Monument record 1542/2 - Sutton Park

Sutton was one of the estates held by the subordinate hereditary foresters of Macclesfield. A forester's lodge is recorded to have existed here in 1478. In 1516 John Sutton obtained licence from Henry VIII to impark his lands in Sutton within the forest. The forest was the area countryside (woodland or open land) that fell under Forest Law. The Forests in Cheshire were owned by the Earl of Chester and were preserved for the hunting of deer. They were also a source of income generation as licences were granted to create deer parks, stocked with wild deer from the forests and to assart (clear and cultivate). Deer Parks were used to house deer, which were an important source of fresh meat. A royal licence was required to create a park and only the very wealthiest could afford to create one. The deer were kept in a fenced and ditched enclosure and could be released to allow hunting. Some parks had a system of ditches and banks known as deer leaps which allowed wild deer (the monarch’s property) to enter the park but not escape, so increasing the herd. Deer Parks were expensive to maintain and many were disparked from the 15th to the 17th centuries. Those that were retained reinforced the high status of their owners. The widespread park landscaping of the 18th century often incorporated surviving deer parks. These new gardens were a contrast to the formal gardens of previous centuries with their carefully designed "natural" appearance.