Monument record MDO2676 - Holditch Court Tower, Holditch Court Lane, Thorncombe

(ST 34490219) Holditch Court (NR)

(ST 34480215) Tower (NR) (1)

Holditch Court, built as a gate-house early in the 16th century and extended in the 17th century, is a two-storeyed, rubble and flint house with tiled roofs. It retains two of the original windows, and inside is an original doorway. The tower, situated south-east of the house, formed part of a semi-fortified manor house of late medieval date, and traces of a rectangular stone building can be seen 16 yards to the south-east. Immediately to the south are traces of a bank and scarp and of another bank, which may represent a defensive enclosure. The remains of a fishpond can be seen north-east of the house. (2-3)

The fishpond to the east of the house is now used as a duck-pond. The tower is in a ruinous state (see photograph) and the remains of the stone building 16 yards south-east of it have been obliterated. The banks and scarps to the south have been partly demolished and form no coherent pattern. (4)

Holditch Court. The tower is Grade I.

Holditch Court. The tower, of C15th date is listed Grade I.

Holditch Court Farmhouse, is circa 1500 with major C17th alterations and listed Grade II. (5-6)

Listed as a strong house by Cathcart King. (7)

<1> DOE (HRR), 1950, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest: Beaminster Rural District 1950, 38 (Scheduling record). SDO17358.

<2> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments England, 1952, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume I (West), 247 (Monograph). SDO97.

'(5) HOLDITCH COURT, house, tower, fish-ponds etc., about 2 m. S.W. of the church. The House is of two storeys; the walls are of flint and stone rubble and the roofs are tiled. It was built as a gatehouse early in the 16th century and extended in the 17th century. The W. front has two weathered buttresses and two original windows of three and four lights with labels; until c. 1900 there was a large archway with a small arch beside it in situ towards the S. end. Inside the building is an original doorway with a four-centred head and the door has large strap-hinges. The Tower, S.E. of the house, formed part of a semi-fortified manor-house of the Brook family. The tower is a nearly square structure (12¾ ft. by 11¾ ft. internally) with projecting circular stair-turret at the S.W. andgle, which has lost its steps. The building is presumably of late medieval date but is heavily ivy-grown. There are traces of a rectangular stone building, 16 yards S.E. of the tower. Immediately to the S. are traces of a bank and scarp and of another bank which may represent some defensive enclosure. About 40 yards N.E. of the house is an oblong sinking with a cross-bank towards its W. end. This was no doubt a Fish-pond and the W. part is still wet.'

<3> Swatridge, G C, Various, Field Investigators Comments GCS, F1 GCS 02-MAR-55 (Unpublished document). SWX1169.

<4> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1963 (Map). SWX1540.

(ST 34480215) Tower (NR)

<5> Newman, J, and Pevsner, N, 1972, The Buildings of England: Dorset, 421 (Monograph). SWX1290.

<6> Cathcart-King, D J, 1983, Castellarium anglicanum: an index and bibliography of the castles in England, Wales and the islands, 130 (Monograph). SDO16340.

<7> Department of the Environment, 1983, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest: Dorset (Parishes of Bettiscombe, Marshwood and Thorncombe), 44 (Scheduling record). SDO16425.

<8> Blatchford, C, 2018, Land at Holditch Court Farm North, Holditch, Nr Chard, Dorset. Archaeological Monitoring and Recording. (Unpublished document). SDO16404.

<9> Blatchford, C, 2018, Land at Holditch Court Farm North, Holditch, Nr Chard, Dorset. Archaeological Monitoring and Recording. (Unpublished document). SDO16404.

<10> National Record of the Historic Environment, 191525 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Apr 4 2022 3:15PM