Ch. IV. 



DORSETSHIRE. 



93 



second of Edward IV.' Blagden has 

 been long disparked, and was without 

 deer in the reign of Queen Elizabeth ; and 

 the deer have now been destroyed in the 

 chase. In the reigns of James I. and 

 Charles I. there were but 2,000 head of 

 fallow-deer here. In 1828, they are said 

 to have increased to upwards of 12,000. 

 In severe winters, it is stated in 'the 

 Chronicles of Cranborne' (1841) that so 

 many died, that the very earth was ma- 

 nured with their remains." 



At St. Giles Winburne, Leland notices a 

 park, which, however, does not appear in 

 the ancient maps ; it then belonged to Mr. 

 Ashley, ancestor of Lord Shaftesbury. 

 South of Blagden is Woodlands, now also 

 disparked, where Henry Hastings, second 

 son of George, fourth Earl of Huntingdon, 

 lived in the seventeenth century, ' in a 

 house perfectly of the old fashion, in the 

 midst of a large park well stocked with 

 deer.' A curious account of this gentle- 

 man, a specimen of the country habits 

 of the ancient nobility of a bygone age, 

 will be found in Peck's ' Collection of 

 Historical Pieces,' printed in 1740. In 

 1583 this park is described as being ' in 

 compass one mile and better, but no deer 

 were kept there." 



Near Woodlands is Horton, the former 

 seat of the Sturt family. Here there were 

 formerly red deer,* but it is now dis- 

 parked. It seems to be identical with 

 Holt Park, a royal park with deer in 

 Queen Elizabeth's time, three miles in 

 compass.' 



' West's History of Cranborne Chase, Svo. 

 1816, p. 86. 



* Another park, czXleiAlderholt, is mentioned 

 as existing, but without deer, in 1583. 



» S. P. O. Domestic, 1583. 



Further south is Canford, where two 

 parks are marked in the surveys of Saxton 

 (1575) and Speede (1610). One of them 

 is recognised as belonging to Henry de 

 Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, in the third of 

 Edward II. They have been long dis- 

 parked, and were without deer in 1583. 

 The Great Park and the Little Park, 

 called Lye Park, were each one mile in 

 compass.* 



At Charborough, in this neighbourhood, 

 is a large modern park of 1,000 acres of 

 land, containing a herd of 400 fallow and 

 40 red deer. It was enclosed early in the 

 present century. There had been, however, 

 a park at Lichet, belonging to Mr. Henry 

 Trenchard in 1583, but then without deer, 

 in compass one mile or more, not far from 

 the present Charborough.^ 



At Bryanstone, near Blandford, is a 

 small park belonging to Lord Portman, 

 containing 100 acres and a herd of 170 

 fallow-deer ; it was enclosed about the 

 year 1760. 



Saxton's Survey marks a park in Gil- 

 lingham Forest, on the borders of Wiltshire, 

 north of Shaftesbury, and near the village 

 of Motcombe. This was a royal park, in 

 jointure to Queen Katharine Howard, in 

 the twenty-second of Henry VIII.' In 

 1583 it is described as containing deer, 

 and that it was three miles in compass ; 

 Sir John Zouche, Knight, warden thereof.* 



South-west of this we have Sherborne 

 Castle, where the park is thus noticed by 

 Leland : 'The parke ofShirborne, except- 

 ing a little aboute the logge, is enclosed 



* Chafins' Anecdotes of Cranborne Chase, 

 8vo. 1 818, p. 2. 



' Cal. Pat. Rolls, p. 71. 



" S. P. O. Domestic, 1583. 



' West's Cranborne Chase, p. 88. 



