View across the Bishop of Winchester's Purlieu towards Woodfidley, New Forest - geograph

Denny Lodge, Denny Wood, New Forest - geograph

Denny Lodge is a large

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

in the

New Forest The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror, featu ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It covers a large area of

heathland A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...

and

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

encompassing much of the eastern side of the New Forest, but contains no towns, villages, churches, or schools.

Overview

The parish of Denny Lodge extends from Matley Heath in the north, to King's Copse Inclosure in the south.Donn Small, John Chapman, (1987), ''Explore the New Forest: an official guide'', page 94. Forestry Commission It is bounded by, but does not include, the towns and villages of Ashurst, Lyndhurst,

Brockenhurst Brockenhurst is the largest village by population within the New Forest in Hampshire, England. The nearest city is Southampton some to the North East, while Bournemouth is also nearby, South West. Surrounding towns and villages include Beaul ...

, Beaulieu, Fawley and

Hythe Hythe, from Anglo-Saxon ''hȳð'', may refer to a landing-place, port or haven, either as an element in a toponym, such as Rotherhithe in London, or to: Places Australia * Hythe, Tasmania Canada *Hythe, Alberta, a village in Canada England * T ...

. The parish is bisected by the South West Main Line railway from Ashurst to Brockenhurst, and by the B3056 road from Lyndhurst to Beaulieu. The isolated

Beaulieu Road railway station Beaulieu Road railway station is located at the point where the South West Main Line from London Waterloo to Weymouth crosses the B3056 road from Beaulieu to Lyndhurst in Hampshire, England. It is down the line from Waterloo. Beaulieu Road ...

is at the centre of the parish, where road and rail cross. The parish is mostly

heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...

land and

bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...

land, intermixed with 20th-century

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

inclosures. All of the woodlands are administered by the

Forestry Commission The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England. The Forestry Commission was previously also respon ...

as Crown woodland. Many of the forest inclosures on the eastern border of the parish were planted in the 1960s in an attempt to screen the area from the industrial landscape alongside

Southampton Water Southampton Water is a tidal estuary north of the Solent and the Isle of Wight in England. The city of Southampton lies at its most northerly point, where the estuaries of the River Test and River Itchen meet. Along its salt marsh-fringed wes ...

. The parish has no church, no school, no public hall, but does contain four pubs. The parish forms part of the

New Forest district New Forest is a local government district in Hampshire, England. Its council is based in Lyndhurst. The district covers most of the New Forest National Park, from which it takes its name. The district was created on 1 April 1974, under the Loca ...

of the county of

. The parish has a population of 315 people living in 140 households.

History

That people have lived in the area since ancient times is evidenced by the ninety

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

barrows which can be found in the parish. The name of the parish "Denny" is recorded as Dunie in 1300, Dinne in 1347, and Dynney Walke in 1589.Old Hampshire Gazetteer - Denny Lodge Parish
/ref> The origin of the name is not known. The lodge, after which the parish is named, is situated near the centre of the parish, and was originally the Groom Keeper's Lodge belonging to the

Crown estate The Crown Estate is a collection of lands and holdings in the United Kingdom belonging to the British monarch as a corporation sole, making it "the sovereign's public estate", which is neither government property nor part of the monarch's priva ...

, and which later became a Head Forester's residence. Also found near the centre of the parish is a dyked enclosure known as Bishops Dyke, or The Bishop of Winchester's Purlieu.Bishops Dyke
Pastscape The earthwork comprises a bank, around 1 metre high and 4 metres wide, between ditches. The precise purpose of the enclosure is not known - it may have been used as a park for grazing, but the current quality of the grazing is poor. The local legend states that King John and the

bishop of Winchester The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' (except dur ...

were once riding together in the New Forest when the king laughingly told the bishop that he might have "as much land as he could crawl round."Victoria County History of Hampshire: Fawley
/ref> The bishop, who was rather fat, had a contraption made to help support him, and so managed to "crawl" round a large area. This became the Bishop's Purlieu. Within the parish there are sites of two medieval hunting lodges, both called Church Place. The first site, close to the B3056 road to Lyndhurst, is indicated by earthwork banks and an external ditch enclosing a raised platform.Church Place
Pastscape The second site is in Churchplace Inclosure near Ashurst on a sandy knoll, and is a square earthwork comprising a broad bank with an outer ditch.Church Place
Pastscape Also near Ashurst are the earthwork remains of a 16th-century

saltpetre Potassium nitrate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . This alkali metal nitrate salt is also known as Indian saltpetre (large deposits of which were historically mined in India). It is an ionic salt of potassium ions K+ and nitra ...

house.Monument No. 226132
Pastscape It was probably in use for the manufacture of saltpetre when monopolies for its manufacture in England were granted to

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

. It now consists of banks and hollows of various sizes enclosed in a rectangular area about 100 metres by 50 metres. In 1847 the

Southampton and Dorchester Railway The Southampton and Dorchester Railway was an English railway company formed to join Southampton in Hampshire with Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester in Dorset, with hopes of forming part of a route from London to Exeter. It received Parliamentary au ...

was built through the New Forest, and

was opened in what is now the middle of the parish. The village of Beaulieu is some 3.5 miles (5.5 km) to the south of the station, and as a result, the station remains very rural. The civil parish of Denny Lodge was created in 1868 from extra-parochial parts of the New Forest.Relationships / unit history of DENNY LODGE
www.visionofbritain.org.uk It was enlarged in 1934 with the addition of 862 acres from

parish, and 4722 acres from

Colbury Colbury is a small village in the New Forest National Park, in Hampshire, England. The village lies along Deerleap Lane, near the modern village of Ashurst. History The name Colbury is derived from Middle English for "Cola's manor", and near Co ...

parish which was abolished in that year.Relationships / unit history of COLBURY
www.visionofbritain.org.uk

References

External links

Denny Lodge parish council web site
{{New Forest towns Civil parishes in Hampshire New Forest