Queen Bower Hunting Lodge, Brockenhurst

Description

The remains of the hunting lodge within Queen Bower survive in good condition with little significant disturbance. As a result of the survival of contemporary documentation relating to the lodge, the site is comparatively well understood, but archaeological deposits will provide additional important information about the construction, layout and use of the lodge, its economy, the nature and extent of the structures related to it and the possible factors leading to its eventual decline and abandonment.
The monument includes the remains of a medieval hunting lodge situated on a plateau within Queen Bower in the New Forest. The location of the lodge is indicated by earthwork banks, an external ditch and a scarp which enclose a rectangular platform measuring approximately 55m north west to south east and 45m north east to south west. The banks are a maximum of 7m in width, up to 1m in height and define the south western, north western and north eastern sides of the platform. The south eastern edge of the platform is defined by a slight scarp. Breaks in the north western bank and the south eastern scarp may indicate entrances at these points. The possible presence of internal structures is suggested by a mound up to 11m in diameter and 1.8m in height formed by a widening in the bank at the northern corner of the platform and by two slight linear banks projecting inwards from the eastern corner. Further evidence for structures is provided by finds of Devon slate from the adjacent stream bed. The external ditch or moat, now dry, measures a maximum of 8m in width and up to 1.2m in depth and has the remains of leats projecting from its eastern and western corners defined by short linear depressions. The monument has been disturbed by the construction of a 19th century drainage ditch known as Fletchers Water which bisects its north western and north eastern sides. A document dated to 1428 mentions several royal lodges in the New Forest by name, including one at Queneboure, which is a clear reference to this monument. The document remarks that 'It appears that the said lodges are ruinous, and would have fallen to the ground, but for the expenditure done on them by Thomas earl of Salisbury and count of Perche, keeper of the said forest, out of his own goods'. The result was the issue of a Royal Commission to cut and sell sufficient timber to provide the necessary finance for the repair of the lodges. Contemporary sources record that between 1432 and 1440 a further 200 pounds was spent on the lodges by Richard Clyvedon, who in in July 1435 was appointed clerk and surveyor of the king's works in the New Forest. (Scheduling Report)

Comments

This site, as with a number of other small lodges, may never have been intended as a royal residence but may represent the residence and offices of a park bailiff built in style which reflected that positions royal authority. However, could also represent ancillary accommodation for the usual large royal retinue.