog at his feet and deer cavorting through the scattered trees. The trees have bare trunks and branches coming from the same level. These trees have been pollarded, the typical management of trees in parks. Deer can damage trees by their browsing, but timber was a useful resource to grow within the protection of a park. A pollarded tree was cut back about 9 to 12 feet above the ground, so fresh shoots grow above the browse level of the deer. One of the most notable features of ancient deer parks is the presence of very old, large pollarded trees. Lullingstone Park has one of the largest collections of ancient pollarded trees in south-east England. This habitat with individual trees among grassland is called 'wood pasture'. The advantages to the deer of pollarded trees in parks were that they offered shelter in winter, shade in summer, and the acorns provided them with autumn browse. Sentry box oak, 27’ girth The Prince of 1639, c.1661 Oak pollard, 1884 Slide 8 - Lullingstone Park trees. The earliest photograph of a Lullingstone huge pollard is of 1884 (courtesy of Guy Hart Dyke). The sentry box oak shows that even though hollow these trees can go on living. New growth above the reach of deer provided the owner with timber crop. There is evidence of timber extraction from Lullingstone park in the 1570s to build a vast furnace in Dartford to process what was thought to be gold from Frobisher’s expedition of the 1570s to Canada, which turned out to be fool’s gold. Also in Charles I’s reign (1638/9) 280 cartloads were commandeered by the navy to rebuild a ship called 'The Prince' at Deptford. (HMS Prince Royal, Wikipedia) Oak pollard, 30’+ girth, Lullingstone Slide 9 - Ancient oak in Lullingstone Park. Although there are only nine living rings left protected by the bark in this 30+ foot girth oak, these have been matched with timbers of known date and found to be 1000 years old. Pollarding arrests the ageing process. Boughton Monchelsea park Slide 10 -Boughton Monchelsea park. The interior of the park was created to suit deer, with scrub in which fawns could be born and protected, lawns or more open grazing areas, trees and groups of trees - the varied habitats also added enjoyment to the hunt. Mainly fallow deer were kept in parks in Kent, but red deer would occasionally be imparked. There are four parks where deer can now be seen in Kent, Boughton Monshelsea (a private park, but an overview can be enjoyed from the back of the churchyard); the enclosure in Greenwich park, with twelve red and twelve fallow deer glimpsed through netting; Mersham Hatch near Ashford, which is crossed by several footpaths, and Knole, a National Trust property, open to public with good access. Chevening house, rabbit warren, 1679 Slide 11 - Chevening warren. There were wider uses of parks. Their owners and visitors could stroll in the park, sit and relax to take in the scenery, ride their horses, exercise their dogs, practice falconry. Sheep, horse and cattle grazing could occur at certain times of the year when there was more grass than the deer could eat, or if the deer per acre ratio was low. The expense of upkeep of a park might be offset by diversification. Rabbits, then called conies, were bred commercially – the young for food, and older and black rabbits for fur. In those days conies were delicate and required care from a warrener. Some conies were separately enclosed within a park, others ran loose, but then they were more likely to cause problems by escaping to neighbouring land. (Private collection, courtesy of Chevening House) Fish pond, Birling park Slide 12 - Birling fish pond. Deer required water, so parks had water features, either exclusively for the deer, but also to act as fishponds to provide fresh fish for the household, especially for Fridays and religious festivals.