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Edward III’s Lodge at Odiham, Hampshire

Edward III’s Lodge at Odiham, Hampshire

Roberts, Edward

Medieval Archaeology, Vol. 39 (1996)

Abstract

ODIHAM LODGE, in NE. Hampshire, was built by Edward III during the decade bifore his death in 1377. It is a TaTe example ofa park lodge builtfor a medieval English monarch which has survived to the present day. As such, it contributes to OUT knowledge ofthe appearance and Junction ofsuch lodges. Its interest is enhanced by secure tree-ring dates and by the survival 0/the original building accounts.

The first two volumes of The History ofthe King’s Works embody the standard survey of the buildings of the English monarchy in the Middle Ages. In this survey, and in modern usage generally, the term ‘hunting lodge’ is applied to two classes of building: on the one hand lesser manor houses suitable for aristocratic hunting parties, and on the other much smaller houses for parkers and other servants situated at some distance from an aristocratic residence.z. While the meanings of the modern term ‘hunting lodge’ are fairly clear, what was meant by ‘a lodge’ (wge, loggia) in the Middle Ages is more obscure, and it would certainly be wrong to assume that the ‘Wge’ of medieval documents is equivalent to the modern ‘lodge’.3 Indeed, some would go so far as to say, ‘What lodges were, and how they were used, we do not really know. Contemporary records do not tell us, for they assume that everyone knew, and the archaeological evidence is meagre’.

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