What a glorious day here in Bowland today, the oystercatchers are calling and Spring is in the air!
Back at the deer park we are continuing to research our two parks at Radholme and Leagram, and focussing interest on the late 15th century. Jennie is drawing reconstruction illustrations to include some local families and places too. We have decided to set them in the 1480's when Edward Stanley was the park keeper and our schools pack will include some role-playing about him, his family and local villagers. This will tie in with the primary school history curriculum which focusses on the Tudor period - and it is great for me as I am in the middle of reading Hilary Mantel's books about Thomas Cromwell, largely set in 1535! Sadly, Henry VIII never visited our Royal Forest, but the books do give you an idea of what England was like at that time.
We are also continuing to look into the boundary dispute between Richard Shireburn, who owned Leagram Park in 1608, and the Master Forester of nearby Bowland Forest. We have a wonderful map from The National Archives which was drawn up to help resolve the argument, and it is very accurate. In the coming months we will be using it to do some field surveys to map out the line of the pale and the many deer leaps that appeared to exist along it. If you'd like to get involved in this, please get in touch: cathy.hopley@lancashire.gov.uk
Have a look at one of Jennie's sketches of leaping fallow deer on her facebook page
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