Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
FIG
29
. The impressive medieval pigeon house of Culver Hole. (Harold Grenfell)
David Painter for Figures
FIG
30
. Map of Parc le Breos, the great Norman deer park. (David Leighton)
David Painter for Figures
What is remarkable about Parc le Breos is that, despite having undergone many changes over several
centuries, its identity has remained intact. The park boundary is still clearly visible on Ordnance Survey
mapsandonairphotographsandonceconsisted,forthemostpart,ofadykeformedfromanearthenbank
with a core of stones, varying in scale and preservation, but normally between 3 and 6 metres wide and
1 metre high. In many places the line is followed by modern hedgerows and is very overgrown, while in
other sections the dyke has disappeared and its place has been taken by a narrow lane. The main expense
of a park was the 'pale', a fence of cleft oak stakes set individually in the ground and nailed to a rail.
This was supported by a bank formed by excavating a ditch on the inside. The pale had to be of sufficient
size to contain the deer and deter trespassers. There were two types of parks, 'uncompartmented' parks,
which were accessible to the deer at all times, and 'compartmented' parks, where the trees and grazing
were separated. Park Le Breos seems to have been a compartmented park.
Even though evidence of the park has survived for centuries, there are very few historical records and
it remains an enigma. It is not known if deer parks were set up in Gower before the thirteenth century, but
it is unlikely. The history of the lordship throughout the twelfth and early thirteenth centuries was one of
great instability and, as the frequent attacks by the Welsh are known to have delayed the construction of
the castles, it is likely that costly schemes such as deer parks were also deferred. This seems to be con-
firmed by the fact that the earliest reference to the 'silva de Bruiz', the great medieval deer park, is in
