Listed Building record MDO14183 - Kingston Russell House, Long Bredy

Country House in formal-garden. Late C17 for John Michel III, and early C18 west front remodelled, perhaps by Francis Cartwright of Blandford for John Michel IV. North and south wings built from 1913 by Philip Tilden for George Gribble.

The parish took its name from the Russell family, of Gloucestershire, who owned this manor as part of their estates from early times until about the reign of Henry VI, after which it passed to various families, the Michels, residing here in the 17th century. The mansion-house formerly the seat of the Michels is a large ancientbuilding, partly rebuilt in more recent times. <2>

The house stands on the site of an perhaps incorporates walling of a 17th century house,a nd the east front and gallery were built probablyin the late 17th century; the east front has double transomed late 17th century windows. The house was remodelled in the early 18th century to which date it mostly belongs. Extensions at the N and S ends are modern, though they incorporate 17th century material. <4>

The building is still known as Kingston Russell House; the NE projecting wing was removed early in the present century. <5>

Kingston Russell House is a rectangular building with no projecting wings. The main west front is of 18th c. character, but the rear of the building - the east front - has the 17th c. windows. The house isin an excellent state of repair. The small extensions at the north and south ends are of stone, and built to conform with the rest of thehouse. <6>

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1903 (Map). SWX1540.

[SY 57208956] Kingston Russell House [ST]

<2> Page, W (Ed), 1908, The Victoria History of the County of Dorset 2, 188-92 (Monograph). SWX1805.

<3> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1927, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club for 1926-1927, xli (Serial). SDO13162.

<4> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments England, 1952, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume I (West), 127 (Monograph). SDO97.

‘(1) KINGSTON RUSSELL HOUSE, on the W. edge of the parish, is of two storeys with cellars; the walls are faced with Portland stone and the roofs are lead-covered. The house stands on the site of and perhaps incorporates some of the walling of a 17th-century house and the E. front and gallery were built probably late in the 17th century; the wing formerly projecting at the N. end of this front was destroyed at some uncertain period. The house was remodelled early in the 18th century by John Michel (d. 1739) and to this period belongs the W. front. The extensions at the N. and S. ends are modern but that on the N. incorporates some 17th-century material. The W. front (Plate 117) is of early 18th-century date and of three main bays with a cornice and balustrade parapet; the central bay has four Ionic pilasters supporting an entablature and pediment; the central doorway has a bracketed pediment and is approached by a flight of steps. The windows in the central bay are round-headed but the others have segmental heads and architraves. The E. front (Plate 117) has a string between the storeys and a cornice and parapet continued from the W. front. The two storeys have tall double-transomed windows of late 17th-century date; the doorway has an architrave and broken scrolled pediment resting on brackets. Inside the building, the Entrance Hall has early 18th-century plaster panelling and cornice; the fireplace has a heavy stone architrave and overmantel with scrolls and cornice. The N. Dining Room is lined with bolection-moulded panelling of the same period. The S. room also has 18th-century panelling and an enriched plaster ceiling with a foliage wreath in the middle and a band of conventional enrichment outside it. The early 18th-century staircase (Plate 53) has twisted balusters and fluted columns for newels, over which the rail is ramped.’

<5> Ellery, T, Oral: Mr T Ellery (caretaker), Kingston Russell House, 6.4.55 (Verbal communication). SDO19727.

<6> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, F1 NVQ 12-APR-55 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

<7> Historic England, Historic England Archive, BF059983 (Index). SDO14738.

KINGSTON RUSSELL HOUSE, KINGSTON RUSSELL

<8> National Record of the Historic Environment, 450267 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Apr 11 2023 4:40PM