The Birds of Essex Parks
Parks have made a major contribution to the history of bird recording in Essex. There is now a
substantial, but dispersed body of information in publications, such as the county avifaunas - Christy
(1890), Glegg (1929) and Cox (1984) and the Essex Bird Report concerning the birds of Essex parks.
Most of the very early park records, for example those in Christy's Birds of Essex (1890) sadly
refer to birds that were shot. Many parks up to 1914 were heavily keepered and raptors and con ids
particularly were strictly controlled - being regarded as vermin. It seems also that very few rare
birds escaped the gun in the nineteenth century - the Victorian mania for collecting tilings natural
ensured that rarities ended-up under glass domes in parlours, or the glazed cases of serious collectors
and museums. Taxidermy was considered very fashionable in Victorian Britain and many towns
and villages had their resident taxidermist. Notable Essex taxidermists included Doubleday of
Epping. Pettitt of Colchester and Travis of Saffron Walden. The introduction of Becoeur's arsenical
soap (as a preservative) early in the 19th century and the Great Exhibition of 1851, were two key-
events providing impetus to the collecting of birds.
One of the earliest collections of stuffed birds in Essex was formed by the fourth Lord Braybrooke
(1820 - 1861) at Audley End near Saffron Walden. The collection was also added to by the fifth
Lord. The cases were originally displayed in the Picture and Lower Galleries, removed in the
1940s when such things were considered to be in poor taste, but reinstated in the 1980s as a
remarkable survival and typical of the Victorian period by English Heritage. The extensive collection
consisted of over a hundred cases of British, European and exotic birds. Importantly, from the
point of view of this publicatioa most of the early specimens of British birds were those shot at
Audley End or on neighbouring estates. Some of those recorded by Christy are listed below.
Some of the Uncommon Birds recorded at Audley End in the 19th Century:
Bewick's Swan (1841) Pied Flycatcher (1881)
Bittern (1831) Raven (n.d.)
Black-necked Grebe (1838) Red-breasted Merganser (1850)
Black Tern (1836) Scaup (1830)
Crossbill (1836) Short-eared Owl (1881)
Goosander (1838) Slavonian Grebe (1838)
Hawfinch (1837 & 1858) Smew (1838)
Honey Buzzard (1838) Storm Petrel (1836)
Long-eared Owl (1834) Whooper Swan (1838)
Merlin (1837 & 1853) Wood Warbler (c.1845)
The winter of 1837 - 38 was very severe and this probably accounts for the presence of some birds
on this list.
Parks, as well as providing wood-pasture habitat, often had substantial areas of open water. Chapman
& Andre (1777) show lakes in a number of Essex parks - the largest being those at Gosfield,
Debden Hall, Navestock and Wanstead (the latter were extant in the 17th century). New Hall.
Boreham, is also shown with a huge "pond" adjacent to the park. In the pre-Lea Valley/Abberton/
Hanningfield days, these park lakes were the only source of sizeable open water in inland Essex
and obviously attracted many notable wildfowl.
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Essex Parks: Section 1 - Parks in Essex