Abstract: The deer in the parks, chases and forests of medieval England were managed more actively, and with a greater skill and care, than is perhaps generalIy realized. Their owners derived considerable benefits from them, not only in the opportunity to hunt, which was often subsidiary, but in venison, a high status meat. Though deer were often privileged, deer farming was generally integrated into other agricultural or woodland activities; deer parks, in particular, were often efficiently managed units fulfilling a number of purposes, so much so that we as is so often done, as no more than status symbols.
Deer and Deer Farming in Medieval England
By Jean Birrell
Agricultural History Review, Vol.40:2 (1992)
Abstract: The deer in the parks, chases and forests of medieval England were managed more actively, and with a greater skill and care, than is perhaps generalIy realized. Their owners derived considerable benefits from them, not only in the opportunity to hunt, which was often subsidiary, but in venison, a high status meat. Though deer were often privileged, deer farming was generally integrated into other agricultural or woodland activities; deer parks, in particular, were often efficiently managed units fulfilling a number of purposes, so much so that we as is so often done, as no more than status symbols.
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