Monument record 570/4 - Winwick Park

Winwick Hall was accompanied by a park. Mentioned by Leland - 'Winuicke a good benifice a V mile of Wigan and a iii mile of Warrington, with a parke'. There is also a reference to the park in 1517 which mentions a pale and 'stakes set there for the 'save-gard' of the deer' 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. .