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The series of Animals of Farthing Wood stories is best known for the initial story covering their epic journey from Farthing Wood to White Deer Park. The later, lesser known, sequels cover their adventures in and around White Deer Park after arriving there. The setting is a nature reserve somewhere in the UK, protected from human intervention by a Warden stationed there, due to the presence of the unique herd of white deer who live there. At the end of the last book in the series,

the reserve gets extended to a new region, becoming twice as big as before.

Is White Deer Park based on a specific real location? Obviously the UK has many nature reserves and protected areas, but are there any which were created to protect a herd of special deer? Or any other clues (such as the spoilertagged information above) which might help to link White Deer Park to a particular real-life nature reserve? Or did Colin Dann just use the general concept of a nature reserve as a setting, with all specifics invented by him for the stories?

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  • Per the "about the author" - "Colin Dann was bom in Richmond, Surrey. His interest in natural history was fostered by studying the local wildlife in Richmond Park, and wildlife success came at the age of ten, when he won a London Schools Essay Competition set by the RSPCA. His prize was a copy of The Wind in the Willows. For many years he worked for Collins, the publishers. It was during this period that his concern for conservation led him to write his first novel, The Animals of Farthing Wood, which won the Arts Council National Award for Children’s Literature.
    – Valorum
    Apr 15, 2022 at 15:45
  • This obviously doesn't answer the specific question as he was substantially older when he wrote the novel/s and may have had significant experience of other parks and wildlife refuges, of which there are many in Richmond and London
    – Valorum
    Apr 15, 2022 at 15:46

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