Page:VCH Derbyshire 1.djvu/520

 A HISTORY OF DERBYSHIRE lessens, whilst that from foreign countries greatly increases. The over-sea timber used in Derbyshire mines is certainly above 90 per cent, of the total. 1 As the parks of Derbyshire are all well wooded it may be as well to offer some very brief remarks on the twelve that are sufficiently important to be deer parks. 2 Alderwadey. Part of the Colebrook ward of Duffield Frith was within the present small park, and the remainder, as well as the stretch of beautiful woods that slope down to the Derwent, was in the purlieu or outwoods of that forest. The emparked portion is 194 acres, and was enclosed as at present in 1715. It contains a herd of about eighty fallow deer, and a small flock of Faroe Isles black sheep. In addition to exceptionally fine old oaks, there are many well-grown beeches and sycamores, whilst an undergrowth of birches, with abundance of bracken and heather, gives it much the appearance that the best parts of the Frith must have borne in days of old. In Glover's Derbyshire (i833) 3 '* ' s stated that the timber on this estate (Alderwasley) is considered equal to any in the kingdom, and trees of great magnitude have been felled ; for many years past Mr. Hurt had regularly cut down timber producing upwards of 2,000 per annum. Alfreton. The park round Alfreton Hall is 160 acres, and has a herd of 50 fallow deer. There was a park at Alfreton as far back as the thirteenth century, but the present one was enclosed by Mr. Rowland Morewood in 1750, when he built the Hall. Glover says of him : ' This gentleman was remarkable for his fondness of planting oak trees ; which passion being inherited by his son, he saw many thousands rise into shady groves and sturdy timber.' * Some of the well-grown oaks of this park show clean stems of upwards of 40 feet to the first boughs. There are also some unusually large Spanish chestnuts, one of which has a girth of 1 8 feet, 3 feet from the ground. Bretby. This park has an acreage of 450 acres, and a herd of about ZOO fallow deer. Here was an ancient park, and it was nobly timbered up to the beginning of the eighteenth century. It is well watered, beautifully undulating, and fairly wooded. Calke. The park of Calke Abbey covers 327 acres, and contains 400 fallow deer and 30 red deer. There are many venerable oaks in this picturesque and much diversified park, and some fine elms ; among the lower timber are some well-grown maples. Chatsworth. This noble park of 1,200 acres, shelters about 150 fallow and 60 red deer. It was enclosed on about its present lines early in the fifteenth century. The most interesting parts are the lofty rocky elevation at the Beesley and Baslow ends, on the north side of the river, where the self-planted gnarled and twisted oaks flourish amazingly amid the crags. Drakeloiv. This park of 175 acres, with 160 fallow deer and a herd of Galloway Scots, is of ancient origin ; the park, as well as the immediate surroundings of this old seat of the Gresley family, is remarkably well wooded. Hardwick. The fine park of 700 acres contains 200 fallow and about 2O red deer. There are a large number of ancient oak trees, but many of them are dying and have their upper boughs bare. The finest of the old oaks has a girth of 35 feet, 4 feet from the ground. Kedlesttm. The reference made by Farey to the planting of this park and to the Curzon estate has been already cited. The deer park of 520 acres shelters a herd of 300 fallow deer, and includes a heronry. It was imparked on the present lines in 1760. There are many exceptionally splendid oak trees, as well as some fine horse chestnuts. Loudon mentions one, in 1838, 'the head of which had been broken to pieces by lightning soon after the family had been drinking tea under it ' ; the head was 62 feet in diameter, the trunk was 16 feet in circumference, and the branches touched the ground all round. 6 1 The Blue Book Trade Returns for 1904 show that England paid nearly four and half millions of pounds in the year for ' pit-prop or pit-wood ' timber, which came from Russia, Sweden, France, Norway, Portugal, Spain, and Germany ; the countries are stated in the order of the quantities they supplied. 8 These notes are based on E. P. Shirley's English Deer Parks (1867), and J. Whitaker's Deer Parks and Paddocks (1892) ; as well as on personal observation and local inquiry. 3 Vol. ii. 6. * Vol. ii. 13. 6 Loudon's Arboretum, i. 466.