Essex Parks on the Map
many others) are often depicted; occasionally vistas (Easton) are also indicated. Specimen pollard
and standard trees are shown (often stylised and sometimes inaccurately, as in Mistley Park), within
the park.
In Writtle (now disparked) an immense tree appears to be shown - probably an old pollard oak.
Coppiced Woodland appears in some parks (Copped Hall. Barrington Hall). In others belts of trees
(planted on the park boundary) seem to be indicated (Navestock, Mistley). Buildings other than the
mansion are also depicted - farms (Thorndon), rarely churches (Faulkbourne) and a windmill
(Mistley). Lodges also seem to be rare at this time, but what is presumably an ancient lodge is
shown in the middle of Weald Park. This park is also shown with what is presumably the Belvedere
(slighdy out of position). Other landscape 'props' shown on the map include the rotunda and obelisk
al Warlies.
Very occasionally the site of disparked parks is shown. Examples include Havering (gone by 1652).
Hadleigh (gone by 1550) and the second park at St Osyth (shown as simply "The Park" east of the
existing park). Writtle Park is shown with some sort of paled internal enclosure, possibly to separate
livestock. Usefully the key sheet depicts the sixty-odd parks then found in Essex on the one sheet,
but obviously at a much smaller scale.
Some individual parks shown are quite superb - Thorndon comes to mind with its yet to be enclosed
Childerditch Common and the park and avenues running from West Horndon to Brentwood, its
almost 1.000 acres being the largest park in Essex at that time. Lord Petre notably subscribed to
four sets of the map!
Other pre-Ordnance Survey County Maps showing parks include Christopher Saxton (1576), John
Norden (1594), Joannes Blaeu (1645) and John Oliver (1696).
Essex Parks: Section 1 - Parks in Essex
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