Leicester City Council Park Services actively Local Community Involvement seeks to encourage local community involvement in Parks and Green Spaces in the on-going conservation, development and management of the City’s Parks and Green Spaces. Castle Hill Countrty Park, one of Leicester’s largest parks, is no exception. Local schools, for example, have planted spring flow- ering bulbs and trees, and participate in envi- ronmental fun games and nature walks. Regular park users established a Friends of group for Castle Hill Park in early 2008, while the Castle Hill User Group, set up by Parks Services to keep users informed as to park developments, meets regularly on a quarterly basis. BTCV Leicestershire and Rutland have undertake practical conservation work, in conjunction with Parks Services, the friends of and local commu- nity. Given that part of the Park lies within An- stey Parish, Castle Hill Country Park has also benefited from funding assistance through the Castle Hill Country County Council’s Stepping Stones Countryside Management Project. Park HeritageTrail For further information on Castle Hill Country Park please contact: Park House Abbey Park Abbey Park Road Leicester LE4 5AQ Tel: 0116 2221000 For further information on The Friends of Castle Hill Country Park please contact: Adrian Barnes on 0116 2108818 Leicester Parks Services Mobile 07944415824 Castle Hill Country Park 19. The ‘Black Pad’ Established in the 1980s as Leicester’s ‘Urban Fringe Park’, Castle Hill Coun- The Astill Lodge path or ‘Black Pad’ as it is known locally. A key route way try Park as it is now known, comprises some 84 ha. of predominantly grass- through the modern Beaumont Leys estate linking Castle Hill Park with lands and plantation woodlands. Linear in shape, the Park is cut into two sec- neighbouring residential areas, schools and community facilities. The hedge- tions by the A46 Leicester Western Bypass, with the Rothley Brook forming row dates back to 1686, if not considerably earlier. the western boundary of the Park. The park contains some fine mature ash, oak and willow trees, located mainly in old hedgerows, alongside the Rothley 20. Old Bridleway brook and Bluebell Wood. An ancient wood bank is found at Gorse Hill. The Old bridleway linking Leicester—Beaumont Leys—Anstey via the King William’s ‘Castle Hill’ earthworks (Astill Lodge Bridge and Sheep Wash Lane. Road) and King Williams Bridge (Sheep wash Lane, Anstey) are both scheduled 21. The ‘Great Oak’ monuments, protected by law. The ’Great Oak’, a few hundred years old, is a remnant of former parklands 1. The New Orchard that once graced this area. Beaumont An Orchard is documented for this Leys has a long history of forest re- area in the early 14th Century, when the serve and parklands, dating back to the Knights Hospitaller received an income Castle Hill Orchard late 12th Century/early 13th Century. of 6s-4d from the sale of fruit. It is By 1530 however, the traveller John not known whether or not the orchards survived after the departure of the Leland makes a reference to ‘Bellemontelease, sumtyme a great park by Hospitallers but the field names ’Orchard’ and ’Further part of the Orchard’ Leicester but now converted to pasture’. The only surviving parkland Oak. appear on a 1686 map of the historic Beaumont Leys estate. The modern orchard was established in 22. Plantation Woodland 2005, and now carries 100 plus traditional fruit Most of the woodland at Castle Hill is modern planted 1985 onwards. Typical trees, including such Leicestershire apple varieties species include Ash, Hazel, Field Maple, Oak and Cherry. These woods often as the ’Annie Elizabeth’, ’Barnack Orange’ and ‘Saint mask earlier hedgerows. The City Council’s Trees and Woodlands section re- Ailred’. cently commenced thinning out those peripheral areas of woodland located besides residential areas. 2. Bluebell Wood 23. The Glades At just 0.5 ha. in extent, the Bluebell Wood is the The Glades comprise long curving stretches of only mature broadleaf woodland in the Park. Ash is grassland separated by linear belts of plantation the dominant tree, with Oak, Field Maple, Elder, woodlands. Archaeological field walking in 1982 Hawthorn and Blackthorn. The Wood’s ground flora recovered a fair amount of roman pottery and Bluebell Wood is dominated by bluebells and Cow Parsely, with Pink prehistoric flint implements from this area, sug- Campion, Dog’s Mercury, Wood False-Brome, Herb Bennet, Hemp-Nettle, gesting that while the ‘Castle Hill’ enclosure is Cuckoo Pint and Hedge Woundwort also present. Typical birds frequenting medieval in origin, this locality has been occupied the wood include; robin, wren, blue tit and great tit. occupied / expoited since the earliest of times. The Glades Castle Hill Orchard 17. Gorse Ancient Wood Bank and Wildflower Meadow 3. Castle Hill Earthworks The ‘Castle Hill’ earthworks, first recorded in 1891, Ancient Wood Bank—The (substantial) old earth bank and ditch bordering comprise the banked and ditched enclosure remains Gorse Hill is medieval in origin, and formed the boundary of historic Beaumont of a monastic complex (‘Preceptory’) associated with Leys, its parks and woodlands. This bank and ditch would have prevented live- the Knights Hospitaller. This being a military order stock from entering or grazing on the former parklands. Essentially an over- of monks established during ‘The Crusades’, and who grown hedgerow, this is were present at one of just five such an- ‘Castle Hill’ from cient hedges remaining in around 1240— the city. Mature native 1482. The site trees include Oaks, Ash functioned as and Field Maple. Typical grange or sheep woodland flowers include farm / agricul- Wood Anemone, Bluebells tural enterprise, and Dogs Mercury. the proceeds of Gorse Hill Wood Bank which funded the The neighbouring Gorse Hill /Anstey Lane has ancient origins, and is annotated Hospitallers over- Preceptory enclosure bank & ditch ‘the Great Road to Ashby-de-la Zouch’ on the 1686 Beaumont Leys estate plan. seas campaigns. Knights Hospitaller This old road, with its wide grass verges, also earlier functioned as an old (Rothley Court Hotel) drove road, moving livestock from upland pasture to Leicester. Contrary to local tradition there was never a castle here, Wildflower Meadow—A wildflower meadow was created here in 1986 by the though the site may have functioned as a former City Wildlife Project. There is a diversity of wildflower including; hunting lodge at some point—It is known Agrimony, Yarrow, Knapweed, Rough Hawk- that Beaumont Leys had ‘two fair lodges’ at bit and Ox-Eye Daisy. Other plants found the time of Henry VIII. include wild carrot, bird’s-foot trefoil, meadow buttercup and self-heal. Together 4. Medieval Fishpond Site of the meadieval dam wall with the neighbouring Gorse Hill Wood Bank Associated with the Preceptory are the this grassland is a Site of Nature Conserva- earthwork remains of a medieval fishpond. The earthern banks of this old tion Importance (SINC). Plant nectar at- fishpond, now dry, lay below the monastic grange. The pond was supplied with tracts butterflies such as the Small Tor- water from an old spring and stream, the main flow of which was diverted toiseshell and Meadow Heath (right). around the site in a deep ditch, before flowing on down to the Rothley Brook. Located behind the dam wall, and site of the old sluice gate, this piece of me- Gorse Hill Wildflower Meadow 18. Ancient Ditch dieval engineering, with associated mature trees and rich ground flora, is a A substantial ditch and hedgerow with fine mature trees and fairly diverse valuable nature preserve. The marshy area fronting the dam, and small island, ground flora, and of considerable antiquity. probably represents an old livestock pond, perhaps dug sometime after 1524. 5. Hill Ground Nature Reserve The ‘Hill Ground’ features as an Another old sheep wash is known to have existed besides the Anstey mill, lo- enclosure field on the 1696 Beau- cated just upstream of the Anstey Packhorse bridge (Leicester Road). mont Leys estate plan. This nar- row strip of land, essentially a 13. Historic Parish Boundary field margin/buffer zone, forms a An ancient hedge and (now) shallow ditch, with a diversity of plants and some boundary to the park. Hawthorn mature Ash trees demarcates the old (and indeed present day) parish bound- scrub, with some self-set Ash, ary. It is not uncommon to see large granite boulders placed along this bound- Oak and Field Maple, has colo- ary elsewhere in the Park. nised what was once grassland displaying a diversity of wild flow- 14. Plumpford Wild flowers at the ‘Hill Ground’ ers and grasses including; Cen- Historic maps and documents show taury, Glaucous Sedge, various Vetches, Clovers and, on the damper parts, an old ford, the ‘plumford’ or Willow Herb. Wild flowers on the scrub margins, and growing along a narrow ‘Plumpford’, located a little dis- path leading through the ‘reserve’, provide nectar for a variety of butterflies tance upstream of the King Wil- including the Speckled Wood. liam’s Bridge, near to where the Cropston Road garage now stands. Elsewhere on Castle Park, with the exception of the Gorse Hill meadow, and a It was destroyed in the 1960s. King William’s Bridge Area 1884 few pockets of land located besides the Rothley Brook, the grasslands are Over the Cropston Road, almost directly opposite the site of the old ford, an species poor. This is largely due to high soil fertility arising out of former old track—‘The Slang’ - leads north to Bradgate Park and the ruined mansion. land use i.e. Beaumont Leys Sewage Irrigation Farm—City Farms enterprise. The Anstey Enclosure map indicates that a livestock pond was also located in this vicinity; while place-name evidenced (recorded by Anstey Women’s Insti- 6.