Listed Building record MDO13573 - Fiddleford Manor (Fiddleford Mill House), Calf Close Lane, Sturminster Newton

Manor House consisting of a late fourteenth century hall and solar with northward extensions to the solar in the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. Built of coursed rubble, the hall roof tiled, whilst the solar and the long north range is stone slated. The hall, solar and the remains of the west range of Fiddleford Mill House, a manorial residence of the 14th-18th centuries. The standing buildings include part of the hall and the solar. To the east and west of the standing buildings are remains representing the west range and an extension of the hall. These have been demolished but foundations remain visible as slight earthworks. To the north is a 16th century extension. The 14th century building took the form of a large hall associated with a chamber block of two floors. Above the ground floor was the solar which retains a 14th century wall painting depicting the Angel Gabriel. Both the hall and solar are composed of rubble walls of Greensand and Marnhull limestone and were originally covered by a timber roof. The solar retains original roof timbers and is slated. The roof of the hall has been much altered and is now tiled. To the east and west of the 14th century buildings were two extensions added during the 17th century. Both have been demolished but their foundations are still visible. It is thought that the hall and solar were built for William Latimer, when the manor passed to him in around 1355, although timber in the roof was felled 1324-33. During the 16th century, the house belonged to the White family and extensive re-modelling was undertaken by by Thomas and Anne White (1539-1555). During the later 16th or early 17th centuries, a screen and gallery were added to the western end of the hall, although only the gallery front now survives. After the Restoration the house was bought by Sir Thomas Freke and it was retained by his descendants, the Pitt-Rivers family. During the 18th century the hall was shorterned and much of the southern wall demolished. By 1956, the 18th century house had been demolished. By 1962, only the 16th century northern wing remained habitable: this part of the building is not open to the public. The 14th century element of the building is in the care of English Heritage (property no 258).

Fiddleford Mill was built as a manor house about 1355. The original plan was T-shaped consisting of a hall and solar, whose 14th century roofs are an outstanding feature. In the 16th century the hall was remodelled and a range of buildings was added to the north of the solar. In the 17th century the east wall of the hall was rebuilt and a west range was added to the south west corner of the solar. This range has recently been demolished.

To the north west of the north range is a 16th century mill-house. <3>

Fiddleford Mill (name confirmed) an outstanding range of 14th-17th century buildings as described by RCHM.
The 14th century hall and solar is now undergoing a full restoration under DOE direction. The mill-house at ST 80081362 is an unpretentious structure; it remains in use for grinding animal feeds. Two inscribed stones, dated 1566, are set into the south wall. <4>

The north wall of the solar is painted with fragments of an Annunciation. On the west side the Angel Gabriel holds a scroll with the inscription Ave Marie Gracia Plena. All that remains of the depiction of the Virgin on the east side is the bottom corner of her robe. The scheme has been dated to the last quarter of the 14th century. Religious subject-matter was commonly used in secular medieval wall paintings. <5>

Additional source with details of wall paintings at Fiddleford Manor. <6>

Scientific dating report covering dendrochronological examination of timbers from Fiddleford Manor published in 2003. The results showed that timbers from the solar roof were felled in the period AD 1324-33, some decades before the accepted building date by Wiliam Latimer of around AD 1355, the wood may have been stockpiled before use. Given the magnificence of the roof structure, the low "knotty" quality of some of the the other wood sampled is surprising : it may suggest a local shortage of timber. These lower quality samples lacked sufficient rings for dating. Later inserted beams from the hall may date to the rebuilding of the hall walls rather than the ceiling and were felled in a single event in the winter of AD 1553-4. A further beam from the buttery may be slighly older (felled around AD 1524) and would appear to come from a different source to the other 16th century work. <9>

Additional source which includes a brief accessible overview of the history and development of Fiddleford Manor for visitors. <10>

The earthwork remains of a sub rectangular ditched enclosure, possibly drains can be seen in the field immediately to the south of the house. These ditches appear to cut through the earthwork remains of ridge and furrow. <11>

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey 25-inch map, 1900 (Map). SDO10373.

ST 80081357 Fiddleford Mill (NR) Corn (NAT)

<2> Davies, J and Manning, T, Wall Painting Condition Audit, Fiddleford Mill House, Dorset (Unpublished document). SDO14873.

<3> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume III (Central) Part 2, 271-276 (Monograph). SDO136.

<4> Stone, J W, Field Investigators Comments JWS, F1 JWS 06-MAR-78 (Unpublished document). SDO11902.

<5> Historic England, Scheduled Monument Notification, 11/04/1996 (Scheduling record). SDO17468.

<6> Babington, Caroline, Manning, Tracy, and Stewart, Sophie, 1999, Our painted past: wall paintings of English Heritage (Monograph). SDO18927.

<7> Ritchie, K, 2000, Fiddleford Manor, Fiddleford, Sturminster Newton, Dorset. Archaeological Watching Brief (Unpublished document). SDO16649.

<8> Laidlaw, M, 2000, Fiddleford Manor, Fiddleford, Sturminster Newton, Dorset. Archaeological Watching Brief (Unpublished document). SDO16648.

<9> Bridge, M, 2003, Tree-Ring Analysis of Timbers from Fiddleford Manor, Calf Close Lane, Sturminster Newton, Dorset (Unpublished document). SDO14577.

<10> Carter, Katy (ed), 2004, Heritage Unlocked: Guide to free sites in Devon, Dorset and Somerset, 44-45 (Monograph). SDO18928.

<11> National Monuments Record, 09-AUG-2007, NMR 24692/040 (Aerial Photograph). SDO18929.

<12> Bellamy, P, 2011, New Interpretation Panel, Fiddleford Manor, Fiddleford, Sturminster Newton, Dorset. Archaeological Observations & Recording (Unpublished document). SDO14015.

<13> Historic England, Historic England Archive, 2K/18255 (Index). SDO14738.

Fiddleford Manor, Sturminster Newton

<14> Historic England, Historic England Archive, BF029873 (Index). SDO14738.

Fiddleford Manor, Sturminster Newton, Dorset

<15> Historic England, Historic England Archive, FL00741 (Index). SDO14738.

Fiddleford Mill, Sturminster Newton, Dorset

<16> Historic England, Historic England Archive, OS55/F195/2 (Index). SDO14738.

14THC FIDDLEFORD MILL AT STURMINSTER NEWTON FROM THE EAST.

<17> Historic England, Historic England Archive, PF/FID (Index). SDO14738.

Fiddleford Manor, Sturminster Newton, Dorset. A series of forty-two sheets of plans, elevations, sections, sectional elevations, details and perspective drawings relating to the recording, maintenance and presentation of Fiddleford Mill House, now know as Fiddleford Manor. The sheets were created between 1959 and 1991 by various organisations including the Ministry of Works, the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England, the Department of the Environment and English Heritage.A number of sheets relate to the recording and restoration of the fine roof timbers in the hall and solar of the manor house, with eleven sheets created between November 1961 and July 1962.There are a number of sheets from the 1980s forming a measured survey of the interior of the solar and hall.There are other sheets from the late twentieth century relating to the installation of water supply, electrical services and a lightning protection system.

<18> National Record of the Historic Environment, 206214 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Nov 28 2022 4:13PM