Parks in Medieval England (Medieval History and Archaeology)

230 Pages·2009·4.04 MB·English

by  S.A. Mileson

Medieval History and Archaeology
GeneralEditors
JOHN BLAIR HELENAHAMEROW
Parks in Medieval England
MEDIEVAL HISTORY AND
ARCHAEOLOGY
GeneralEditors
JohnBlair HelenaHamerow
Thevolumesinthisseriesbringtogetherarchaeological,historical,
andvisualmethodstooffernewapproachestoaspectsofmedieval
society,economy,andmaterialculture.Theseriesseekstopresentand
interpretarchaeologicalevidenceinwaysreadilyaccessibletohistorians,
whileprovidingahistoricalperspectiveandcontextforthematerial
cultureoftheperiod.
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EditedbyC.M.Woolgar,D.Serjeantson,andT.Waldron
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THEICONOGRAPHYOFEARLYANGLO-SAXONCOINAGE
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EARLYMEDIEVALSETTLEMENTS
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HelenaHamerow
PARKS IN MEDIEVAL
ENGLAND
S. A. MILESON
1
3
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ParksinmedievalEngland/StephenMileson.
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ISBN978-0-19-956567-2
1. Parks,Medieval—England. 2. England—Sociallifeandcustoms—1066-1485.
I. Title.
SB484.G7M495 2009
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Acknowledgements
This book is a revised version of my doctoral thesis and has been a number of
yearsinthemaking.DuringthetimeIhavespentresearchingandwritingabout
medieval parks I have benefited greatly from the help and generosity of others
anditisapleasuretorecordmygratitudetothemhere.Twoindividualsdeserve
special mention. John Watts, my former supervisor, has given support and
encouragement throughout, interlacing profound insight and analysis with
wit and practical advice. His rigorous thinking has challenged me to ask the
rightkindsofquestionsandhispatientfeedbackhashelpedmetoanswerthem
with some semblance of clarity. I also owe tremendous thanks to John Steane,
myothermentor,whohasbeenacontinuingwellspringofideas,archaeological
expertise, and assistance on field trips. I cannot adequately repay my debt to
eitherofthem,butIhopethattheyenjoywhattheyreadinthisbook,towhich
theyhavebothcontributedsomuch.
Besides the two Johns, several others have been kind enough to read and
comment on draft text at various stages. They are: my two thesis examiners,
ProfessorChristopherDyerandMalcolmVale;PaulBrand(Chapter5);Robert
Liddiard; Christa Stigter; and the anonymous readers appointed by Oxford
University Press. Their time and constructive criticism are much appreciated.
MythanksalsogotoProfessorsJohnBlairandHelenaHamerowforsupporting
theinclusionofthebookintheirseries,andtoJohninparticularforproviding
all sorts of assistance along the way. Needless to say, any remaining errors of
factorinterpretationinthefinishedproductareentirelymyown.
I am also grateful to a wider circle of scholars who have provided ideas,
references, and material for illustrations, including the late Professor Maurice
Beresford, James Bond, Rosemary Canadine, Professor Leonard Cantor,
Charles Coulson, David Crook, C. S. L. Davies, the late Professor Sir Rees
Davies, Chris Fletcher, John Gallagher, Mark Gardiner, Dick Greenaway,
Gerald Harriss, Harry Hawkins, Rosemary Hoppitt, Maurice Keen, Hannes
Kleineke, David Lewis, Jennifer Nuttall, Mark Page, Andrew Prescott, Brian
Rich, Amanda Richardson, Professor B. K. Roberts, Anne Rowe, Shelagh
Sneddon,andDavidStone.
Helpofadifferentkindhascomefromthestaffofvariousinstitutions,who
have dealt withmy queries in afriendly and efficient manner. I wouldparticu-
larlylike tothankStephenColeman(BedfordshireHER),JamesCollett-White
(Bedfordshire and Luton Archives Service), Robin Darwall-Smith (Magdalen
College, Oxford), Keith Elliott (Northumberland HER), Nigel James and
colleagues (Bodleian Library Map Room), Susan Lisk (Oxfordshire HER),
vi Acknowledgements
and Jo Mackintosh (Cumbria HER). In the later stages of the project, Rupert
Cousens,KateHind,andtheircolleaguesatOUPsteeredthebookthroughthe
publicationprocesssmoothlyandefficiently.
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the financial
supportprovidedbytheAHRB,KebleCollege,Oxford,theGreeningLamborn
Trust, and the Marc Fitch Fund. The latter two bodies generously provided
grants towards the production of maps and illustrations, most of which have
beenexpertlyworkedupfrommydraftversionsbyCathD’Alton.
Contents
ListofFigures viii
Abbreviations ix
Introduction 1
I. THE PURPOSE OF THE PARK
1. Hunting 15
2. Economy 45
3. Landscaping 82
4. Status 99
II. PARKS AND SOCIETY
IntroductiontoPartII 119
5. ParksandtheCrown 121
6. ParksandtheAristocracy 146
7. ParksandtheCommunity 158
Conclusion 180
Bibliography 183
Index 211
List of Figures
1. Amedievalhuntinghorn 16
2. StEustacehuntingmuralinCanterburyCathedral 19
3. Lothrok,kingoftheDanes,hawkingandhuntingwithadog 19
4. Royalitinerary,1199–1307,withforests,residences,androads 23
5. BowandstablehuntingfromtheLivredeChasse 31
6. Odiham(Hants.):castleandpark 35
7. ParkbankinwoodlandatFingest(Bucks.) 43
8. ThedistributionofwoodlandandparksinmedievalEngland 50
9. ParksandfarmingareasinSussex 52
10. Woodstockpark(Oxon.) 55
11. Beckleypark(Oxon.) 57
12. DeerparksatRestormelcastleandBoconnoc(Cornw.) 85
13. DeLaBeche(Berks.):parkandmanorhouse 87
14. Helmsleycastleandparks(Yorks.) 90
15. Ravensworthcastle(Yorks.) 94
16. Huntingtoncastleandpark(Herefs.) 100
17. Merdonpark(Hants.) 105
18. (1)–(4).Parklicencesandroyalforests,1201–1300 125
19. Thechronologyofparklicensing 128
20. (1)–(8).Parklicencesandroyalforests,1301–1500 129
21. Devizes(Wilts.):castle,town,andparkland 162
22. LittlePreston(Northants.):park,settlement,andfarming 165
23. Windsor(Berks.):townandpark 174
Abbreviations
Abbrev.Plac. W.Illingworth(ed.),PlacitoruminDomoCapitulariWestmonasteriensi
AsservatorumAbbreviatio(London,1811)
AgHR AgriculturalHistoryReview
BAR BritishArchaeologicalReports
Beds.RO BedfordshireandLutonArchives
Berks.RO BerkshireRecordOffice
BL BritishLibrary
Bucks.RO BuckinghamshireRecordOffice
CChR CalendaroftheCharterRollspreservedinthePublicRecordOffice,
6vols.(London,1903–27)
CCR CalendarofCloseRolls,46vols.(London,1892–1963)
CIM CalendarofInquisitionsMiscellaneous,(London,1916–)
CIPM CalendarofInquisitionsPostMortem(London,1904–)
COS CentreforOxfordshireStudies,WestgateLibrary,Oxford
CPR CalendarofPatentRolls,54vols.(London,1891–1916)
CRR C.T.Flower,D.Crook,andP.Brand(eds.),CuriaRegisRolls(Lon-
don,1922–)
EcHR EconomicHistoryReview
(ed.)/(eds.) Editor(s).Wherethisabbreviationprecedesthedateofapublication
inafootnotereferenceitindicatesaneditedprimarysource;whereit
followsthedateitdenotesasecondarywork.
EETS EarlyEnglishTextSociety
EHR EnglishHistoricalReview
EPNS EnglishPlace-NameSociety
EYC W. Farrer and C. T. Clay (eds.), Early Yorkshire Charters, being a
Collection of Documents anterior to the Thirteenth Century, York-
shire Archaeological Society Record Series, 12 vols. (Edinburgh,
1914–65)
Hants.RO HampshireRecordOffice
HCCAHBR Hampshire County Council Archaeology and Historic Buildings
Record
HER HistoricEnvironmentRecord
HKW H. M. Colvin et al. (eds.), The History of the King’s Works, 5 vols.
(London,1963–76)