AREA OF HISTORIC INTEREST
"Wic"- meaning dairy farm or camp.
In the case of Wyke which is almost certainly derived from "wic", meaning a loose collection of huts at the centre of a large open field farm - the proposed site, the fields, integral part of area - known as "Heronfields", (Anglo-Saxon for: angle, corner or projection of land) they haven't changed for centuries, dating back to Anglo-Saxon times c.658AD, and previous Roman Inhabitation 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, (possible Roman Road and Heronry). Currently sandwiched between Grade II Listed Wyke Farmhouse and Granary, Wyke Hall and Thorngrove, ( the ancient site of a Royal Manor and Estate, possibly one of the nine Doomsday entries for the Royal Manor of Gillingham - used for the reception of the Queen, as recorded from 1299 - part of the Manor of over 300acres. Dorset Record Office 1612-1613, described as the "Queenes ferme of Gyllyngham" and Royal Commission on Historical Monuments conducted a survey in 1991.
Ancient battle in 1016 between Saxons and Danes at Slaughtergate, just behind Wyke Hall, Long Barrow dating from New Stone Age period. South Lodge, is part of a typical "D" shape Saxon Estate encompassing Wyke Hall and Park.
Wyke is significant in the origin and development of Saxon England and the site (fields) are an integral part of that
