The terms ‘hunting parks’ and ‘deer parks’ are inter-changeable and define the extent of the hunting preserves of the baronial aristocracy and their equivalents in medieval society. These were primarily reserved for the leading family of the region but provided an on-tap recreation for visiting gentry, most especially the monarch were he to be in the area on a ‘progress’ and so inclined to take part. The oft called feudal system established by the early Norman monarchs was based on the premise that all the land of the nation was the possession of the monarch but partitioned-up for ease of maintenance and to ensure loyal support (hopefully) from the tenants – in that sense all hunting parks were available to the kings.
Hunting parks were a particular feature along the dip slope of the Yorkshire Wolds while on the ‘plain’ of Holderness and across north Lincolnshire large-scale medieval baronial hunting parks did not develop, partly because there the land was densely populated in open-field villages (later modest private parks developed, not necessarily for hunting, attached to Georgian period houses).
On the east facing dip slope of the Yorkshire Wolds, overlooking the wetland of the Hull Valley, was the hunting park of the Lords of Northumberland (the Percy family) north of Beverley, much in the parish of Leconfield (probably Molescroft as well). This park is well studied in the 60 page book Medieval Parks of East Yorkshire published in 1991 by Hutton Press and written by Susan Neave. Henry VIII rode-out here during his Northern Progress of 1541 (see Articles and Publications). South of Beverley were Beverley Parks and Cottingham Parks, the former the preserve of the priors of Beverley Minster. By the 17th century these areas of open ‘park-land’ were no longer exclusively hunting parks.
The photo above is of the landscape looking east across the land of the once Cottingham Parks (the name endures) with the level land of the Hull Valley beyond across which the northern expansion of Hull has spread.