Monument record MDR2766 - Shirley Old Park, Shirley

There were formerly two parks at Shirley, long since disparked. There is still an area called Shirley Park. Some possible boundaries are suggested at Shirley Old Park Farm and Parkside, but no park pale is evident. (1) Shirley Old Park lies to the south of the large area of woodland and ornamental lakes known today as Shirley Park. There is some documentary evidence to support the existence of a park here by the 16th century, but whether this had been created in the medieval period is unsubstantiated. It occupies an area against the boundary of Rodsley parish to the south, with Shirley Mill at its eastern limit. The western limit is marked by Shirley Old Park Farm and from here the pale follows the parish boundary northwards before swinging back along the line of the Shirley Brook to the mill. Alongside the Rodsley parish boundary, which follows the brook, there is a significant bank on the park side of the watercourse. The parish boundary eventually leaves the brook but continues on along a curving hedgeline, and it seems very likely that this marks the position of the park pale. It is less clear whether the mill was just inside or outside the park; some curved banking is present to the east of the mill which would seem to include it. The footpath from the mill curves convincingly alongside a steeply banked hedgerow which shows evidence of an offset entrance leading into the park. A deeply sunken track or similar feature on almost the same line runs for a few hundred yards but then is lost to later ploughing, possibly an old road to the mill within the park. (2)