Ch. VIII. 



DERBYSHIRE. 



173 



Birchwood Park, a few miles south of 

 Ashbourn, is in the parish of Norbury, 

 and is marked in Saxton's Map. 



At Shirley, a little to the east, and four 

 miles south of Ashbourn, were two parks, 

 belonging to the ancient family who de- 

 rive their name from this place. They 

 are thus described in Sir Thomas Shirley's 

 MS. account of his own family, now in 

 the British Museum,' but have been long 

 disparked : the site, now woodland, is still 

 called Shirley Park. ' On the one side, 

 Shirley is encompassed by two ancient 

 stately parks of a large extension and 

 most pleasant to behold, in respect of the 

 fair woods and their chrystal brook, &c.' 

 ' The hayes adjoining to the parks are 

 called " Shirley Hayes," which for the 

 large compass of ground and great plenty 

 of high hedges and stately oaks in them, and 

 the ancient woods belonging to the same 

 manor, may be more aptly called a forest.' 



The family of Longford had a park in 

 the adjoining parish of that name in 1330. 

 The license for its enclosure was granted 

 by King Henry III. in 125 1.'' Saxton 

 also marks a park called Myddleton, near 

 Longford, and another at Bartofi, closely 

 adjoining. 



Cubley was the chief seat of the Mont- 

 gomery family, who had a park there, 

 which is noticed in Saxton's Survey. 



At Doveridge, on the borders of Staf- 

 fordshire, the monks of Tutbury are said 

 to have had a park called Holt. 



Sudbury Park, not far from Doveridge, 

 was enclosed in the year 1 614, as appears 

 by a MS. poem by John Harstaff, in Lord 

 Vernon's possession. It contains about 

 600 acres and a herd of 300 fallow-deer. 



' Karl. MSS. 4928. 

 ^ Lysons, pp. 199, 269. 

 ' lb. p. 160, note. 



There had, however, been a more ancient 

 park here in 1330.* 



Another existing park, famous for the 

 magnificence of its oak timber, is at Ked- 

 dleston, four miles north-west of Derby. 

 It is arj area of between 500 and 600 

 acres, with about 450 fallow-deer. It is 

 said to have been enclosed about the year 

 1760, but there appears to have been an 

 ancient park here before, according to 

 Saxton's Sui-vey. The park at Langley 

 adjoining, now disparked, was at that 

 time larger and more important. It suf- 

 fered terribly in 1545, during a great tem- 

 pest in the month of June of that year, 

 which according to the ideas of the time 

 was ascribed to the devil. A letter giving 

 an account of the devastation is printed 

 by Lysons,^ and records : — ' Syr Wyllam 

 Bassett's place rente and puUy'd downe, 

 and the wood that growethe aboute his 

 place, and in his parke he (the devil as 

 we dp suppose) pulled down his pale, and 

 dryve out his deere, &c.' 



To the east of Derby, in the parish of 

 Kirk-Hallam, were two parks, one be- 

 longing to the family of Willoughby at 

 Maperley, and one to the Abbot of Dale, 

 in the reign of Edward 1 11.^ 



In Horsley parish, to the north of the 

 county town, was the Castle of Horeston, 

 at one time a Royal possession. A park 

 appears to have been aitached to it, arid 

 here King James I. is recorded to have 

 hunted during a progress in Derbyshire. 

 The park has long ago been converted 

 into tillage.' 



There was also another park in this 

 parish, at Denby, as, early\ as the reign of 

 Henry IlI.e , 



* Lysons, p. I73. 

 = lb. p. 187. i 

 « lb. p. 188. 



