Registered Park or Garden: Ranston (2271)

A mid C18 landscape park laid out to accompany a new house of the same date. Historic Development The manor of Iwerne Courtney or Shroton was acquired in 1545 by Robert Ryves of Blandford, Dorset, and it remained with his descendants until 1781. The old manor house stood in the north-west corner of the park, adjacent to the parish church of St Mary. This house was demolished in the early C18, and in 1753 a new house was constructed for Thomas Ryves, possibly to his own design. The park was developed in the 1760s and 1770s as a setting for this new house. When the estate was sold in 1781, it was purchased by Peter William Baker, agent to Mr Portman of Bryanston, Dorset. Baker was instrumental in the development of the Portman Estate in Marylebone, London, with Baker Street being named in his honour (Oswald 1959). Baker had the east front of Ranston cased in stone and added a pair of symmetrical single-storey wings in 1808 (ibid). Peter William Baker died in 1814, and the estate passed to his cousin, Sir Edward Littlehayes, who adopted the name of Baker. The house was remodelled in 1961-3 by Louis Osman, and new gardens in the vicinity of the house were laid out at the same period. The site remains (2003) in the ownership of Sir Edward’s descendants. LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING Ranston is situated at the southern end of the village of Iwerne Courtney, c 5.5km northwest of Blandford Forum. The c 52ha site is divided by the A350 road which leads north from Blandford to Warminster. This road forms, in part, the southern boundary of the site, while to the north-west the boundary is formed by the village street of Iwerne Courtney. Elsewhere the site adjoins agricultural land from which it is divided by a variety of fences and hedges. Ranston lies in the undulating valley of the River Iwerne, which flows from north to south through the site. To the west of the house the ground rises gently, while to the east the valley side is steeper. To the south the Ranston estate adjoins that of Stepleton House (qv). References W Watts, The seats of the nobility and gentry- (1779), pl 8 J Hutchins, The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset IV, (2nd edn 1870), p 93 A Oswald, Country Houses of Dorset (2nd edn 1959), pp 161-2 N Pevsner and J Newman, The Buildings of England: Dorset (1972), pp 237-8 Ranston House, Dorset, (Nicholas Pearson Associates 1992) [copy on file] T Mowl, Historic Gardens of Dorset (2003), pp 80-1 Maps Isaac Taylor, Map of the County of Dorset, 1765 C and J Greenwood, Map of Dorset, 1826 E Watts, Map of the parish of Iwerne Courtney, 1838 (Dorset Record Office) OS Surveyor’s Drawings, 1805-09 (British Library Maps) OS 6" to 1 mile: 1st edition surveyed 1885, published 1891 OS 25" to 1 mile: 2nd edition revised 1900, published 1901

Record last edited

Sep 15 2011 5:13AM