Building record MDO5172 - Turnworth House

Site of a country house built around 1800 and was the home of the Okeden family. It was two storied with walls of ashlar and rendered brick with a slated roof. The main front faced south had a moulded plinth and a crenelated parapet and numerous windows of two, three and five lights with stone mullions. The east front had details of similar character and, near the centre, a projecting two storied bay with traceried windows. The house burnt down just after Word War II, and was replaced with a colonial style bungalow.

TURNWORTH HOUSE (81500804), 1/2 m. N.W. of the church, is two-storied, with walls of ashlar and rendered brickwork, and slated roofs; it was built probably about 1800. The S. front, of ashlar, has a moulded plinth and a crenelated parapet and numerous windows of two, three and five lights with stone mullions and moulded labels with returned stops. The doorway in the E. part of the facade has a moulded four-centred head with carved spandrels. The E. front has details of similar character and, near the centre, a projecting two-storied bay with traceried windows with four-centred heads; the central window has five lights, the lateral ones three. Inside, the entrance vestibule has a window with reset heraldic glass including fragments of a garter and a shield of Wise implaing Froxmer, two 16th century alliances of the Russells of Swyre. Some rooms have mid 19th century vaulted plaster ceilings, and doors and door-cases with Gothic tracery panelling. (Demolished.) <2>

Many of the buildings in the village date from the 19th century when it formed part of the Turnworth Estate. Turnworth House, the seat of the Parry Okedon family was located to the north west of the village but was demolished in the mid-20th century following a serious fire. <3>

"The impressive Turnworth House burned down just after World War II, and was replaced by this wooden colonial-style bungalow. The original house was the setting for Hardy's 'The Woodlanders'." <4>

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey map 1:10,560, 1968 (Map). SDO18658.

(ST 81500804) Turnworth House

<2> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume III (Central) Part 2, 291 (Monograph). SDO136.

<3> English Heritage, English Heritage Listing File, 166042 (Scheduling record). SDO17502.

<4> Higginbotham, P, 2000, World Wide Web page andlt;http://www.workhouses.org.uk/ (Digital archive). SDO17705.

www.geograph.org.uk/photo/295613 accessed 05-NOV-2008

<5> National Record of the Historic Environment, 205601 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Mar 7 2022 3:10PM