Listed Building record MDO14364 - Wyke House, Castleton

Farmhouse with attached walls. Dated 1650 with lateseventeenth century addition on west in spandrels of front door. Dressed stone walls, rendered. Clay-tile roof with stone-slate eaves. Stone gable-copings and scrolled kneelers. Twentieth century brick stacks at gable ends. Front elevation: two storeys with attics.

Wyke Grange, a moated farmhouse which is said, probably with truth, to have been used by the Abbots of Sherborne as their summer residence. Over the main door is the date 1650, the year in which the building was restored or altered. <1>

A house built in 1650 by Eliab Harvey, with rubble walls and slate roofs. It is surrounded by a moat that is partly revetted in stone. <3>

There is no definite evidence the Wyke was a grange of Sherborne Abbey, but the occupier's contention that it incorporates work earlier than 1650 is well supported by the discovery of three stone fireplaces of the 16th or early 17th cent., and the existence of a Tudor type window and some Jacobean strapwork panelling. The moat is water-filled. Stone revetting formerly visible along its south arm has now fallen away. <4>

"Wyke", (name confirmed by owner, Mr Loxton), a large farmhouse in good condition and as described above. Outstanding, in spite of a certain amount of renovation and rebuilt chimneys. Stone roof largely replaced with brick tiles. Surrounding the house are the waterfilled remains of a rectangular homestead moat. It measures, overall, 71.0m north east-south west by 66.0m transversely. The shallow-sided arms are from 5.0m in width on the north west side to 8.0m on the north east and south east sides. The south west arm from west of the house to the west corner and the north west arm of a causewayed entrance have lately been filled in and the ground is now occupied by gardens. 1:2500 MSD revised. <6>

'(6) Wyke, house, barns and moat in the S.W. corner of the parish. The House is of two storeys with attics; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are covered with slates. It was built in 1650 by Eliab Harvey and there is a later 17th-century addition on the W. The N. Front has a doorway with moulded jambs and four-centred arch in a square head with the date 1650 in the spandrels. The windows are of two and three square-headed lights and above each range is a moulded string-course. The S. Front (Plate 99) is similarly treated and has a doorway of similar character; set between the storeys is a four-light window lighting the staircase. The E. and W. sides retain some original windows and the doorway in the E. wall has moulded jambs and four-centred arch in a square head; above it is a two-light window. The late 17th-century addition retains two, three, and four-light windows with moulded oak frames and mullions. Inside the addition are some exposed ceiling-beams. The Garden Walls, N. of the house, are of mid 17th-century date and retain two doorways with four-centred heads.

The Barns (Plates 50, 63), N.N.E. of the house, are two in number and are probably both of the 16th century. They form one continuous range (about 230 ft. long) of one storey with rubble walls and slate-covered roofs. The N.W. barn is of seven bays with two porches opposite one another; the S.E. barn is of twelve bays with two part bays and two porches on the N.E. side. The walls have two-stage buttresses. The roofs of both barns are of collar-beam type with curved braces under the collar-beams and curved wind-braces.

The Moat surrounds the house and is partly revetted in stone.'

Loxton, Mrs R J, Oral: Mrs R J Loxton, Wyke, Sherborne (Verbal communication). SDO18640.

<1> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1913, Proceedings of The Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club, xxxvi (Serial). SDO17781.

<2> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey 25-inch map, 1927 (Map). SDO10373.

Moat (NR)

<3> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments England, 1952, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume I (West), 70 (Monograph). SDO97.

'(6) Wyke, house, barns and moat in the S.W. corner of the parish. The House is of two storeys with attics; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are covered with slates. It was built in 1650 by Eliab Harvey and there is a later 17th-century addition on the W. The N. Front has a doorway with moulded jambs and four-centred arch in a square head with the date 1650 in the spandrels. The windows are of two and three square-headed lights and above each range is a moulded string-course. The S. Front (Plate 99) is similarly treated and has a doorway of similar character; set between the storeys is a four-light window lighting the staircase. The E. and W. sides retain some original windows and the doorway in the E. wall has moulded jambs and four-centred arch in a square head; above it is a two-light window. The late 17th-century addition retains two, three, and four-light windows with moulded oak frames and mullions. Inside the addition are some exposed ceiling-beams. The Garden Walls, N. of the house, are of mid 17th-century date and retain two doorways with four-centred heads.

The Barns (Plates 50, 63), N.N.E. of the house, are two in number and are probably both of the 16th century. They form one continuous range (about 230 ft. long) of one storey with rubble walls and slate-covered roofs. The N.W. barn is of seven bays with two porches opposite one another; the S.E. barn is of twelve bays with two part bays and two porches on the N.E. side. The walls have two-stage buttresses. The roofs of both barns are of collar-beam type with curved braces under the collar-beams and curved wind-braces.

The Moat surrounds the house and is partly revetted in stone.'

<4> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, F1 NVQ 06-JUL-55 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

<5> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1962 (Map). SWX1540.

(ST 60101448) Wyke (NR)

<6> Phillips, A S, Various, Field Investigators Comments ASP, F2 ASP 04-NOV-77 (Unpublished document). SWX3817.

<7> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, Externally held archive: RCH01/088 RCHME Inventory: Dorset I (West) and Revision (Unpublished document). SDO17367.

<8> National Record of the Historic Environment, 199557 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Nov 4 2024 4:03PM