Charlecote Park Charlecotte Park is a grand 16th century house, in an ancient deer park on the banks of the Avon, 5 miles East of Stratford, 6 miles South of Warwick. This has been the Lucy family since 1247. The present house was begun around 1551. Landscaped by Capability Brown around 1760. The house has been administered by the National Trust since 1946.

Charlecote Park covers 188 acres. There are romantic stories that Shakespeare once poached deer from here. It is uncertain if there were deer here in Shakespeare's time, though there has certainly been a deer herd here since the 1840's. There are some photos of the present deer herd near the bottom of this page.

The garden is similar in feel to Stoneleigh Abbey with its classical urns, steps, mature cedars, and views of the Avon. The tower of Hampton Lucy church can just be seen between two trees, just above the urn with red flowers.

In March 2001 the entire deer herd had to be slaughtered because some animals were infected with bovine tuberculosis. Local people ran a campaign to raise money to restock the park. At the end of November 2002, 32 fallow deer were reintroduced into the park.

Visitors don't normally have access to the deer park, and the deer are shy of visitors, so your chances of seeing the deer herd are problematical.

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