Information for record number MWA1112:
Charlecote Park (16th and 17th century park)

Summary The site of a deer park and formal gardens at Charlecote Hall which date from the Post Medieval period. An illustration from the 18th century shows parterres and avenues in the formal gardens that were recreated during the 19th and 20th centuries.
What Is It?  
Type: Deer Park, Lake
Period: Modern (1500 AD - 2050 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Charlecote
District: Stratford on Avon, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 25 56
(Data represented on this map shows the current selected record as a single point, this is for illustrative purposes only and does not represent an accurate or complete representation of archaeological sites or features)
Level of Protection National - Old SMR PrefRef (Grade: )
Registered Park or Garden (Grade: II*)
Sites & Monuments Record
Description

  
Source Number  

1 Listed as a deer park. Acreage - 253 acres.
2 Deer represented on a drawing of the house and grounds dating from 1722. The present park is 210 acres with a herd of 400 deer.
3 The boundary can be traced in places of the South, East and West sides by the (unsurveyable) remains of a bank. Its route to the N could not be determined. The park still holds circa 300 deer.
4 Medieval deer park, with later formal and landscape features (WA 7112).
5 The 18th/19th century parkland by Capability Brown overlies an earlier formal scheme of avenues and water garden associated with the 16th and 17th century house. An illustration made by Beighton in 1722 shows part of this scheme.
6 The formal gardens are shown in an illustration by Beighton to Dugdale's Antiquities. This shows avenues and parterres, some of which have been partially recreated in the 19th and 20th century.
7 Reproduction of illustration.
8 The earliest deer park was relatively small and lay to the north east of the house.
11 Management plan produced for the National Trust. Source contains discussion of development of deer park using a range of documentary and cartographic sources. Also contains an archaeological survey report.
12 Love reports that a mid-19th century parterre has recently (at time of his report 1996/7) been restored on the riverside terrace.
13 Details, with dates, of various changes to garden and grounds, for example: diversion of road and building of new bridge, cascade, tree planting etc.
14 Surrounding the house on all sides, the park remains a managed deer park with herds of fallow and red deer. An enclosure 600m west of the house is today under plough. Some 240m north-north-east of the house a lake formed by damming a small steam is retained to the west by an earth dam with a wide, brick-lined cascade which is joined by low brick walls to a stone arched 10m to the west. The bridge carries a drive to Place Meadow at the north-west corner of the park. The lake is said to be of 16th century origin; it was altered in the mid 18th century by Brown, but a chain of three ponds is shown in this location on the 1791 estate plan. The north bank of the lake is planted with cedars and other ornamental trees. An avenue of limes extends 260m north-east from the gatehouse across the east park to the parish church. This avenue, replanted in the late 20th century, follows the course of an avenue shown on the early 18th century perspective painting, and on Beighton's view.
 
Sources
Source No: 12
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Warwickshire Register Review Report & Recommendations
Author/originator: Lovie, Jonathan
Date: 1997
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 13
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Warwickshire Register Review Report & Recommendations
Author/originator: Lovie, Jonathan
Date: 1997
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 4
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: English Heritage
Author/originator: RPG
Date: 1994
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 2
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Some accounts of English deer parks
Author/originator: Shirley E
Date: 1867
Page Number: 153-161
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 5
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Warwickshire Register Review Data Tables (Stratford on Avon)
Author/originator: Lovie, Jonathan
Date: 1997
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 6
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Register of Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England
Author/originator: English Heritage
Date: 1994
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 7
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: The Antiquities of Warwickshire
Author/originator: Dugdale, William
Date: 1730
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 1
   
Source No: 14
Source Type: Statuatory List
Title: National Heritage List for England
Author/originator: Historic England
Date:
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 10
Source Type: Map
Title: Charlecote Park
Author/originator: The National Trust
Date: 1985?
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 9
Source Type: Map
Title: Historic Landscape Assessment Maps
Author/originator: Hooke D
Date: 1999
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 3
Source Type: Record Card/Form
Title: OS Card 25NE6
Author/originator: Ordnance Survey
Date: 1968
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 1
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: Unpublished document
Author/originator: Whitacre J
Date: 1892
Page Number: 160
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 8
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: Historic Landscape Assessment
Author/originator: Hooke D
Date: 1999
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Images:  
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Glossary

 
Word or Phrase
Description  
none Registered Park or Garden Parks and gardens that are considered to be of historic importance are placed on a register. The register comprises a variety of town gardens, public parks and country estates. The main purpose of the register is to help ensure that the features and qualities that make the parks and gardens special are safeguarded if changes are being considered which could affect them.

The gardens on the register are divided into three grades in order to give some guidance about their significance, in a similar way to Listed Buildings. The majority of parks and gardens on the Register are of sufficient interest as to be designated as grade II. Some, however, are recognised as being of exceptional historic interest and are awarded a star giving them grade II* status. A small number are of international importance, and are classified as grade I.
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source OS Card Ordnance Survey Record Card. Before the 1970s the Ordnance Survey (OS) were responsible for recording archaeological monuments during mapping exercises. This helped the Ordnance Survey to decide which monuments to publish on maps. During these exercises the details of the monuments were written down on record cards. Copies of some of the cards are kept at the Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record. The responsibility for recording archaeological monuments later passed to the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historic Monuments. back
period Modern The Modern Period, about 1915 AD to the present (the 20th and 21st centuries AD)

In recent years archaeologists have realised the importance of recording modern sites. They do this so that in the future people will be able to look at the remains to help them understand the events to which they are related.
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period Medieval 1066 AD to 1539 AD (the 11th century AD to the 16th century AD)

The medieval period comes after the Saxon period and before the post medieval period.

The Medieval period begins in 1066 AD.
This was the year that the Normans, led by William the Conqueror (1066 – 1087), invaded England and defeated Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings in East Sussex.
The Medieval period includes the first half of the Tudor period (1485 – 1603 AD), when the Tudor family reigned in England and eventually in Scotland too.

The end of the Medieval period is marked by Henry VIII’s (1509 – 1547) order for the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the years running up to 1539 AD. The whole of this period is sometimes called the Middle Ages.
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period Post Medieval About 1540 AD to 1750 AD (the 16th century AD to the 18th century AD)

The Post Medieval period comes after the medieval period and before the Imperial period.

This period covers the second half of the reign of the Tudors (1485 – 1603), the reign of the Stuarts (1603 – 1702) and the beginning of the reign of the Hannoverians (1714 – 1836).
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period modern About 1915 AD to the present (the 20th and 21st centuries AD)

In recent years archaeologists have realised the importance of recording modern sites. They do this so that in the future people will be able to look at the remains to help them understand the events to which they are related.
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monument HOUSE * A building for human habitation, especially a dwelling place. Use more specific type where known. back
monument SITE * Unclassifiable site with minimal information. Specify site type wherever possible. back
monument BUILDING * A structure with a roof to provide shelter from the weather for occupants or contents. Use specific type where known. back
monument LAKE * A large body of water surrounded by land. back
monument DEER PARK * A large park for keeping deer. In medieval times the prime purpose was for hunting. back
monument STONE * Use only where stone is natural or where there is no indication of function. back
monument FORMAL GARDEN * A garden of regular, linear or geometrical design, often associated with the traditional Italian, French and Dutch styles. back
monument PARK * An enclosed piece of land, generally large in area, used for hunting, the cultivation of trees, for grazing sheep and cattle or visual enjoyment. Use more specific type where known. back
monument BOUNDARY * The limit to an area as defined on a map or by a marker of some form, eg. BOUNDARY WALL. Use specific type where known. back
monument FEATURE * Areas of indeterminate function. back
monument POND * A body of still water often artificially formed for a specific purpose. Use specifc type where known. back
monument PARISH CHURCH * The foremost church within a parish. back
monument DRIVE * A road/carriage way giving access from the main road to the house, stables. back
monument ROAD * A way between different places, used by horses, travellers on foot and vehicles. back
monument PARTERRE * A level space in a garden occupied by ornamental flower beds. back
monument GATEHOUSE * A gateway with one or more chambers over the entrance arch; the flanking towers housing stairs and additional rooms. Use with wider site type where known. back
monument CASCADE * An artificial fall of water often taking the form of a water staircase. back
monument BRIDGE * A structure of wood, stone, iron, brick or concrete, etc, with one or more intervals under it to span a river or other space. Use specific type where known. back
monument ENCLOSURE * An area of land enclosed by a boundary ditch, bank, wall, palisade or other similar barrier. Use specific type where known. back
monument WATER GARDEN * A garden incorporating fountains and pools in which aquatic and other water-loving plants are grown. back
monument GARDEN * An enclosed piece of ground devoted to the cultivation of flowers, fruit or vegetables and/or recreational purposes. Use more specific type where known. back
monument MEADOW * A piece of grassland, often near a river, permanently covered with grass which is mown for use as hay. back
monument WALL * An enclosing structure composed of bricks, stones or similar materials, laid in courses. Use specific type where known. back
monument DAM * A barrier of concrete or earth, etc, built across a river to create a reservoir of water for domestic and/or industrial usage. back
monument TERRACE * A row of houses attached to and adjoining one another and planned and built as one unit. back

* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)

English Heritage National Monuments Record