Monument record 2631 - Fotheringhay Great Park

Medieval deer park remains in the North-East of the parish. Fotheringhay Park is first mentioned in 1230, the Earl of Huntingdon having several grants for imparking in the 13th century. The Great Park is last mentioned in 1659. Traces of ridge and furrow survive within the park.

{2} Fotheringhay Park is first mentioned in 1230, the Earl of Huntingdon having several grants for imparking in the reign of Henry III (1216-72). A single park is again reported in 1289. In 1330 the Earl of Richmond had the right to a park with two deer leaps. The Great Park with its timber framed lodge is described in 1548-9. In 1588 the herbage of the great park was worth £3/6/8d. The Great Park is last mentioned in 1659, including a deer leap, held by Lord Mountjoy. In 1713 the lodge is described as Park Lodge Farm, the park having been converted by then to agriculture.
There were in the 1970s fragments of limestone rubble from a wall, as well as extensive remains of a rampart with in places an inner and an outer ditch along the rampart of the Great Park.

{3} Fieldnames.

{4} No park is shown on this survey, published 1779, although 'Park Lodge' is labelled.

{5} 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.

{6} The earliest reference to a park at Fotheringhay is in the Calendar of Close Rolls 1227-31 when Henry III granted to John, Count of Huntingdon, the privilege of making two deer leaps for his park at Fotheringhay. 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”.

{7} The earliest reference to a park at Fotheringhay is in the Calendar of Close Rolls 1227-31 when Henry III granted to John, Count of Huntingdon, the privilege of making two deer leaps for his park at Fotheringhay. 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”.

{8} A park is first mentioned in the reign of Henry III when John, Earl of Huntingdon, had several grants of imparking. He was allowed two deer leaps in his park of Fotheringhay, and twice in the next few years he was granted does and bucks from Rockingham to stock his park at Fotheringhay. Mary, Countess of Pembroke, was granted two deer leaps for her life in her park at Fotheringhay. 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.

{9} Fotheringhay Park dates from 1229 AD onwards. A medieval deer park, the owner was The Earl of Huntingdon.

{15} In the 2nd year of the reign of Charles I (1626) Mountjoy, Earl of Newport …… claimed to hold Fotheringhay Castle and the lordship with Earl's wood and all other woods belonging to the same, The Great Park and The Little Park with a deer-leap in the Great Park. Enclosure is said to have been in 1635. In Fotheringhay Park is Walcot or Fotheringhay Park House, a forest boundary.

{13} The deer park occupies much of the north-east part of the parish covering about 120ha. It was probably constructed in 1230 when John, Earl of Huntingdon, was given permission to make deer leaps in the parish; twice in the following years he was granted deer from Rockingham Forest with which to stock his park. It was probably disparked in the C17th. Plan: Fig.57.
There is no trace of a south-west boundary to the park along the two modern stream courses, but the park was doubtless bounded by one of them. The 1716 map also gives a number of significant fieldnames within the area of the park. The fields south of Park Lodge have extensive remains of ridge and furrow, the date of which is not known.

{14} Note that additional research has been published in Northamptonshire Archaeology (Vol.9, 1974) and Northamptonshire Past and Present (Vol.5, 1975).

{16} A park is first mentioned in the reign of Henry III; it is probable by several grants to John, Earl of Huntingdon, that he first imparked land there. In 1230 he was given permission to create two deer leaps and twice in the next two years he was granted does and bucks from Rockingham to stock his park at Fotheringhay. During 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 south. There is no reference to either park following the grant of the manor dating to 1603. They were probably disparked when the castle was dismantled in the C17th.

{17} Park Lodge: parcum de Foderingeya (1230 AD).

{18} No park is shown on this survey, published 1827, although as with Eyres Map 'Park Lodge' is labelled.

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

<2> FOARD G., 1999, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Fotheringhay (Medieval and Post Medieval), p.17 (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, (checked) (Map). SNN1852.

<5> Pettit P.A.J., 1968, The Royal Forests of Northamptonshire: A Study in Their Economy 1558-1714, p.11+148+190 (checked) (Series). SNN42130.

<6> Brown A.E. (Editor), 1974, Archaeology In Northamptonshire 1973, p.105 (checked) (Article). SNN9109.

<7> STEANE J., 1974, Survey Report: Some Medieval Parks in Northamptonshire, p.25 (checked) (Newsletter). SNN37717.

<8> STEANE J.M., 1975, The Medieval Parks of Northamptonshire, p.224 (checked) (Article). SNN37713.

<9> BURT J., NOTE, (unchecked) (Notes). SNN48391.

<10> Saxton, 1576, Map of Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire & Rutland, (unchecked) (Map). SNN42112.

<11> Speed J., 1610, Map of Northamptonshire, (unchecked) (Map). SNN559.

<13> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1975, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.46-47 Site 36 (checked) (Series). SNN77379.

<14> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1982, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.188 Site 36 (checked) (Series). SNN77382.

<15> Bridges J., 1791, The History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire, p.453 (unchecked) (Book). SNN77326.

<16> Serjeantson R.M.; Ryland W. (Editors), 1906, The Victoria History of the Counties of England: Northamptonshire, p.572 (checked) (Series). SNN100369.

<17> Gover J.E.B.; Mawer A.; Stenton F.M. (Eds.), 1933, The Place-names of Northamptonshire, p.202 (checked) (Series). SNN5881.

<18> Bryant A., 1827, Map of The County of Northampton, (checked) (Map). SNN2733.

<19> 1227-31, Calendar of Close Rolls (1227-31), p.248 (unchecked) (Document). SNN106562.

<20> 1359, Calendar of Patent Rolls (c.1359), p.127 (unchecked) (Document). SNN1734.

<21> IVENS R.J., 2007, Report on An Archaeological Watching Brief at Castle Farm, Fotheringhay, Northamptonshire, 2007, p.6 (checked) (Report). SNN106007.

<22> Foard, G. and Britnell, T., 2003, Fotheringhay: A New Perspective from the 1640's, pp.140-3 (checked) (Article). SNN103924.

<23> RCHME, Undated, RCHME Inventory: Northamptonshire I (North-East), 890506/890508 (Archive). SNN113295.

Record last edited

Feb 7 2025 2:30PM