Powderham’s fallow deer welcome new additions to the herd
In May, Powderham’s deer park welcomed 50,000 music revellers to enjoy Radio 1’s Big Weekend, a momentous occasion for the region.
Whilst things were starting to calm down a little in the deer park, it wasn’t for long with the deer recently welcoming new additions to the herd, following the birth of fawns over the past couple of weeks.
The energetic fawns have been getting used to life in the deer park, frolicking in the ‘nursery’ area, close to the site music lovers watched the highly anticipated homecoming performance from Coldplay.
The park has altered very little since it was first depicted on a map in 1723. The herd of 600 fallow deer have been continuously maintained and are now looked after by head gamekeeper, Dick Durrant.
Dick, commented: ‘Early summer is always a wonderful time in the deer park and with the recent arrival of the fawns, the park is full of life. It was fantastic to host the BBC Radio 1 Big Weekend. Initially I was really concerned with the scale of the event but working with the BBC and their fantastically well organised team of contractors the event went seamlessly. The park and the deer are looking beautiful, it’s a lovely time to be here’.
In the run up to the Big Weekend, the deer park was divided into roughly half, using temporary Heras fencing. This enabled the deer to happily coexist alongside the site preparation. During the event the security team monitored the deer enclosure as part of their overall site security and no problems were reported. As preparation gathered pace in the early spring veteran trees were surveyed for safety and general well-being, access tracks were prepared and water pipes installed. The deer were safely fenced outside the arena areas during the event and quickly returned to their normal day to day routines within days of the event clear up.
Visitors to the Castle are able to enjoy the setting of the deer park and catch a glimpse of the new fawns on a Deer Park Safari. The trip takes around 35 minutes and is a wonderful opportunity to admire the Castle’s surrounding natural rugged beauty from the banks of the Exe Estuary and learn about the deer’s habitat.
Tickets for the Deer Park Safari can be purchased from Powderham’s welcome hut and cost £2.50 for adults and children, with a family ticket (2+3) available for £8.50. It runs on Wednesday and Thursday throughout the season, as well as daily during the Devon school holidays and is accessible to visitors with wheelchairs and pushchairs.
