Listed Building record MDO16906 - Leeson House, Langton Matravers

Two storey house with attics, contains on the west side the remains of a 17th century farmhouse, remodelled and retaining no original features; this was enlarged in the early 19th century. Extensive additions were made in the mid-19th century. The walls are of stone or covered with stucco and the roofs are slated. Subsequently used as a field studies centre. The Roman coin hoard found around 1842 when the house was extended is recorded as MDO7754.

(SZ 00467868) Leeson House (NAT) <1>

Leeson House is of two storeys with attics, contains on the west side the remains of a 17th century farmhouse, remodelled and retaining no original features; this was enlarged in the early 19th century. Extensive additions were made in the mid-19th century. <2>

[NGD note 15.03.23: The Roman coin hoard found in circa 1842 when the house was extended is recorded separately as MDO7754. On accessioning MDO16906 it was noted that the coin hoard had been duplicated when find FDO4097 had been added in the past. As this was just a duplication FDO4097 has subsequently been deleted from the tree of MDO16906.]

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1968 (Map). SWX1540.

<2> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 1, 141, No 4 (Monograph). SDO148.

‘b(4) Leeson House is of two storeys with attics. The walls are of stone or covered with stucco and the roofs are slated. On the W. side are the remains of a 17th-century farmhouse, remodelled and retaining no original features; this was enlarged in the early 19th century, and further, more extensive, additions were made towards the middle of the 19th century and later.

The house is built on an irregular plan. The main block faces E. and has the E. wall carried up to two gables flanking a central gabled dormer, all finished with octagonal stone finials. The finials are repeated on a small lower wing to the N. and on the S. porch, which has octagonal corner buttresses and a four-centred arched doorway. Inside, the principal doorways have four-centred heads, and some of the rooms have exposed ceiling joists carried on shaped brackets. The staircase has two-centred arcaded balustrades. Many fragments of Flemish carved woodwork of the 17th and 18th centuries have been reused in combination with 19th-century work to form doors, fireplace surrounds and window shutters. Outbuildings include a coach-house and stable block of the early 19th century with an elliptical-arched entrance, now blocked.’

<3> Webb, James, 2013, Heritage Statement. Leeson House Field Studies Centre, Langton Matravers, Swanage, Dorset BH19 3EU. Proposal to extend the existing house and undertake internal changes to provide fully acessible facilities (Unpublished document). SDO20701.

<4> National Record of the Historic Environment, 457485 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Sep 12 2024 10:02AM