STUDLEY CASTLE ROYAL HUNTING LODGE

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A royal hunting lodge dating to the medieval period, situated in the New Forest on a south-facing spur at the north east end of Islands Thorns Enclosure. The moat surrounding the lodge survives as a shallow ditch and a low inner bank enclosing a square area, 35 metres across. Both the ditch and bank are 4-5 metres wide and the bank stands on average 0.4 metres above the interior but rises slightly higher at the sharp corners. The interior is divided roughly in half by a slight ditch running in a north-south direction across it, and there is a faint indication of a low central platform situated immediately west of this ditch, approximately 12 metres in diameter, which may have formed a foundation for the lodge. No visible traces survive of the lodge itself, although pieces of slate and medieval tile have been observed on the site and further buried remains can be expected to survive. Historical records indicate that the original structure was built between 1358 and 1361, that it included a kitchen, and was of timber frame and plaster construction, with a roof of Purbeck and Cornish slates. It formed part of a set of four lodges constructed at the same time in the New Forest for Edward III, the principal one of which, Hatheburg, was situated near Lyndhurst and was constructed on a grander scale. Scheduled.

DETAIL

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MORE INFORMATION & SOURCES

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(SU 22201601) Studley Castle (NAT) Enclosure (AT) (1)

A square entrenchment of slight profile. (2)

Probable stock enclosure. (3)

Documentary research along with the discovery of West Country
slate, has established fairly conclusively that Studley Castle
and Church Place, Ashurst (SU 30 NW 1) are the sites of 14th c
hunting lodges. (4)

The work comprises a rectangular enclosure some 40m by 38m
formed by a bank with outer ditch some 8.0m in overall width
and up to 0.9m in height. A simple break in the east side is
probably the original entrance.

Piggott compares the work with some square and rectangular
works on Great Litchfield Down (SU 45 NE 18 & 23) and Handley
Hill, Dorset, which are suggested to be IA but the resemblance
is purely in their form. (a) There can be little doubt it is the Studley of the Kings works (b) which refers to the construction of Royal Hunting Lodges in the New Forest c 1358-61 at The
Park, Hatheburgh, Helmesley and Studley (Each was timber-framed
and was surrounded by a ditch and the houses roofed with Purbeck and
Cornish slates. For the other examples see SU 30 NW 1 (Church
Place, Ashurst) SU 30 NW 17 (Church Place, Denny) and SU
21 SW 7 (Church Place, Sloden).

Published 1:2500 correct. (5)

No change. Published 1:2500 correct. (6)

The earthworks remain as described above and depicted by the OS 1:2500 survey. The hunting lodge is sited in a typically prominent position. It resembles the examples listed above and also the site at Bolderwood (SU 20 NW 8). A few internal scarps and some additional bank detail, including raised corners, were noted.(7)

SOURCE TEXT

( 1) Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)

OS 6" 1963

( 2) by J P Williams-Freeman 1915 An introduction to field archaeology as illustrated by Hampshire

Page(s)367

( 3) General reference

Sumner H. 1917. Ancient Earthworks of the New Forest, 64

( 4) Hampshire Field Club New Forest Section reports

AH Pasmore 8, 1969 Page(s)6

( 5) Field Investigators Comments

F1 FGA 25-NOV-1969

(5a) Antiquity Publications Limited Antiquity

S Piggott 5, 1931 Page(s)482

(5b) R Allen Brown, H M Colvin and A J Taylor 1963 The history of the King's Works, volume 1 : the Middle Ages

Page(s)983-986

(6) Field Investigators Comments

F2 JGB 02-SEP-82

(7) Field Investigators Comments

RCHME Field Investigation, N Smith & J Donachie, 5th Feb 1996

(8) Scheduled Monument Notification

07-JUL-1999

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