record MDR5180 - Holmesfield Park, Holmesfield
Type and Period (1)
- DEER PARK (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
Protected Status/Designation
- None recorded
Full Description
A deer park at Holmesfield belonging to the Chaworth family is recorded in the quo warranto roll of 1330. (1, 2)
Holmesfield Park is mentioned in 1699. Horsleygate (first mentioned as Horsley Gate in 1494), was probably one of the gates of Holmesfield Park. (3)
This is disputed by David Hey who notes '… in the Cordwell valley byways to local farms known as Fanshaw Gate, Horsleygate and Johnnygate take their names not from supposed entrances to Holmesfield Park but from the Scandinavian 'gata', meaning way; thus in 1496 the Holmesfield manorial court rolls refer to 'the way called Horsleygate'. Hey suggested that Hob Lane, a hollow way used as part of the route from Sheffield into central Derbyshire, was originally part of the ditch that defined the western edge of Holmesfield's medieval deer park. He noted that sections of the northern ditch also survive but 'as they have not been subsequently used as a highway they have not been worn to such a deep level. (4)
Holmesfield Park is an ancient park with a substantial area of mixed woodland to the north of Holmesfield. Within a relatively small area around SK 32157835 there was surface evidence of at least six different operations associated with some kind of earth or rock removal and the remains of a stone-built wall set into the edge of one of the excavations. All this indicated considerable industrial activity. One of the earthwork holes was excavated by the Hunter Archaeological Society in 1983 [see SMR 30029]. (6)
Some earthwork industrial remains lie within the wood. There is a large amount of pale that clearly defines the park boundary. The park may have been developed following the free warren grant by John Deincourt in 1252 and was well established with deer leap in 1330. (7)
Sources/Archives (7)
- <1> SDR84 Bibliographic reference: Lysons, D & Lysons, S. 1817. Magna Britannia, Volume 5: Derbyshire. p134.
- <2> SDR5911 Bibliographic reference: Shirley, E. 1867. English Deer and Deer Parks. p172.
- <3> SDR13112 Bibliographic reference: Cameron, K. 1959. 'The Place-Names of Derbyshire, Part II', English Place-Name Society. pp 265, 266.
- <4> SDR18058 Bibliographic reference: Hey, D. 1980. Packmen, Carriers and Packhorse Roads. pp 21, 64.
- <5> SDR11567 Index: NDAT. 3903. 3903.
- <6> SDR19974 Article in serial: Franklin, G. 1991. '"Q" Holes', Transactions of the Hunter Archaeological Society. Volume 16, pp 7-15.
- <7> SDR20777 Bibliographic reference: Wiltshire, M & Woore, S. 2009. Medieval Parks of Derbyshire. pp. 90-91.
Map
Location
| Grid reference | Centred SK 31 78 (933m by 951m) (Approximate) |
|---|---|
| Civil Parish | HOLMESFIELD, NORTH EAST DERBYSHIRE, DERBYSHIRE |
Related Monuments/Buildings (0)
Related Events/Activities (1)
- EDR2339
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External Links (0)
Record last edited
Jun 24 2020 11:03AM