Coughton Park

Description of this historic site

Coughton Park, a deer park dating from the Medieval to the Post Medieval period. Much of the park pale is visible as an earthwork. It is located to the south of Sambourne. Recommended for inclusion on Local List by Lovie.

Notes about this historic site

1 Coughton, enclosed in 1487. Appears on maps of Saxton and Speed, but has been long disparked.
2 Coughton Park is in the angle of the Ridgeway and Wike Lane, wherein a small patch of ancient woodland remains. A broad green ride through it may be an old forest road. Coughton Old Park is marked approximately in this position by Beighton (1725). This park was enclosed by Robert Throckmorton in 1486 and Sambourne Heath and Spinney’s Leys were added later. A park with pale and 2 lodges appears among the possessions of the manor c1625 and a 17th century letter mentions the inclosure of another 16 to 18 acres out of the common park. Great, Little and Hither Park are field names in a map of 1746.
3 The whole of the perimeter of this park is either extant or traceable. The road to the NE is paled on both sides for about a mile. A low ridge in the plough indicates the pale originally continued to Wike Moat, while from SP0660 it is traceable as a ditch through the plough in direction of Coughton Lodge and presumably Wike Moat. Appears on Saxton’s and Speed’s maps.
4 Recommended for inclusion Register.
5 Marked as disparked on Beighton’s 1725 map.
6 Until 1301, this area was in the Forest of Feckenham. The park enclosure is attributed to Robert Throckmorton 1486/7. It was enlarged in 1569, with the addition of a strip of land enclosed from Alcester Heath. The 1569 document also refers to the New Park, which had evidently been added in the western part of the parish. This area contained three major fishponds and a warrener’s lodge. By 1695 a good deal of the park was let out to tenants, but field names recorded on maps of that date show that the park area extended beyond the pale..
7 Map showing the areas referred to in 6.
8
9 Pre-emparkment in 1440 it was a mix of arable pasture and woodland.
10 Portable Antiquities Scheme find provenance information:
Date found: 2006-04-28T23:00:00Z
Date found: 2005-01-06T00:00:00Z
Date found (2): 2006-02-06T00:00:00Z
Methods of discovery: Metal detector

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