A Walk Alongside the Boundary Wall Before the Cull

There was the romantic notion that if a deer managed to escape and get beyond the deer leap then it was free from its hunters. The deer leap, or freeboard, of Richmond Park is a strip of Crown-owned land, one rod wide (5 metres), which runs around most of the perimeter of the park. Its function is to allow access to the outside of the boundary wall. Richmond Park, the largest of London's Royal Parks covering 2500 acres, was created for King Charles I in 1634 as his hunting park for deer. In 1637, the King had a brick wall built to enclose the deer while allowing public access. Today, the wall, which stretches to 6.3 miles long, not only encloses the 600 red and fallow deer but also prevents access during the cull. On this night, the boundary wall divides life from death, humans from animals respectively.