Reasons for Designation
Deer parks were areas of land, usually enclosed, set aside and equipped for
the management and hunting of deer and other animals. They were generally
located in open countryside on marginal land or adjacent to a manor house,
castle or palace. They varied in size between 3ha and 1600ha and usually
comprised a combination of woodland and grassland which provided a mixture of
cover and grazing for deer. Parks could contain a number of features,
including hunting lodges (often moated), a park-keeper's house, rabbit
warrens, fishponds and enclosures for game, and were usually surrounded by a
park pale, a massive fenced or hedged bank often with an internal ditch.
Although a small number of parks may have been established in the Anglo-Saxon
period, it was the Norman aristocracy's taste for hunting that led to the
majority being constructed. The peak period for the laying-out of parks,
between AD 1200 and 1350, coincided with a time of considerable prosperity
amongst the nobility. From the 15th century onwards few parks were constructed
and by the end of the 17th century the deer park in its original form had
largely disappeared. The original number of deer parks nationally is unknown
but probably exceeded 3000. Many of these survive today, although often
altered to a greater or lesser degree. They were established in virtually
every county in England, but are most numerous in the West Midlands and Home
Counties. Deer parks were a long-lived and widespread monument type. Today
they serve to illustrate an important aspect of the activities of medieval
nobility and still exert a powerful influence on the pattern of the modern
landscape. Where a deer park survives well and is well-documented or
associated with other significant remains, its principal features are normally
identified as nationally important.
The Marwell park pale represents an early example of emparkment. Despite the
variable nature of its earthwork remains this is believed to accurately
reflect their original size. They survive well and will contain
archaeological remains and environmental evidence relating to the landscape in
which the park developed. Its importance is enhanced by documentary evidence
linking the park to royalty of the 13th century and by its close proximity to
Marwell Manor, a contemporary moated site, and Fisher's Pond.
Details
The park pale at Marwell includes an earthwork boundary enclosing the medieval
deer park which surrounded Marwell Manor. It was constructed as a bank and
external ditch, the bank probably supporting a wooden fence and oak trees
planted along its length. Such measures strengthened the earthwork ensuring
deer were kept in and predators out. The bank and ditch vary in their
preservation, the bank standing to a maximum height of 1.5m and varying in
width between 3m and 8m. The ditch, which is only visible at ground level in
a few places, survives as a buried feature around the majority of the deer
park boundary.
This section of the park pale survives as a bank 130m long, 6m wide and up to
0.8m high. The ditch to the west of the bank is no longer visible at this
point having become silted up over the years.
Marwell Park was established by the Bishop of Winchester, Henry de Blois,
during the 12th century. An area of approximately 256 hectares around the
Bishop's residence was emparked for the management of deer, while a number of
fish ponds were also created at the same time. King John is recorded as
having hunted at Marwell in 1208-9, and King Henry I in 1246-47. In 1332-33
the park was extended to around 324 hectares at a cost of thirty-seven pounds.
The earthworks remained intact until at least the middle of the 17th century.
Excluded from the scheduling are all the fences and drainage ditches, the
wooden sheds, gravel path surface and large shed although the ground beneath
all of these features is included.
MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
