'standings' from the open galleries of which the sovereign and
the courtiers fired as the animals came within shot. Records of
the number of buck killed in this way can be found in the
proceedings of the Courts of Attachments. Thus the lodge in
providing both a base for accommodation and a stand for firing
and viewing fulfilled its primary functions. Apart from use by
the hunting parties it afforded living quarters for minor forest
officials whose tasks included the management of the forest and
its preservation as a fruitful hunting ground for its royal and
noble patrons. It may be assumed that the packs of deerhounds
were kept at the lodge.
Such an important building would be bound to figure in the
manorial history of Chingford and as we should expect we find
connections with the manor of Chingford Comitis for in 1670
Dame Elizabeth Boothby of Friday Hill is recorded as claiming
free warren at Danhurst Hill and Dovehouse field (Pimp Hall) as
well as the right to appoint a sworn woodward for her woods
called Larks and Danhurst Hill within the manor and forest. As
we shall see later the lodge itself stands on Dannett's Hill and
3