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.
Details
This monument includes a length of the medieval park pale surrounding Lyneham
Park and the earthwork bank enclosing a 19th century belt of beech trees,
which follow the pale. The length of park pale consists of an earthwork bank
2.5m wide and up to 1.2m high, with remains of a stone wall on its inner face,
falling up to 1.7m to a ditch which is 1.5m wide and 0.5m deep.
Further lengths of park pale surviving to the west and north west are the
subject of a separate scheduling.
The bank and ditch which encloses the belt of beech trees runs parallel with
the park pale 18m to the south west. The bank is 2m wide and 1m high with a
ditch 2m wide and 0.3m deep on its inside.
All fence posts are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath
them is included.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
33795
Legacy System:
RSM
Sources
Other
Legal
This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
End of official list entry
