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Summary

A possible hunting park at 'Kelfeld' is depicted on a map of 1637. It was probably connected with the Sheffield family, who owned land in West Butterwick and resided there in the early 17th century.

Monument Types

• DEER PARK (PM:C16,C17, Post Medieval - 1550 AD? to 1650 AD?)

Protected Status - None

Associated Finds - None

Associated Events - None

Full description

A map of Lincolnshire by Christopher Saxton was published as Plate 26 in Camden's 'Britannia', 1637 edition. Saxton died in 1610 or 1611, so the map was prepared some time earlier.

A green tinted area enclosed by a fence or pale is depicted surrounding 'Kelfeld' in the Isle of Axholme. An additional curving line of pale fencing is shown to the north. The letters 'VR' are also within the main enclosed area. A smaller tinted and fenced area containing a great house symbol is depicted at 'W: Butterwick'. [1, 2]

The Kelfield park on the Saxton map may have been constructed for the Sheffield family, who owned land at West Butterwick and Kelfield. In 1616, Sir Edmund Sheffield, who lived at West Butterwick, was appointed ' President of the Council of the North'. In 1625 he was created Earl of Mulgrave, and his tower house there was renamed 'Mulgrave Castle' (cf. Morle, source SLS4037, see also MLS 21448). This house, surrounded by a smaller park, is also shown on the Saxton map. Ownership of a deer park for hunting would be consistent with the status of the Sheffield family in the late medieval and early post-medieval period. The smaller park at West Butterwick may have been for pleasure, rather than serious hunting. The Saxton map is at county scale, so does not allow a reconstruction of the position and size of either park. [3]

The 1695 edition of Camden's 'Britannia' has a Lincolnshire county map by Robert Morden. It depicts a smaller, kidney-shaped area west of Kelfield, defined by a dotted line and labelled 'Melwood Park'. [1]

The historian Leland referred to 'Milwood Park', shortly after the dissolution of Melwood Priory in 1539. 'By Millwood Park stood the right fair monasterie of the Carthusianes..' [4]

<1> Camden, William, 1586-1695, Camden's Britannia (BOOK). SLS4627.

<2> National Library of Australia, http://nla.gov.au/nla.map-rm1208 (WEBSITE). SLS4628.

<3> M Hemblade, 2011, Untitled Source (PERSONAL OBSERVATION). SLS4629.

<4> Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England, 1995, Axholme Priory Humberside. Archaeological Survey report (REPORT - INTERIM, RESEARCH, SPECIALIST, ETC). SLS2592.

Sources and further reading

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