Deer at Ashridge 

Picture copyright: www.TheDeerInitiative.co.uk

Ashridge began life as a monastery in the 13^th Century and at this time Fallow deer were introduced to a small medieval deer park to provide a ready source of fresh meat. Following the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII in 1539 Ashridge became a royal Estate and the Fallow deer were regularly hunted for sport.

The Park was expanded over the centuries and the deer continued to be managed within the Park for sport and meat.  Deer remained in the Park (with the exception of a few escapees) until the sale and threatened break up of the Estate in the 1920s, following the death of Lord Brownlow. Following the sale of large parts of the Park the Fallow herd escaped to become the wild herd that roams Ashridge today.

Deer Management

At Ashridge, as on most National Trust properties, deer are generally a welcome and acceptable component of our wildlife. The Trust recognises that a rapidly increasing wild deer population can have, in some local areas, a negative effect on the landscape and other wildlife, as well as disturbing rural activities like farming and woodland management.

During the 20^th Century the numbers of Fallow deer has steadily grown and the population of deer within the Ashridge area is currently very high and increasing and the subsequent impact on the natural environment is now considerable. The management of the herd and control of Fallow deer numbers is one of the major challenges we now face at Ashridge.

In managing the deer on the Ashridge Estate the Trust sets the following objectives:

• to protect desired natural plant communities. The perpetuation of many such communities depends on specific levels of grazing and browsing;
• to contain damage to commercial crops (farming and forestry) and to ornamental produce. Intolerable damage does occur and must be contained. The Trust is aware of its obligations towards tenants and neighbours;
• to reduce the incidence of road traffic accidents involving deer. It is not always possible to take effective action, but at particular black spots some measures are realistic.

[The above was taken from a formal statement on deer management on the Ashridge Estate]

Several aspects of Deer Management are described below:

Deer Counting 

Deer management is not possible without knowing the state of the deer population and part of this is achieved by taking a regular count:

Manual count – An important part of the management process is to keep a regular tally of the number of bucks and does on the Estate. This has been carried out for many years each Spring with a coordinated group of counters working across the Estate counting as they go. The 2009 count is described here Deer counting on the Ashridge Estate.

Thermal Imaging count – This year (2009) an additional count was carried out using thermal imaging cameras to carry out a night-time count that approaches the task in a different way. The process is described in Thermal Imaging deer count.

These to methods complement each other and together they refine the information available.