Listed Building record MDO10170 - The Manor House, Alton Pancras

A two-storey house with walls of brick in Flemish bond with stone dressings and slate-covered roofs. The house is laid out on a T-shaped plan and the principal rooms are in the cross-wing, facing east. The house was remodelled by Thomas Haskett (d. 1744), who inherited it from his uncle John Haskett (d. 1730), an eminent Salisbury apothecary. Around 1760 further changes were made to the interior decoration including Gothic decoration in the Drawing Room, a style that is not common in Dorset.

The Manor House was extensively remodelled 1730-44 for Thomas Harkett, and again in 1760. <1-2>

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume III (Central) Part 1, 2 (Monograph). SDO146.

‘(2) MANOR HOUSE (69940238), 20 yds. S.E. of (1), is of two storeys; the walls are of brick in Flemish bond with stone dressings and the roofs are slate-covered. The plan is T-shaped and the principal rooms are in the cross-wing, facing E. According to Hutchins (IV, 460) the house was remodelled by Thomas Haskett (d. 1744), who inherited it from his uncle John Haskett (d. 1730), an eminent Salisbury apothecary. Further improvements were made in the decoration of the interior c. 1760 and the Gothic details of this date in the Drawing Room are examples of a style that is not common in Dorset.
The E. front is symmetrical; it has an ashlar plinth, a platband at first-floor level, rusticated quoins and a moulded eaves-cornice; plat-band and cornice are mitred around the quoins. The doorway in the centre has a moulded stone surround with a pedimented cornice supported on brackets, and the sashed window above has a stone architrave with sidescrolls and a key-block; the other eight sashed windows have flat gauged brick heads with key-stones, rubbed brick jambs, plain stone sills and shaped aprons. The ends of the cross-wing are gabled; the N. end contains a blocked round-headed opening and the S. end is hung with mathematical tiles. The W. wing contains a number of original windows, two with round heads and radiating glazing-bars in the upper sashes.
Inside, the Drawing Room has fielded panelling in two heights and a cornice with dentils. The fireplace surround has Tuscan columns and a Doric entablature with a central panel of grapes and foliage. Recesses on each side have Gothic ogee heads decorated with foliate arabesques; a third recess facing the fireplace is flanked by Tuscan pilasters. The Dining Room is similarly panelled and has a fireplace surround with Ionic pilasters and an entablature with a carved panel. Two vestibules between the Drawing and Dining Rooms are also panelled; that to the E. is entered through the central doorway of the E. front while the other contains the stairs, with turned newel posts and balusters and a moulded handrail. In the W. hall are three 18th-century doorcases with richly carved and moulded architraves; two are surmounted by foliate friezes with carved cornices. The doors have fielded and beaded panels with enriched mouldings.’

<2> Newman, J, and Pevsner, N, 1972, The Buildings of England: Dorset, 75-76 (Monograph). SWX1290.

<3> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey 25-inch map, 1978 (Map). SDO10373.

(ST 6994 0238). Manor House (NAT)

<4> English Heritage, 2006, Listed buildings data disk (Digital archive). SDO12545.

<5> Historic England, Historic England Archive, BF059982 (Index). SDO14738.

MANOR HOUSE, ALTON PANCRAS

<6> National Record of the Historic Environment, 887324 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Nov 18 2022 4:11PM