Church Place Denny Wait
Has been described as a Possible Palace (Royal)
There are earthwork remains
| Name | Church Place Denny Wait |
| Alternative Names | Denny Wood |
| Historic Country | Hampshire and the Isle of Wight |
| Modern Authority | Hampshire |
| 1974 Authority | Hampshire |
| Civil Parish | Denny Lodge |
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)
This site is a scheduled monument protected by law
Not Listed
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
| OS Map Grid Reference | SU333068 |
| Latitude | 50.8607482910156 |
| Longitude | -1.52704000473022 |
| Eastings | 433340 |
| Northings | 106890 |
