Hartshill Park
Encyclopedia
Hartshill Park is a large nature reserve
stretching along the western edge of the city of Stoke-on-Trent
, England
. The Park is a patchwork of different habitats, including five ponds. It is notable for being part of a Norman deer hunting park that has survived into the modern era.
The Roman road called Ryknild Street passed directly along the top of the ridge and then went down to where Stoke-on-Trent railway station
is now, although the exact route it ran along is unknown.
Hartshill Park was part of a Norman deer hunting park that survived as such well into the 15th century, evidenced by records of the boundaries being repaired at that time. Possibly the remains of the Roman road established the western boundary of the original Park.
The lower Cliffe Vale
section of the park - between Shelton Old Road and Eturia Road - was likely to have been deforested sometime in the 15th century. The more elevated core of the hunting park became a landed estate and farm, and it is marked on the 1st edition six-inch (152 mm) Ordnance Survey
map (circa 1860) as "Cliff Ville".
In the early 20th Century some of the accessible parts of the area were used for dumping pottery waste. The land was farmed from 1916 to 1978, for grazing and dairy. The southern part of the Park had become the grounds of a Catholic
convent
and associated school in the early 1920s
, and the nuns used the pools for nature sketching and built a large grotto
(still standing) to hold a statue of Our Lady. The convent is now an old people's home. The pools at the far southern end of the contemporary Park are called the "Convent Pools".
Stoke-on-Trent City Council forcibly purchased the land in 1975. Parts of the Park were lost to two new state schools and their extensive playing fields, in the 1960s
and 1970s
. The rest of the land underwent basic reclamation to serve as public open space from the late 1970s onwards, but it then had very little maintenance or attention from the City Council for the next thirty years.
In 1999 the Friends of Hartshill Park group was formed. The Friends have accessed small grants to repair paths, create new habitats, and plant trees. Today the area is an escarpment Nature Reserve.
Nature reserve
A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...
stretching along the western edge of the city of Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent , also called The Potteries is a city in Staffordshire, England, which forms a linear conurbation almost 12 miles long, with an area of . Together with the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme Stoke forms The Potteries Urban Area...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The Park is a patchwork of different habitats, including five ponds. It is notable for being part of a Norman deer hunting park that has survived into the modern era.
History
The place takes its name from Hart, meaning "deer".The Roman road called Ryknild Street passed directly along the top of the ridge and then went down to where Stoke-on-Trent railway station
Stoke-on-Trent railway station
Stoke-on-Trent Railway Station is a main-line railway station in central England. It is located on the Stafford to Manchester branch of the West Coast Main Line and serves the Staffordshire city of Stoke-on-Trent...
is now, although the exact route it ran along is unknown.
Hartshill Park was part of a Norman deer hunting park that survived as such well into the 15th century, evidenced by records of the boundaries being repaired at that time. Possibly the remains of the Roman road established the western boundary of the original Park.
The lower Cliffe Vale
Cliffe Vale, Staffordshire
Cliffe Vale is a district of the city of Stoke-on-Trent, and lies to the immediate south of Etruria and just west of Basford and Hartshill.Cliffe Vale is in the valley of the Fowlea Brook, now better known as Etruria Valley. There are industrial and employment uses along the A500, and new...
section of the park - between Shelton Old Road and Eturia Road - was likely to have been deforested sometime in the 15th century. The more elevated core of the hunting park became a landed estate and farm, and it is marked on the 1st edition six-inch (152 mm) Ordnance Survey
Ordnance Survey
Ordnance Survey , an executive agency and non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom, is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, producing maps of Great Britain , and one of the world's largest producers of maps.The name reflects its creation together with...
map (circa 1860) as "Cliff Ville".
In the early 20th Century some of the accessible parts of the area were used for dumping pottery waste. The land was farmed from 1916 to 1978, for grazing and dairy. The southern part of the Park had become the grounds of a Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
convent
Convent
A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...
and associated school in the early 1920s
1920s
File:1920s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: Third Tipperary Brigade Flying Column No. 2 under Sean Hogan during the Irish Civil War; Prohibition agents destroying barrels of alcohol in accordance to the 18th amendment, which made alcoholic beverages illegal throughout the entire decade; In...
, and the nuns used the pools for nature sketching and built a large grotto
Grotto
A grotto is any type of natural or artificial cave that is associated with modern, historic or prehistoric use by humans. When it is not an artificial garden feature, a grotto is often a small cave near water and often flooded or liable to flood at high tide...
(still standing) to hold a statue of Our Lady. The convent is now an old people's home. The pools at the far southern end of the contemporary Park are called the "Convent Pools".
Stoke-on-Trent City Council forcibly purchased the land in 1975. Parts of the Park were lost to two new state schools and their extensive playing fields, in the 1960s
1960s
The 1960s was the decade that started on January 1, 1960, and ended on December 31, 1969. It was the seventh decade of the 20th century.The 1960s term also refers to an era more often called The Sixties, denoting the complex of inter-related cultural and political trends across the globe...
and 1970s
1970s
File:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...
. The rest of the land underwent basic reclamation to serve as public open space from the late 1970s onwards, but it then had very little maintenance or attention from the City Council for the next thirty years.
In 1999 the Friends of Hartshill Park group was formed. The Friends have accessed small grants to repair paths, create new habitats, and plant trees. Today the area is an escarpment Nature Reserve.