Monument record MDO47551 - Medieval deer park, Kington Magna

It has been surmised, on the basis of uncertain documentary evidence that there may have been a medieval deer park in Kington Magna, possibly in the vicinity of Hartmoor. Field investigation has not located any surviving parts of the park.

A Medieval deer park at Kington Magna may be conjectured from a grant in the Charter Rolls of 1252 to Robert Walerand and his heirs for emparking, with dike or hedge, their "wood of Kinton Co. Dorset, which is within the King's forest of Gillingham."

The Tithe Apportionment contains no significant names, with the doubtful exception of Hartmoor (ST 769243), which is topographically the more-likely looking area for a park in the parish. Field investigation, however, failed to discover any convincing earthworks or evidence of a park boundary. It is possible that a park may never have been established here although permission was granted. (The Royal Forest of Gillingham - see ST 82 NW 10 does not include Kington Magna, which lies some three miles west of the forest boundary. The name 'Kinton', mentioned by Authy 1, may therefore be a lost name somewhere within the bounds of Gillingham Forest). <1>

<1> Wilson, J D, 1971, The Medieval Deer Parks of Dorset X. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society 92, 209-10 (Article in serial). SDO20359.

<2> National Record of the Historic Environment, 202445 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Dec 14 2023 4:20PM