Monument record MDO4742 - Manor House, Stalbridge

A manor house thought to have been built around 1600 on a new site, replacing an earlier manor house situated south of the church. This building was demolished in 1822, leaving a flat terrace and a bank. Adjacent earthworks are interpreted as the remains of formal gardens associated with the house. Some stone detail in Park Farm house is thought to have been taken from this house.

REMAINS OF THE MANOR HOUSE, now destroyed, are found in Stalbridge Park, 200 yds. W. of the church, on a gentle declivity with extensive views to the S. across the Stour valley. From Hutchins's engraving (Ill, opp. 670) the former house appears to have been of c. 1600. In Leland's time the manor house had been on the S. side of the church and the 17th-century building must therefore have been erected on a new site; it was demolished in 1822 and nothing remains except the park wall, a 17th-century gateway, earthworks, a walled kitchen garden and some fragments of stonework that are built into an adjacent farmhouse.

The Park Wall is of dry-laid coursed rubble, some 10 ft. high. with rounded capping and a projecting drip-course. The Park Gateway (73311827) is of the 17th century and consists of two stout ashlar piers, in which alternate courses are rusticated, capped by modillion cornices above which rise stone lion-head crests (Plate 66). The gates are of wrought iron with spear-headed uprights and a top rail sweeping down in a segmental curve from the hinges to the meeting stiles. Inside the gateway the road is flanked by an avenue of elm trees. The site of the 17th-century house (73161812) is a flat terrace (80 yds. by 50 yds.) defined by scarps to the N.W. and S.E. and by a bank to the N.E.

Earthworks N.E. of the house are probably the remains of formal gardens which were destroyed soon after 1745, when the park was enlarged, walled and landscaped; the earthworks cover about 4 acres and comprise a number of low scarps, banks and ditches defining flat rectangular areas. The Kitchen Gardens, immediately S.W. of the house site have a dry-stone wall enclosing about half an acre.
Park Farm, house, about 50 yds. N.W. of the manor house site, is of two storeys with attics and has rendered walls and stone-slated roofs; it is probably of the first half of the 19th century. The S. front is symmetrical and of five bays, with a central doorway and mullioned and transomed two-light windows in both storeys; at the base is a rubble plinth with an ashlar capping. In the middle bay the capping is hollow chamfered and roll-moulded, and this is presumably a fragment from the manor house; the same mouldings occur more consistently in the plinths of the E. and W. walls; elsewhere the capping is chamfered. The middle bay of the S. front has a 19th-century ashlar porch, on each side of which is reset an early 17th-century shell-headed stone niche. <2>

Stalbridge 17th century park wall forms a continuous circuit some 6,800m. in total length. It is generally in a very good state of repair and represents a fine example of high quality dry-stone walling on a major scale. Full extend defined on O.S. 6".

The Park Gateway at ST 73311829 remains as described. Both the ashlar-piers, and the iron gate, being in a good state of preservation.
The site of the 17th century house centred at ST 7318-1810 consists of a rectangular platform internally 48.0m. north-east-south west by 70.0m. transversely. It is bounded on the south west by a scarp up to 1.0m. high and on the north west and south east by vestigial scarps up to 0.4m. high. The north east side is flanked by a substantial earthen bank up to 1.7m. high, recognisable on Hutchins original engraving of the house.

A second levelled platform at ST 73001800 measures internally 50.0m. north east-south west by 60.0m. transversely.
It is bounded on the downhill sides by a scarp up to 1.1m. high and is terraced 0.6m. into the slope on the uphill south west side. The site can be dated to 150 years plus by the tree ring growth of felled trees on the platform. It seems therefore probable that this platform is at least contemporary with the former.

Surveyed at 1:2500 on A.M.'s: ST 7217, 7218, 7317, 7318. <3>

An estate map of 1781-2 shows the Old Park at Stalbridge as being an area enclosing only some 40 acres, to the North of Park (Home) Farm. This is still traceable on the ground, and may represent the Abbot of Sherborne's park boundary. <4>

Mentioned. <5>

<1> Ordnance Survey, 1900, Ordnance Survey 25-inch map, epoch two (Map). SDO11594.

(ST 73161811) Manor House

<2> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume III (Central) Part 2, 250 (Monograph). SDO136.

'(4) Remains of the Manor House, now destroyed, are found in Stalbridge Park, 200 yds. W. of the church, on a gentle declivity with extensive views to the S. across the Stour Valley. From Hutchins's engraving (III, opp. 670) the former house appears to have been of c. 1600. In Leland's time the manor house had been on the S. side of the church and the late 17th-century building must therefore have been erected on a new site; it was demolished in 1822 and nothing remains except the park wall, a 17th-century gateway, earthworks, a walled kitched garden and some fragments of stonework that are built into an adjacent farmhouse.
The Park Wall is of dry-laid coursed rubble, some 10 ft. high, with a rounded capping and a projecting drip-course. The Park Gateway (73311827) is of the 17th-century and consists of two stout ashlar piers, in which alternate courses are rusticated, capped by modillion cornices above which rise stone lion-head crests (Plate 66). The gates are of wrought iron with spear-headed uprights and a top rail sweeping down in a segmental curve from the hinges to the meeting stiles. Inside the gateway the road is flanked by an avenue of elm trees. The site of the 17th century house (73161812) is a flat terrace (80 yds. By 50 yds) defined by scarps to the N.W. and S.E. and by a bank to the N.E. Earthworks N.E. of the house site are probably the remains of formal gardens which were destroyed soon after 1745, when the park was enlarged, walled and landscaped; the earthworks cover about 4 acres and comprise a number of low scarps, banks and ditches defining flat rectangular areas. The Kitchen Gardens, immediately S.W. f the house site, have a dry stone wall enclosing about half an acre.'

<3> Barrett, G, Various, Field Investigators Comments GB, F1 GB 13-NOV-78 (Unpublished document). SDO17369.

<4> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1980, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1977, 6-7 (Serial). SDO77.

<5> Newman, J, and Pevsner, N, 1972, The Buildings of England: Dorset, 396 (Monograph). SWX1290.

<6> Historic England, Historic England Archive, OS78/F14/12 (Index). SDO14738.

GATEWAY TO SITE OF MANOR HOUSE

<7> Historic England, Historic England Archive, OS78/F14/13 (Index). SDO14738.

GATEWAY TO SITE OF MANOR HOUSE - DETAIL

<8> Historic England, Historic England Archive, OS78/F14/2 (Index). SDO14738.

C17 PARK WALL - GENERAL VIEW AT ST 7275 1735

<9> Historic England, Historic England Archive, OS78/F14/3 (Index). SDO14738.

C17 PARK WALL - DETAIL VIEW AT ST 7290 1747

<10> National Record of the Historic Environment, 202194 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Aug 23 2024 1:21PM