Monument record 6876 - Yardley Chase

Yardley Chase was once part of Salcey Forest and is first recorded in 1277. It was regarded as a private wood in the 16th century. By 1760, straight ridings had been laid out across the chase. Although it was private it was managed in a similar way to crown woods on a coppice and lawn system. Its centre was until recently a fenced off military compound, but is now abandoned and has been designated an SSSI.

{2} John de Hasting's park at Yardley was broken into, also his free chace there and his warren in his copse of Barton; the trespassers hunted therein and carried away deer and hares in the park, chace and warren.

{4} At the south end of the Grand Avenue which runs south from the Castle lies Chase Park. In the C16 Yardley Deer Park was reckoned to comprise 300 acres (c 125ha), while c 1686 Yardley Chase and Park were said to be ‘16 miles round … consisting of above 2000 acres of underwood besides the herbage’. When surveyed in 1760 the Yardley Chase woodlands formed an almost continuous circle around the village of Yardley Hastings. Extensive woodlands (let in 1929 to the Forestry Commission on a 999-year lease) survive, cut through with interconnecting straight rides. These are linked with Castle Ashby park by the Grand Avenue, which as the Long Riding continues across Chase Park. That retained its deer herd in 1998, in a park which included extensive open launds studded with fairly regularly spaced mature oaks. The modern park was created in 1765.

{5} Mentions Castle Ashby gardens and Yardley Chase.

{6} Ancient oak trees at Yardley Chase are to be tagged, recorded and monitored. They will be recorded on a national register of sites containing ancient trees. The work is to be carried out by the BTCV and the MOD. Acorns will also be collected to produce new stock for the woodland. The site is already a SSSI.

{7} Yardley Chase was once part of Salcey Forest and is first recorded in 1277. The bounds and extent of the Forest in 1298 has been discussed. Yardley Chase now consists of two blocks of coppice woods lying either side of the open Park and Wold. Two coppices grubbed up in the 19th century formerly linked the two parts. The present study is confined to the south eastern coppice area. Its centre was until recently a fenced off military compound, but is now abandoned and has been designated an SSSI.

Plans of the landscape in 1565 and 1760.

{15}Yardley Chase - extensive woodland - house at Ranger's Lodge in grassland.

{16}Yardley Chase. 21 coppices abounding with fine timber, well stocked with deer. Whole belongs to Earl of Northampton. The Lordship, except for a few inclosures around the town is open field.

<2> Northamptonshire Gardens Trust, Northamptonshire Gardens Trust Survey Form, Extract (unchecked) (Survey Form). SNN103257.

<3> Defence Estates, 2009, Sanctuary: the Minstry of defence conservation magazine, (unchecked) (Extract). SNN106581.

<4> English Heritage, 1994, Register of Parks & Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England (1994, Northamptonshire), (unchecked) (Report). SNN1324.

<5> Morton J., 1712, The Natural History of Northamptonshire, p.492-3 (unchecked) (Book). SNN10113.

<6> 1996, Trees to be Protected, (checked) (Article). SNN107246.

<7> Hall D.N., 1997, Northamptonshire Forests: Fineshade, Westhay, Southwick & Yardley Chase (Archaeological Interpretation Survey, Part 2), (checked) (Report). SNN62050.

<8> Hall D. N., 1997, Northamptonshire Forests: Fineshade, Westhay, Southwick & Yardley Chase (Archaeological Interpretation Survey, Part 2 Maps 1997), (part checked) (Map). SNN62051.

<9> McKay P.H., 2000, Twenty-One Years Ago: The Battle of Yardley Chase, (unchecked) (Article). SNN102518.

<10> Hall D., 2001, The Woodland Landscapes of Southern Northamptonshire, p.33-46 (unchecked) (Article). SNN102520.

<11> Hall D.N., 2001, Northamptonshire Woodland Survey Archive, (part checked) (Digital archive). SNN109590.

<12> 1964, Northamptonshire Past and Present (3/5), 3/233 (Journal). SNN21624.

<13> Saxton, 1576, Map of Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire & Rutland (Map). SNN42112.

<14> Speed J., 1610, Map of Northamptonshire (Map). SNN559.

<15> Eyre T. (Revised by Jefferys T.), 1779, Map of the County of Northamptonshire (Map). SNN1852.

<16> Bridges J., 1791, The History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire (Book). SNN100366.

Record last edited

Apr 9 2024 12:57PM