Monument record MDR6502 - Scarcliffe Park

SK 513706 Scarcliffe Park. A bank is shown on the OS 6" extending from SK 50607118 to SK 51877107 and from SK 52007030 to SK 52137055 which may represent the park pale. (1) The Prior of Newstead had a park at Scarcliffe in 1330 which was granted to George Pierrepont in 1544. (2) Possible earthwork seen on aerial photographs. (3) The entire park pale is traceable and in the main is in the form of a bank with inner ditch. The eastern perimeter follows the Whaley Road and is seen as a very steep and narrow bank under the hedgerow. In the north there is a major early extension with both pales being of equal prominence. The bank itself has a heavy stone content and in many places the inner stone facing is almost intact. Within the park are two enclosures. That at SK 51207059 is ditched and without any traces of a building and was probably for beasts only. The other at SK 51247101 between the early and later pales is a banked enclosure with traces of a building within. Surveyed at 1/2500. (4) In 1275 the Prior of Newstead and Robert de Grey each owned a manor in Scarcliffe and by 1330 the Prior of Newstead had a park there. It is possible that Scarcliffe park, which is enclosed by a bank and ditches, might be related to the Prior of Newstead's Park. In 1968 a section dug through the main bank and ditches near site 1 (?at approximately SK 512711) produced no dating evidence, only a few pot-boilers. The bank was found to consist of the loamy clay which had been obtained from the ditches on either side. South of the bank and ditch a four foot wide capping of stone runs along the inner edge of the ditch and this can be detected as continuous throughout its course in the area, though not necessarily in other parts of the wood. To the west of the 1968 section and due north of site 1 the appearance of the bank is dramatically changed to that of a massive 18ft wide stone built wall with earth core and U-shaped northern ditch. The ditch is lined with large stone blocks and the south or inner ditch is still present. About 300yds east, the stone wall build is seen once again (SK 516711) and at the south-east limit of the wood (SK 517702) a construction similar to that opposite site 1. On the west and south-west sides of the wood the main bank is built up with material from a 6ft wide ditch and faced on the outer side with flat stones lodged in the earth. Therefore, throughout its perimeter, about 2½ miles, the main bank varies in its appearance. Documentary evidence suggests that the boundary of the woodland has fluctuated over the centuries but the course of the medieval main banking has remained to define the limit of Scarcliffe Park. It also suggests that there may have been activity in the woodland in the 14th century and industrial working at sometime before 1729. (5) This is one of the earliest parks with evidence of multi-use. The park was divided in parcels before 1247 and areas were given as gifts and granted to various families during the 13th century. Whether the park was physically divided is not known, although a possible internal ditch is present in archaeological survey. (7)