Fallow dear in Great Britain - ancient and modern!
Fallow deer have long been prized as ornamental species and their history in the UK is closely linked to that of deer parks.
Fallow deer were first brought to Britain from the western Mediterranean during the Roman period when they were kept within enclosures known as ‘vivaria’. Genetic analysis has shown that these Roman fallow deer went extinct in Britain following the collapse of the Roman Empire. It was not until the 11th century that fallow deer were reintroduced, this time from the eastern Mediterranean.
I have observed fallow deer within two deer parks, one ancient and one more modern. Bradgate Park is an area of public open space in Charnwood Forest, Leicestershire, it covers 850 acres (340 hectares). The first mention of Bradgate Park is from 1241, by which time it was laid out as a hunting park, although rather smaller than the current boundary. The park is home to herds of red deer and fallow deer, with a herd size of around 550 animals of which three quarters are Fallow deer. Bradgate Park is the only remaining Medieval deer park in Leicestershire. The pasture here does not receive any artificial fertiliser and the deer are not handled or treated with any veterinary drugs. Bradgate Park deer are essentially wild animals that live in an enclosed, safe area.
Holkham Hall is an 18th-century country house in north Norfolk. It is the ancestral home of the Coke family, who became Earls of Leicester. Fallow deer were originally brought to Holkham in 1844 by the second earl and they now roam free in the 677-acre deer park.
Fallow deer are not widespread in the wild in Norfolk, being largely restricted to the north-west and the extensive conifer plantations of the Brecks.
