Listed Building record MDO9517 - Crichel House, Moor Crichel

It is of three storeys with attics and basements, has walls of rendered brickwork with ashlar dressings, and roof-coverings of slate and of lead The central part of the house was built by Sir William Napier about the middle of the 18th century to replace a 17th-century house burnt down in 1742. A vignette in an estate map by I.Taylor, undated but probably of c. 1770, shows Sir William's house as a three-storeyed building with an E. front of seven bays and a S. front of five bays; the plan was quadrilateral, with a projecting W. wing.

In 1765 the property passed to Humphrey Sturt of Horton, and subsequently the house was greatly enlarged, E., W. and S. ranges being added on such a scale as almost to conceal the former building; in height the added ground-floor rooms encompass two storeys of the Napier house. Sturt's additions may be assigned to the middle and late 1770s.

Further additions were made in 1840 and 1867. Crichel House, a remarkably handsome example of a late 18th-century country seat, incorporates at its centre a more modest house built about the middle of the century. Of both periods the decorations and joinery are of admirable quality. <2>

<1> Newman, J, and Pevsner, N, 1972, The Buildings of England: Dorset, 298-9 (Monograph). SWX1290.

<2> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1975, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume V (East), 41-43 (Monograph). SDO129.

<3> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey 1:10,000 scale map, 1977 (Map). SDO17396.

(ST 99430834) Crichel House (NAT)

<4> Historic England, Historic England Archive, BB76/06647 (Index). SDO14738.

MAP SHOWING CRICHEL PARK AND LAKE AND SURROUNDING FARMLAND

<5> Historic England, Historic England Archive, BF114555 (Index). SDO14738.

Crichel House, Moor Crichel

<6> National Record of the Historic Environment, 209258 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Jan 30 2023 7:08AM