Listed Building record MDO4936 - Gateway at entrance to Eastbury Park, Tarrant Gunville

Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1972, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume IV (North) (Monograph). SDO99.

'(2) Eastbury House (93211270), of two and of three storeys, with walls mainly of Greensand ashlar and with slate-covered roofs (Plate 70), is a surviving fragment of the splendid mansion designed by Vanbrugh for George Dodington and his nephew George Bubb, afterwards Lord Melcombe, and erected between 1717 and 1738. On Lord Melcombe's death in 1762 the house passed to Lord Temple who, unable to find either a buyer or a tenant for what then was considered an eyesore, demolished the greater part, between c. 1775 and 1782 (Plate 71). … Other surviving elements of Vanbrugh's work include the arch on the W. of the former stable court (Plate 80), the main gateway of the park (Plate 70), the cellar under the octagonal' Eating Room' on the E. of the former kitchen court, and earthwork remains of the former gardens. … The Gateway to the main approach, about 500 yds. W. of the former house, has original rusticated piers with ball finials, flanked by plain ashlar screen walls with smaller ball finials at each end (Plate 70). On the E. side, facing into the park, each screen wall has a round-headed niche. On the W., set forward from the gateway, detached piers, smaller than those first described, are said to be of recent construction. At the approach to the gateway the road passes over the R. Tarrant on an original round-arched bridge with heavy rusticated voussoirs.'

Record last edited

Aug 23 2024 3:29PM