Monument record MDR2781 - Mansell Park, Hulland Ward
Type and Period (2)
Protected Status/Designation
- None recorded
Full Description
Mansell Park was established by Edward I's reign and remained until the 17th century. In 1540 it had a compass of three miles 'all hollies and hazel'. (1) The park was surveyed by William Senior in 1632. The plan shows the park, mostly wooded but with some enclosure having taken place, the paling boundary, a stream at the western boundary, gates and The Lodge. (2, 3)
Mansell Park, Hulland Ward, is known to have existed from documentary evidence, between 1298 and 1603. (4)
Remains of the park pale in the form of a bank and ditch, survive in the wood at SK 26344470, surveyed at 1/2500. Elsewhere around the whole perimeter there are disconnected portions of unsurveyable banks. (5)
There is a documentary reference in 1297 to the 'Park of Mauncel'. There are various further references throughout the 14th to 16th centuries. For example, in 1313-1314, the making good of 85 new pales and the repairing of upwards of 600 old pales of Mansell park cost £3 10s 11d. A new hedge for part of the same park toward Pintclifford cost 13d and 2s was spent in mending the deer-leap towards Hough. In 1346, Henry Earl of Lancaster complained that men had broken into his park at Mauncel and entered his free chace there. A woodmote held at 'Le Cowhouse', Postern, in 1498 recorded the venison killed both legally and illegally, finding that at Mansell Park, Sir Ralph Longford and Sir Henry Willoughby each had a buck; John Montgomery, John Fitzherbert and John Ireton each had a sore and Roger Vernon a buck and a doe. A buck, a sorell, 4 does and 5 fawns died of murrain. In 1540 a special commission found that: 'The said parke of Mauncill extendithe in compase iij miles And standeth all by hollyes and hassill wherin we thincke ther maye be spared and solde to the King's proffitt xx nobles'. In 1560 it was found that: 'Marnshull Park containeth two miles about very well set with fair large Hollynge almost throughout, and there groweth abroad 210 old dottard oakes. Also in the Ring there are 16 small oakes for timber and 24 dottard oakes. Also on a Little Hill there are 12 old oakes decayed, but they bear fair tops'. Ten years later, in 1570, it was stated that: '..there groweth in thys parke of stubbed trees 80 everie stubb worth one with another 1s which amounteth to the some of 4li'. The last direct evidence of the presence of deer comes in 1605, when the deputy keeper of Mansell park swore that 76 deer remained there and that four or five had died in the last winter. (6-8)
Some stretches of the bank around Mansell Park survive to over 1m high in places, with traces of an internal ditch. Hedges include holly and blackthorn, as well as hawthorn. Some possible separate internal enclosures have been identified, one forming the remains of a sub-rectangular woodbank containing c. 24 oaks, another is a length of ancient bank and hedge. The possible site of a 'deer leap' has also been identified, as has a possible old entrance and a watering place for the deer. (9)
Trial trenching along a proposed conveyor route between Mercaston Quarry and Mansell Park Quarry in December 2005 failed to identify any features associated with the medieval deer park. The only archaeological deposits identified were an undated gully in one trench and a possible buried soil horizon in another. No stratified artefacts were recovered during the works. (10)
Sources/Archives (10)
- <1> SDR18814 Bibliographic reference: Cox, J. 1905. 'Forestry', Victoria County History, Derbyshire, Volume 1. p 414, 418.
- <2> SDR19388 Map: Senior, W. 1632. Mansfeild Park in the countie of Darbie.
- <3> SDR19387 Bibliographic reference: Nichols, H. 1980. Local Maps of Derbyshire to 1770. p 108.
- <4> SDR5962 Bibliographic reference: Cameron, K. 1959. The Place-Names of Derbyshire, Part III. English Place-Name Society, Vol. XXIX.. p 576.
- <5> SDR6113 Personal Observation: F1 BHS 21-JUL-66.
- <6> SDR7812 Article in serial: Strutt, F & Cox, J. 1903. 'Duffield Forest in the sixteenth century', Derbyshire Archaeological Journal. Volume 25. pp 187, 197, 201.
- <7> SDR144 Bibliographic reference: Cox, J. 1905. The Royal Forests of England. pp 188, 194, 201.
- <8> SDR19594 Archive: Duchy of Lancaster records, The National Archives, Kew.
- <9> SDR19593 Personal Observation: 2005. Woore, S.
- <10> SDR19730 Unpublished document: Phoenix Consulting. 2006. Archaeological Evaluation, Trial Trenching and Profiling. Conveyor Route, Mansell Park.
Map
Location
| Grid reference | Centred SK 255 448 (1634m by 1244m) (Centre) |
|---|---|
| Civil Parish | HULLAND WARD, DERBYSHIRE DALES, DERBYSHIRE |
Related Monuments/Buildings (0)
Related Events/Activities (3)
- EDR1958
- EDR1905
- EDR1288
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External Links (0)
Record last edited
Jun 22 2015 10:51AM