Monument record MDR14238 - Bradley Park (site of), Bradley

The linear village of Bradley, lying just south of the A517 and approximately two miles to the east of Ashbourne has a wealth of place name evidence for parkland over a wide area. The parkland most obvious in the landscape today [2009] is opposite Bradley Hall behind the church. This open area extends as far as the Hole in the Wall [DDR5555]. Close to the church is evidence of an earlier hall or manor house [SMR2104], whilst at the side of Bradley school is thought to be the remnant of a moat. Nearby, three interconnecting old stew ponds have recently been cleared and incorporated in to a larger lake [SMR 2112], and during this work well-tooled stone was recovered. Further from the village, to the south east, lies an area of rolling farmland fringed with enclosed copses. Here are three scattered, isolated 'Old Park' farms, probably marking the area of the medieval park in what was once a more extensive area of woodland. It seems likely that there was a large enclosed area of woodland, or 'hay', stretching all the way from 'Le Westwode', most probably in the vicinity of Bradley Wood, to the neighbouring Hough Park [SMR 8405] and that Bradley Park was created within this. The grant of Matthew of Kniveton to his son in 1280 suggests clues as to its boundaries. (1)