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Gardens of Earthly Delight: The History of Deer Parks

by John Fletcher

This is a highly original, profusely illustrated, and well researched account of deer parks. With humility and respect Fletcher touches on errors commonly made by archaeologists and historians, taking issue with long held theories while drawing on his lifetime working with deer to formulate plausible explanations as to, for example, why they were not domesticated until the 20th century, how parks evolved from haga and elricks, why deer parks were created throughout Eurasia, why fallow so rapidly ousted red deer from medieval British parks, and much more.

He ranges from meat sharing amongst chimpanzees to the symbolism of venison as the elite product of hunting, ensconced within seven centuries of the English Royal Warrant, through the 300 year long prohibition on its sale within England and the continuing illegality of selling hunted venison within the USA, the aristocratic pursuit of park breaking, and the imposition of the Black Act. He stresses the cross-cultural importance of rulers being seen to hunt, compares ancient Chinese parks, the colossal Asian ring hunts, and the water hunts of Germany as expressions of man's urge to contain deer.

Within Britain, which has for a thousand years held more deer parks than any other part of the world, he describes how deer were fed, transported, enclosed, captured, castrated and housed, and how they were hunted in the confines of parks. The recent theory as to the use of trenches for handling deer in medieval Scotland is explored. The international symbolism of white deer, collared deer and enclosed deer is discussed. Recently, parks provided deer for English carted hunts and Scottish sporting estates; now we recognise their ecological and recreational value. We learn how parklands may be our spiritual home - the environment in which we are most content - and that parks have always been, in a fashion, designed landscapes. 296p, b/w & col illus (Windgather Press, an imprint of Oxbow Books 2011)

Review Quotes

"Clearly and engagingly written, packed with new insights, attractively produced and very reasonably priced, this is one of the most important books on landscape history to appear in recent years. It deserves to be widely read, by professional historians as much as by the wider interested public."

Tom Williamson
Historic House (Spring 2012)

"But what sets this book apart, and makes it so stimulating for anyone interested in historic deer management, is the fact that Fletcher is a deer vet (and understands hunting). Here are accessible discussions of deer management, habitats and the characters of the different breeds (fallow deer are easily managed and can be carried on a man’s back or even caught in mid-air as they leap), with some tolerant rebuttals of landscape historians’ much repeated inherited truisms. Highly readable - shelve alongside Rackham’s History of the Countryside."

Paul Stamper
British Archaeology (Sept-Oct 2011)

"A detailed and scholarly history of deer parks, from their role as hunting grounds of medieval nobility to modern-day visitor attractions at country-house properties."

Mark Whitley
The Countryman (June 2011)

"This is a singularly enjoyable book on a neglected topic which is of some importance in the history of Englishness. Its surprising elisions and poetic turns are a recurring source of delight."

Tim Richardson
The Literary Review (July 2011)

"Deer parks now have an excellent new book which is full of yet more fascinating information."

Robin Lane Fox
Financial Times (9-10 July 2011)

"This is an accessible, wide-ranging and immensely enjoyable history by a deer veterinarian who gained a PhD in the subject at Cambridge and can convincingly quote from Italo Calvino, Gaston Bachelard and William Wordsworth."

Tim Richardson
Country Life (6 July 2011)

"A delightful and thoroughly researched analysis of man’s interaction with deer through the centuries. It provides a fascinating insight into the domestication of farmed animals and attitudes to hunting and man’s treatment of animals. To all those wishing to understand the complexity of the relationship between humans and animals and how this has impacted on our landscape and culture, this book is most strongly recommended."

Hugh W. Reid
The Veterinary Record (2 July 2011)

"This handsome, lavishly illustrated book offers a wealth of information on a number of topics beyond what may be expected from its title, including landscape history, the physiology, behaviour and characteristics of different deer species, and the practicalities of deer management."

David Scott-Macnab
The Medieval Review (2 January 2012)

"John Fletcher's absorbing Gardens of Earthly Delight: The History of Deer Parks looks into the more ancient origins of country house parks, many of which began as enclosed deer parks dating back to the Middle Ages."

Marcus Binney
The Times Literary Supplement (19 November 2011)

Table of Contents

1. Carving out the meat: beyond deep history – the manipulative cunning of apes
2. Deep history and why hunting matters
3. Our natural habitat: glades, groves and parkland
4. Elricks and kites, hayes and ha-ha’s
5. Paradeisos and classical hunting parks
6. East of Eden: Chinese parks and the Sons of Heaven
7. Xanadu and the nomads
8. Flowers of the high medieval: how fallow deer came to Britain from the paradise gardens, the Arabic origins of ornamental landscape, and flirtation
9. Beautiful and tame: why we chose fallow
10. How the deer were hunted in the parks: coursing, and venery
11. Noli me tangere – le cerf privé in paradise
12. Parks in contention: Forest Law, park breaking and poaching
13. The parker’s duties: pales, salters and trenches, browse, grease and fence months
14. Ornament: antithesis of utility, bedfellow of status – Tudor parks and beyond
15. The Restoration and landscape: from ashes to avenues; purgatory to paradise
16. The Black Act: expulsion from Paradise – beyond the pale
17. Giving it away: venison as conspicuous consumption, a gift beyond price
18. Against the odds – carted stags and show hunts: British and German attitudes to containing deer for sport
19. Castles for deer: from hunting to husbandry
20. Mounting heads: trophies, monarchs and dictators
21. Ecological oases, urban lungs, and venison farms
Terminology of deer and trees

About the author

John Fletcher is a specialist deer vet who took a PhD from Cambridge on the breeding behaviour of deer. He has, over many years, established a worldwide reputation in the behaviour, biology and practical management of deer especially in parks and on farms. His last book explored several historical theories and he has now developed these into a significant contribution to the history of deer parks.

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