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New article name is Queen Elizabeth's Hunting Lodge

Queen Elizabeth's Hunting Lodge is a Tudor hunt standing built in 1543 in what is now Epping Forest Epping Forest. It is situated on the borders of Chingford, now part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest and is open to the public throughout the year.

Queen Elizabeth's Hunting Lodge today

The Hunting Lodge, like Epping Forest itself, is owned and managed by the City of London Corporation City of London Corporation for 'the enjoyment and recreation' of the people (1878 Epping Forest Act). It is a very atmospheric building with massive timbers and good views of the Forest from the upper floors. The ground floor which includes an original brick fireplace displays replica Tudor food and the upper floors give information on Tudor costume, timber framing construction and the later history of the building. The written display boards are currently being revised (2010).

If you would like to visit the building, these are the current (2010) opening times.

Summer: April to September: Wednesday to Sunday: 12.00 pm - 5.00 pm

Winter: October to March: Friday to Sunday: 10.00 am - 3.00 pm

The building is open for booked school or adult groups (free sessions) outside these times. See the City of London website for contact details.

Tudor history

The Hunting Lodge was built by order of Henry VIII in his latter years though there is no documentary evidence proving that he used the Hunting Lodge himself. In 1543, Henry was disabled from an ulcerated leg, the consequence of a jousting accident some years earlier though he could still ride if hoisted on a horse. Little is known about the history of the Lodge under Edward VI or Mary. In 1589, Elizabeth I ordered a survey of this and other buildings in the Forest and put into train renovations which included the building of a brick chimney stack, a Tudor arched kitchen fireplace and apparently (from the number of nails ordered) the relaying of roof tiles, suggesting that the building had become somewhat derelict.

Queen Elizabeth is is rather doubtfully reported to have ridden up the staircase on a white horse. This tradition goes back at least to the early 19th century and is reported in an 1833 edition of 'The Mirror' magazine. The staircase was used as the original model for the staircases constructed for the modern Globe Theatre in Southwark Globe Theatre.

The Hunting Lodge is a rare survival of a 16th century timber-framed hunt standing or grandstand and, remarkably, despite being situated within a London borough, is still surrounded by ancient Forest and a wealth of veteran trees. The building was formerly known as the 'Great Standing' and has three storeys. Other hunt standings are known to have existed in Epping Forest include the Tudor 'Little Standing' which was incorporated into the building now called Warren House, the former home of the Superintendent of Epping Forest. Other standings in the Forest are known to have existed in Wanstead Park, Fairmead and Knighton Wood.

Tudor hunting at the 'Great Standing'

It is believed that Hunting Lodge was primarily used for the kind of hunting known as 'Bow and Stable', akin to the modern day pheasant shoot, whereby the hunters would stand in a row whilst beaters would push the game, bred and preserved for the hunt, towards them. This is in distinction to what was known as 'par force' or 'par force de chien' hunting like a modern fox hunt in which the quarry—in this case, Fallow Deer—must be tracked and chased. This sort of hunting was well suited to the display of courtly magnificence that was employed by both Henry VIII and Elizabeth I to promote the power and validity of the crown and gave opportunity for the Crown to exercise patronage to the elite classes, diplomatic courtesies to foreign dignitaries and generally operate power through what might now be considered 'corporate hospitality'.

In medieval and Tudor times, a 'Forest' meant not a place of trees or large woodland but was rather a legal definition of an area, often but not necessarily, wooded, where Forest Law ran. Forest Law was pre-eminently designed to protect the deer for the Royal Hunt. Within a Forest, a Park, or fenced area might be introduced which was not subjected to Forest Law Medieval deer park. This seems to have been the case in Epping Forest and the Hunting Lodge—and possibly other associated buildings—were built within an area formally 'enparked' by Henry and 'disparked' soon after his death.

Later history

The Hunting Lodge ceased to be used for its original purpose some time in the early 17th century. Originally built as a fairly open structure, more or less a roofed double platform, the building was apparently gradually infilled in the course of the 16th century and by the 18th looked much like any other Essex domestic building. It was used as a farmhouse, accommodation for Forest staff, a 19th century tea-room and, for much of the 20th century, a museum of natural history. In 1878, the City of London Corporation took responsibility for it and the Forest in perpetuity by virtue of the 1878 Epping Forest Act.

References

Epping Forest Then and Now (Hardcover) by Winston G. Ramsey

Getting to Know Epping Forest (Paperback) by Kenneth Edward Hoy

External links

http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/LGNL_Services/Leisure_and_culture/Local_history_and_heritage/Buildings_outside_the_City/hunting_lodge.htm

http://www.culture24.org.uk/se000476

http://londonist.com/2009/04/museum_of_the_month_queen_elizabeth_1.php

http://www.qype.co.uk/place/199105-Queen-Elizabeths-Hunting-Lodge-London#PlaceReviews

http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/queen-elizabeths-hunting-lodge-london