Grazing Animals in Parks
contributed to this. Thorndon Hall's Hatch Farm was created around 1777 as a 'model farm' to
raise deer and cattle.
Thorndon in the 18th century, according to Arthur Young, was a park of 1,077 acres. Its livestock
were listed as:
800 deer (Probably Fallow and Red)
850 sheep and lambs (Norfolk/South Down cross)
22 cows (Holderness, Suffolk. Devon)
8 working oxen
30 bullocks
20 young cattle
Jacob sheep are recorded at Audley End in the late 18th century, presumably for ornament. Norfolk
and South Down sheep were kept at Skreens, Roxwell at this time; South Down sheep were also
kept at Gosfield and in other parks.
John Conyers (II) kept a daily herd of North Devon cattle at Copped Hall (as did Sir Richard
Neave at Dagnam Park) producing butter, cream, cheese and milk and calves; Pigs are also mentioned
here. Lord Braybrooke at Audley End kept polled Yorkshire cattle (the fifth Lord Braybrooke later
kept a herd of pedigree Jersey cattle here). Cornelius Kortright at Hylands, also around this time,
raised a new breed of sheep - a Merino/South Down cross, which produced very fine wool. It is
likely these would have grazed the park. Sheep, cattle and pigs were all farmed at Hylands. It is not
known if pigs were kept at large in the park. Livestock has been absent from Hylands since probably
the late 1950s, although there are plans to introduce Suffolk Punch horses into the park to graze.
Sometimes exotic beasts were kept in parks. At Weald Park wild goats from Kashmir were introduced
in 1823, the herd surviving until the 1930s. A pair were given to George IV in 1828, forming the
basis of the famous herd at Windsor Great Park. A small herd of feral goats is currently to be found
at Thorndon Park, in a fenced enclosure near the visitor centre. The animals are part of a grazing
trial for conservation reasons. Two Indian Zebu cattle were also kept at Weald Park. Lord Braybrooke
at Audley End had a five acre enclosure 'with a high paling' originally intended for a menagerie (as
at Thorndon Park), but "stocked with gold and silver pheasants and some other curous birds".
At the turn of the last century, fallow deer were present enclosed in only three Essex parks -
Quendon (where deer have now been kept for over 300 years), Weald Park and the Epping Forest
deer sanctuary at Theydon Bois. Red deer have been 'farmed' in Essex, not strictly speaking in
parks, but in enclosures. I have records of such ventures from Cock Clarks near Purleigh, Hartford
End near Great Waltham and from Layer Marney Towers near Tiptree. Records of red deer at large
from the Dunmow/Great Waltham area possibly originated from the Hartford End venture. Red
Deer have been kept since the 1930s at Bedfords Park-numbering about 48 head (8 stags and 40
hinds) in October 2003. Roe deer have been seen recently in the Lyons Hall (near Little Leighs)
area, around Terling Place and also at Marks Hall near Coggeshall, but not in enclosed parks.
From a fallow deer point of view, it could be argued that rural Essex, bounded by the A12, suburban
London, the Ml 1 and the county boundary to the north, has become one gigantic deer park.
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Essex Parks: Section 1 - Parks in Essex