Blakemere

In 1361 there were two parks at Blakemere. Only one survived into the mid-16th century. It is described in The Victoria History of Shropshire: Volume 1 as a large park belonging to the Earl of Shrewsbury. The park had both red and fallow deer and three pools (Page, 1908: 493).

Blakemere castle was a moated manor house belonging to the Talbot family. The Talbots acquired the site from the Le Stranges during the 14th century. The Talbots sold the manor in 1590 and by 1695 the manor house was in ruins. The site today (2008) is represented by a roughly squared, dry, moat about 60 metres by 60 metres. The moat adjoins Blakemere pool (Watson and Musson, 1993: 68). The juxtapositioning of the site next to the pool is believed to be, in part, to make use of the pool as a water source for the moat. It may also have had defensive purposes or aesthetic considerations. For example a broad terrace on the north side of the moated site provides views across the pool.

The park was enclosed post-1590 after the Talbots sale of the site. The extent of the park can still be traced by field names.

Type

Park

Purpose

Agriculture And Subsistence

Period

Tudor (1485-1603)

Survival

Part: ground/below ground level remains

Civil Parish

Whitchurch Urban