Place record MDO47530 - Maiden Newton

Antiquarian references describe a country house, possibly built before 1590, and demolished in 1778, at Maiden Newton. The exact location of the house is not known, though it is said to have been situated to the north of the village. This may have been the medieval manor house. Documentary sources name Roberto Crockwaye as living in the village, and field names suggest that pottery may have been manufactured here in the medieval period.

The Manor of Maiden Newton seems to have been consolidated before the Dissolution; before that time, it consisted of a number of minor manors or parcels of a manor held by many different families, and Cerne Abbey (ST 60 SE 41). In 32 Eliz. 1, the whole was granted or held by Thos. Wareham, to be sold to the Wyndhams in 1647. It has since passed by sale and inheritance through the hands of various families. The old mansion-house of the Warhams stood a little to the north of the village, and was pulled down about the year 1778" (Shipp and Hodson, 1863).

No evidence for siting this house was obtained during field investigation. <2>

Royal Commission on Historical Monuments England, 1952, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume I (West), 150-153 (Monograph). SDO97.

Spoerry, P, 1988, Documentary and other evidence for medieval and post-medieval ceramic production in Dorset. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 33 (Article in serial). SWX809.

’26. Maiden Newton. SY614958. Mills (1971, 87) mentions the existence of one Roberto Crockwaye in Maiden Newton parish . this is the only personal reference to possible ceramic production so far discovered for this parish, however much more information exists in the form of place and field names.
Fägersten (1933, 233) records ‘Crockway Farm’ as being a place where pots have been found in the past. Furthermore, Pulman (1875, 64) mentions ‘Crimmercrock Lane’ as passing through this parish. The 1836 Tithe Map for Maiden Newton (DCRO T/MAI) shows five fields with the ‘Crockway’ name element, these being ‘Crockway Hill’, ‘Crockway Bottom’, ‘Crockway Great Field’, ‘Crockway Marsh’, and ‘Crockway Bottom Mead’. Recent fieldwork after ploughing on ‘Crockway Great Field’ produced some pottery, but the amount did not suggest anything more than normal manuring activities. A rotovated area in ‘Crockway Bottom Mead’ also produced some pottery, however the number of sherds was again very small and they can probably be attributed to the disturbance of medieval house platforms at the top of the field.’

Godfrey Cook, Martin, 2015, Edward Prior. Arts and Crafts Architect, 156, 178, 202 (Monograph). SDO21050.

<1> Shipp, W, and Hodson, J W (eds), 1863, The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset. 3rd edition. Volume 2, 683 (Monograph). SWX1269.

<2> Swatridge, G C, Various, Field Investigators Comments GCS, F1 GCS 10-JAN-55 (Unpublished document). SWX1169.

<4> National Record of the Historic Environment, 453096 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Feb 18 2025 2:49PM