History of Bradgate Park

Bradgate Park was one of a number of parks surrounding Charnwood Forest. The name Bradgate is thought to derive from Norse or Anglo-Saxon, meaning 'broad road' or 'broad gate' respectively.  In the reign of Edward the Confessor, the land was owned by Ulf, and it was awarded to Hugh de Grandmesnil in the eleventh century as reward for his assistance in battle to William I The land, which was primarily used for hunting, was subsequently acquired by the Beaumont family, passing to the de Quincy family and on to William de Ferrers of Groby. It remained in the de Ferrers family until 1445, when it passed to the Grey family after William's only surviving daughter married Edward Grey. The inquisition into the estates of de Ferrers, made after his death, mentions the park, with "herbage, pannage and underwood, worth 40 shillings yearly".^[3] Edward's son Sir John Grey of Groby married Elizabeth Woodville, who after John's death married King Edward IV; Their son Thomas Grey began building Bradgate House in the late fifteenth century, one of the first unfortified great houses in England, and the ruins of the house are still visible at the centre of the park.  The house was approximately 200 feet long, featuring a main hall measuring 80 feet by 30 feet, and the chapel is still intact. The park was originally enclosed using vertical pales of oak, with dry-stone walls a later feature from the first half of the nineteenth century.^[2] The park includes several spinneys, which were planted in the early nineteenth century as coverts for shooting.

The house was the birthplace of Lady Jane Grey, later Queen, ruling for a mere 9 days before being overthrown by Mary I. A much later park landmark is the folly known as 'Old John' on the top of the highest hill in the park, built in 1784. The folly, built by the Greys, is a memorial to John, an estate worker killed in a bonfire accident during celebrations of the 21st birthday of the son of the Earl of Stamford, a member of the Grey family. Cropston Reservoir was constructed in the south-east corner of the park in 1860, submerging twelve farms and the Head Keeper's house. A number of pools were also constructed along the course of the River Lin through the park, to allow silt to settle before reaching the reservoir. In 1905 the estate was bequeathed on the death of the 7th Earl of Stamford's wife to the earl's niece, Mrs Arthur Duncombe.

In 1928, the park was bought from the heirs of the Greys by local businessman and British United Shoe Machinery founder Charles Bennion who gave it in perpetuity to the people of Leicestershire. Plaques on Old John and the main path through the park commemorate the gift. The nearby Swithland Wood was later bought by William Bastard and members of Leicester Rotary Club, who transferred it to the park's trustees. The park is now administered by the Bradgate Park and Swithland Wood Charitable Trust, with trustees nominated by Leicestershire County Council, Leicester City Council and the National Trust. A second, covered reservoir was added within the park in the early 1960s.

The ruins of Bradgate House

  Geology

Old John

The geology of the park is mainly Precambrian, and some of the earliest multicellular lifeforms are known from fossils discovered in the park in 1956 (Charnia masoni).

  Flora and fauna

The landscape is rocky moorland with a covering of coarse grass and bracken. Several spinneys of woodland (pine and mixed deciduous) are enclosed by stone walls, and are not accessible to the public. There are a number of magnificent specimens of ancient oaks several hundreds of years old. The park is home to herds of red deer and fallow deer. Birdlife is profuse - the reservoir attracts many species of wildfowl, as does the river, and the spinneys provide secluded nesting areas for many other species, including large colonies of rooks. Species such as yellowhammer, reed bunting, skylark and meadow pipit are a common sight in the open areas of the park. Deadly nightshade is allowed to grow within the ruins of Bradgate House, having been originally established there during World War II by Leicester Polytechnic's School of Pharmacy for medicinal purposes.

  Access

Sunshine across a winter scene.

There are pay car parks at Cropston Reservoir, Newtown Linford, and Hunts Hill (at the top of the park near Old John). The park is open from dawn until dusk all year round, though the public footpaths which run through the area mean that in practice the park is always accessible. There is a visitors' centre (with cafe) at Newtown Linford, and another in the centre of the park named the Deer Barn near Bradgate House.

It is also possible to travel to the park by bus. Bus routes 120 and 121 stop near the park entrance in Newtown Linford, while the 123 and some 54 buses run between Leicester and Loughborough, travelling along Reservoir road, stopping within a short walk of the park's Hallgates entrance. There is a walking path from the village of Anstey, easily accessible from Leicester by the 74 bus. The path is signposted from Link Road, and crosses several fields before entering the park proper.