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Hertfordshire HER
.
| HHER Number: | 17931 |
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| Type of record: | Landscape |
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| Name: | SITE OF MEDIEVAL DEER PARK, MOOR PARK, RICKMANSWORTH |
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Summary
15th century deer park at the manor of the More, east of the post-medieval landscape park
| Grid Reference: | TQ 090 933 |
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| Map Sheet: | TQ09SE |
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| Parish: | Three Rivers (Non Civil Parish), Three Rivers, Hertfordshire |
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| Map: | Show location on Streetmap |
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Monument Types
- DEER PARK (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1500 AD)
Full description
In 1426 Henry VI granted a license to William Flete and others, owners of the manor of More, 'to impark 600 acres of land in wood in Rikmersworth and Watford; grant also of free warren there'. Flete was a London mercer who held the manor from 1416 until his death in 1444. It is likely that Flete did indeed enclose the park, although there is very little documentation before the 16th century other than the periodic seizures of the The More by the king. In 1521 the manor was in the hands of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, who extended the park by seizing nearly 200 acres from a tenant, and redirected the road towards Watford, before the manor was once more taken by the king. In 1534 Henry VIII made improvements including 'a great plain', adding another 225 acres, and had a standing built in 1538. In 1556 a detailed survey was made, of a great park of 830 acres, and a little park of 208 acres, each containing at least one lodge and 'deare of all sortes'. From the documentation and topography, and later maps, the medieval park lay to the east of the post-medieval park [4134], in the area of Sandy Lodge. This area corresponds in extent with the 600 acres licensed in 1426. The 'little park' may have been Wolsey's extension, around the moated site at Moor Place; and Henry VIII's addition will have been SW of The More. Sandy Lodge Farm, now a golf course, is on sandy heathy soil, with a possibly related earthwork bank. 'The site of Sandy Lodge (and Astons Lodge to the west) and the rolling, open landscape of the present golf course, make a convincing location for the medieval park' <1>.
Cantor, Leonard, 1983, The medieval parks of England: a gazetteer (Bibliographic reference). SHT6459.
<1> Rowe, Anne, 2009, Medieval parks of Hertfordshire, - p180-3; Map 46 (Bibliographic reference). SHT6026.
Sources and further reading
| --- | Bibliographic reference: Cantor, Leonard. 1983. The medieval parks of England: a gazetteer. |
| <1> | Bibliographic reference: Rowe, Anne. 2009. Medieval parks of Hertfordshire. - p180-3; Map 46. |
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