Listed Building record MDO9035 - Milton Abbey House, Milton Abbas

Country house, used as public school. Built between 1771 and 76 for Joseph Damers, by Sir W Chambers and J Wyatt. Mainly ashlar stone walls, slate and lead roofs, with parapets. Ashlar stacks, some designed as pinnacles.

There were more remains of Milton Abbey than any other monastic site in Dorset. The conventual buildings stood on rising ground close by the church and formed a rectangular plan with courtyards, some of the fabric had datestones inscribed 1515 and 1529. Sir John Tregonwell utilized many of the buildings after he was granted the Abbey in 1540, but between 1730 and 1771 almost all the buildings were demolished when the 1st Earl of Dorchester built a large mansion on the site. This mansion incorporates the Great Hall of the monastery which had been rebuilt in 1498 by Abbot Middleton. The Hall, described as a 'perfect specimen of a monastic refectory', was judiciously preserved. It is 53ft. long and 26ft. wide. <2,3>
The building is now called Milton Abbey School. <4.1>. The remains of the refectory are as shown on the OS 1/2500. The building is in a good state of preservation, but has been slightly restored, though it retains its original roof timbers and some windows. <4>
Abbot's Hall and Kitchen - Listed Grade I. <5>.

History and description of the site. <6,7>

<1> Ordnance Survey, 1:2500 scale, 1901 (Map). SWX1197.

(ST 79840235) Milton Abbey (NAT) Benedictine Abbey (NR) (Remains of)

<2> Hutchins, J, 1873, The history and antiquities of the County of Dorset. Volume 4. 3rd edition, 393-5 (Monograph). SDO10245.

<3> Pentin Rev H, 1904, Milton Abbey and its School, 17-19 (Unpublished document). SDO17591.

<4> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, F1 NVQ 30-AUG-55 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

<4.1> C Rand, 27-AUG-55, Oral information, correspondence (not archived) or staff comments: Mr C Rand, Bursar, Milton Abbey School, Milton Abbas (Verbal communication). SDO17590.

<5> DOE (HHR), 1983, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest: North Dorset District, 57 (Scheduling record). SDO17556.

<6> Royal Archaeological Institute, 1983, Archaeological Journal 140, 61-65 (Serial). SDO16977.

<8> English Heritage, 2005, Register of parks and gardens of special historic interest in England: Dorset (Revised) (Monograph). SDO17438.

<9> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume III (Central) Part 2, 193-197 (Monograph). SDO136.

<10> Steinmetzer, M F R, 2017, Archaeological monitoring and recording at Milton Abbey, Milton Abbas, Dorset (Unpublished document). SDO16325.

<11> Steinmetzer, M F R, 2021, Archaeological monitoring and recording at Milton Abbey, Milton Abbas, Dorset (Unpublished document). SDO17294.

<12> Historic England, Historic England Archive, OP24602 (Index). SDO14738.

A view of the oak-panelled screen in the Great Hall of Milton Abbey House

<13> National Record of the Historic Environment, 201924 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Feb 11 2022 2:15PM