Church Place Denny Wait (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Denny Wood

In the civil parish of Denny Lodge.
In the historic county of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
Modern Authority of Hampshire.
1974 county of Hampshire.
Medieval County of Hampshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SU33340689
Latitude 50.86075° Longitude -1.52704°

Church Place Denny Wait has been described as a probable Palace.

There are earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

Church Place compares in every respect with Churchyard, Sloden Wood; Studley Castle and Church Place, Ashurst; all four are situated on hill crests and are similar in their size (about 1/3 acre), in their square shape, in the slight profile and precise alignment of their banks and ditches and in their gap entrances. There can be no doubt that they were all four made for the same purpose and during the same period. The waste and consolidation of their earthworks suggests ancient not Medieval origin. The purpose and period have not been exactly determined. All are overgrown and Church Place, Denny Lodge, is so wasted and concealed that its existence has been overlooked. Only one other literary reference is made to it, (a) where it is said to be a 'destroyed-in-the-Forest' church enclosure which is definitely erroneous. The banks are considerably higher at the enclosure corners which may be attributed to the method of excavation, more material being thrown up from a ditch where it makes a corner. (Plan (qv) shows bank with outer ditch and southern entrance) (Sumner). The earthwork is situated in a wood, or forest inclosure, a few yards from the crest of a northern escarpment and consists of a bank, 5.0m wide and 0.5m high and outer ditch of equivalent width and depth, forming an enclosure 32.0m north-south by 38.0m east-west. Mutilation of the bank and north-east corner by trenches may represent a comparatively recent attempt at 'excavation'. The interior thus enclosed is flat and with nothing of significance, save for the old beech and elm trees growing in it. These together with a large elm, approx 7ft in diameter, growing on the east bank indicate a 'date of existence' for the earthwork of at least 200 years ago. No other suggestion as to date or purpose can be made. A southern entrance is approx 12.0m wide (F1 WCW 15-NOV-54). From its close resemblance to earthworks at Studley Castle must also mark a Royal Hunting Lodge, either one of those mentioned in public records of the second half of the C14 or an equivalent (Brown). (PastScape)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1016526, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number 30269
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 226235.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 19899.

Books
- Anderson, C.D.J., 2004, The Deer Parks of Hampshire: an Archaeological Survey (University of Southampton) p. 23
  Colvin, H.M., Brown, R.Allen and Taylor, A.J., 1963, The history of the King's Works Vol. 2: the Middle Ages (London: HMSO) p. 983-6
  Sumner, Heywood, 1917, Ancient Earthworks of the New Forest (London: Chiswick Press) p. 64-7
Periodical Articles
- Smith, N., 1999, 'The Earthwork Remains of Enclosure in the New Forest' Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club and Archaeological Society Vol. 54 p. 25-7
  Pasmore, A., 1970, Hampshire Field Club and Archaeological Society Newsletter p. 150-3
  Pasmore, A., 1969, Hampshire Field Club and Archaeological Society, New Forest Section Report Vol. 8 p. 6, 8
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- English Heritage, 2011, Heritage at Risk Register 2011 South East (London: English Heritage) p. 36 online copy
  English Heritage, 2010, Heritage at Risk Register 2010 South East (London: English Heritage) p. 33 online copy
  English Heritage, 2009, Heritage at Risk Register 2009 South East (London: English Heritage) p. 40 online copy
  Stamper, P.A., 1983, Medieval Hampshire - studies in landscape history (University of Southampton: PhD Thesis)

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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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