Monument record 2628 - Fotheringhay Little Park

Possible medieval deer park remains South-East of Fotheringhay Castle.

{2} It appears that the king created the Little Park in 1464 when he made a 'garden and spinney … to enclose the little park'. There is mention of land in Fotheringhay fields in 1508 below the 'new park'. In 1548-9 the little park lay on the east of the castle, extending to the meadow, and was part paled, of which some was decayed, and part set with a quick hedge. It is last recorded in 1659 when claimed by Earl Mountjoy. It has surviving earthworks of a short section of the pale and contains some ridge and furrow and traces of other earthworks at the western end.

{3} Site name: The Park.

{4} No park shown.

{8} Deer Park (centred TL 065926) immediately S.E. of the castle, on land around a small limestone hill. The earliest known document is of 16th century when it was called the Little Park, but it may be of late medieval date. Its area is unknown, but the long narrow field, called The Park on a map of c. 1716, only covers some 12 hectares and
the original park was probably not much larger. The only surviving boundary is a length of low bank, 0.5m. high and 1.5m. wide, with a slight external ditch running N.W.-S.E. along the crest of the hill above the R. Nene (TL 06359265).

{9} In 2nd year of reign of Charles 1 (1626) Mountjoy, Earl of Newport …… claimed to hold Fotheringhay Castle and lordship with Earl's wood and all other woods belonging to the same, the great park and little park with a deer-leap in the great park. Enclosure said to be 1635. In Fotheringhay park is Walcot or Fotheringhay Park House, a forest boundary.

{10} In the Tudor period there were two parks at Fotheringhay, The Little Park was on the east side of the castle. No reference to a park has been found later that 1603 when both parks were included in the grant of the castle and manor. They were probably disparked when the castle was dismantled in the C17th.

{11} Fotheringhay Park was in The Crown's hands on the accession of Elizabeth I. It was less than one third the size of Kings Cliffe Park (ie. Less than 600 acres) and only included 100 acres of woodland. A Little Park also lay to the east of Fotheringhay. Fotheringhay was enclosed in 1635.
Cliffe Bailiwick: Earls Woods and Fotheringhay Parks were annexed to the manor of Fotheringhay. The castle, manor, parks and woods were granted by James I in October 1603 to Edward Blount, Charles Earth and the heirs of Charles Blount, Lord Mountjoy, Earl of Devon, who had no legitinate issue. The estate therefore passed to Mountjoy Rich, later Earl of Newport. A rent of £55 5s 11d for the whole estate was reserved according to the grant. In 1663 the woods and parks wrere sold to Sir George Savile, later Lord Halifax.

{12} Bridges mentions in the 11th year of Edward IV that Mountjoy, Earl of Newport, claimed to hold the castle and “the great park and little park, with a deer leap in the great park”.

{13} In the Tudor period there were two parks at Fotheringhay; the Little Park on the east side of the castle and The Great park on the north and the south. Mountjoy, Earl of Newport, claimed to hold a Great Park, a Little Park, and a deer leap in the Great Park in the 11th year of Edward IV. The parks are not mentioned after a grant of the castle and manor in 1603 and they were probably disparked when the castle was dismantled in the C17th.

{15} A bank and ditch running in a straight line along the foot of the hill. The ditch is estimated to be up to 0.5m deep, while the bank is 1m high in places. The earthwork runs south-eastwards from the River Nene for at least 320m; it survives well within the pasture field, but is not visible in the ploughed field to the south-east. A number of large standard trees and shrubs attest to the former presence of a hedge on this boundary. This earthwork appears to predate a series of ridges (ridge-and-furrow?) which would suggest that it is part of the field system that preceded the establishment of the Little Park. The earthwork was probably a boundary between the floodplain and the cultivated fields.

<1> 1806, 1806 Schedule to 1716 map, (unchecked) (Map). SNN100482.

<2> FOARD G., 1999, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Fotheringhay (Medieval and Post Medieval), p.18 (checked) (Digital archive). SNN100481.

<3> 1716, Fotheringhay Map (NRO Map 467), (unchecked) (Map). SNN5866.

<4> Eyre T. (Revised by Jefferys T.), 1779, Map of the County of Northamptonshire, (unchecked) (Map). SNN1852.

<5> Saxton, 1576, Map of Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire & Rutland, (unchecked) (Map). SNN42112.

<6> Speed J., 1610, Map of Northamptonshire, (unchecked) (Map). SNN559.

<8> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1975, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.47 Site 37 (checked) (Series). SNN77379.

<9> Bridges J., 1791, The History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire, (unchecked) (Book). SNN100366.

<10> Serjeantson R.M.; Ryland W. (Editors), 1906, The Victoria History of the Counties of England: Northamptonshire, p.572 (unchecked) (Series). SNN100369.

<11> Pettit P.A.J., 1968, The Royal Forests of Northamptonshire: A Study in Their Economy 1558-1714, p.11+148+190 (unchecked) (Series). SNN42130.

<12> Brown A.E. (Editor), 1974, Archaeology In Northamptonshire 1973, p.105 (checked) (Article). SNN9109.

<13> STEANE J.M., 1975, The Medieval Parks of Northamptonshire, p.224 (checked) (Article). SNN37713.

<14> IVENS R.J., 2007, Report on An Archaeological Watching Brief at Castle Farm, Fotheringhay, Northamptonshire, 2007, p.7 (checked) (Report). SNN106007.

<15> Albion Archaeology, 2002, Fotheringhay Castle, 'Little Park' and Adjacent Earthworks, Northamptonshire, p.36 (checked) (Report). SNN102585.

<16> Foard, G. and Britnell, T., 2003, Fotheringhay: A New Perspective from the 1640's, pp.140-3 (checked) (Article). SNN103924.

<17> RCHME, Undated, RCHME Inventory: Northamptonshire I (North-East), 890508 (Archive). SNN113295.

Record last edited

May 23 2023 1:46PM