Monument record MDO4454 - Deer park, Milton Park Wood, Milton Abbas

A deer park pale in the form of an earthwork bank enclosing an area of around 155 acres. In 1970 the bank was reported as being 15 to 20 feet wide and up to 5 feet high, with an inner ditch. The deer park likely to be of medieval or early post-medieval date, though nothing is known of its history.

(Centred ST 820022). A deer park of which no record is known, although it may have belonged to Milton Abbey, is situated in Milton Park Wood, in an area shown as Milton Park on old maps. It is surrounded by a well-preserved bank and ditch enclosing an area of about 145 acres on the sides and bottom of a dry valley. The bank is from 15 ft to 20 ft wide and up to 5 ft high, and the ditch is on the inside. The bank is often packed with flints. It is the only virtually complete deer park boundary bank surviving in Dorset and is crossed and broken by only 6 or so woodland paths and tracks. It is planted with a thick hedge.

Smith, N, 2020, Milton Abbey Deer Park: Archaeological Investigation (Unpublished document). SDO16581.

<1> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1968, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1967, 173-176 (Serial). SDO67.

<2> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume III (Central) Part 2, 199 (23) (Monograph). SDO136.

‘(23) DEER PALE (816028–824016), in Milton Park Wood, lies about 1 m. E.N.E. of (7); nothing is known of its date or history. The pale encloses about 155 acres of land, on the sides and bottom of a dry valley which drains S.E.; towards its upper or N.W. end the valley bifurcates. The pale consists of a bank 15 ft. to 20 ft. wide and up to 5 ft. high, with an inner ditch.’

<3> DOE, 1978, Scheduled Monument Notification DOE (IAM) AMs Eng 2 1978, 80 (Scheduling record). SDO17448.

<4> Department of the Environment, DOE (IAM) Ancient Monuments Record Form, Mar 1973 (Index). SDO17347.

<5> National Record of the Historic Environment, 205821 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Jul 22 2024 12:40PM