Studley Royal near Ripon is a lovely place for a wander with fairly easy walking and the chance to see some of the 500+ red, fallow and sika deer that are managed by the National Trust.
As you look out at the grazed parkland, which was designated as a hunting ground in Medieval times, you wonder how widespread the hunting landscape once was. Deer hunting was once known as the chasse par force des chiens (chase by strength of hounds) and by the Norman period, the introduction of a forest law, reserving huge tracts of land for the aristocracy, and creation of deer parks had a big impact on the landscape.
You can track down evidence of those hunting lands today by heading over to Wharfedale and driving between Burnsall and Bolton Abbey to see the imposing ruins of Barden Tower. Back in the 14th century, the tower was one of six hunting lodges in the Forest of Barden.
Further north there’s Langstrothdale Chase, the name denoting the royal hunting ground which formed part of the Forest of Wensleydale used by the lords of Middleham and Richmond.
Or venture over to Knaresborough and Nidderdale to discover more about the Forest of Knaresborough. Here the land came under Royal rule after the Norman Conquest in 1066 and was made up of parks, woodland and a hunting chase stretching from one side of the River Nidd opposite Knaresborough as far up as Greenhow Hill and Great Timble.