Listed Building record MDO9580 - Home Farm buildings within the grounds of St Giles House, Wimborne St Giles

Early 16th and early 17th century farm buildings including barns, stables and a riding school situated around a courtyard within the grounds of St Giles House.

Monuments (8-11) are arranged on four sides of a courtyard, originally a manège.

(8) RIDING HOUSE (03301170), now stables, on the S. of the courtyard, is of two storeys and has brick walls with ashlar dressings, and tiled roofs; it dates probably from the first quarter of the 17th century. In the symmetrical nine-bay S. front, five bays with eaves alternate with four gabled bays, each gable having shaped kneelers, moulded copings and three obelisk finials. The storeys are defined by a moulded ashlar string-course; the plinth has ogee-moulded capping. In the lower storey the middle bay has an elliptical-headed doorway with a chamfered ashlar surround. Each gabled bay has a ground-floor window of four elliptical-headed lights with ovolo-moulded stone jambs and mullions; in the upper storey it has a square-headed light and there is a small bull's-eye window in the gable. The moulded plinth and string-course continue on the gabled E. and W. end-walls. The E. gable has three bull's-eye windows arranged in a triangle. The W. end-wall has a ground-floor doorway similar to that of the S. front, but narrower; flanking it are two windows, each of two elliptical-headed lights; there are similar windows in the upper storey. At the apex of the W. gable is a diagonally-set brick chimneystack. The N. elevation is without architectural ornament, except that three plain doorways are spanned by carved oak spandrels of 17th-century origin, brought from elsewhere. Both storeys have plain casement windows. Inside, the building has been fitted with stalls and loose-boxes; the stalls have posts with acorn finials, probably of 18th-century date. The roof has eight chamfered tie-beams trusses with collar-beams and queen-struts supporting two chamfered purlins on each side.

(9) BARN (03281173), on the W. side of the courtyard, with timber-framed walls masked in part by later brickwork and with a tile-covered roof, dates from early in the 16th century. In the W. elevation the timber framework, with later brick nogging, is set on a high flint plinth with ashlar dressings and with a weathered ashlar buttress at the base of each main post. Early in the 17th century the gabled S. end was rebuilt in brickwork with ashlar dressings resembling that of (8); the façade has three bull's-eye windows arranged in a triangle. The E. elevation was refaced in brickwork, probably in the 18th century, but part of the original buttressed flint plinth remains. The N. end of the barn is masked by a later building. Inside, the barn has been divided into stables, dairies etc., but of the original timber-framed structure there remains twelve and a half bays, one bay having been truncated in the construction of the 17th-century S. façade. The timber-framed posts, with shouldered heads. Support collar and tie-beam trusses with lower angle-struts; the slightly cambered tie-beams are braced to the posts.

(10) BARN (03301175), on the N. of the courtyard, is similar to the foregoing in construction and date; it has a gabled transeptal exit-bay on the N. side, with an ashlar doorway with buttressed jambs; the E. and W. walls are of brick. The buttressed flint and ashlar plinths have been extensively rebuilt in brickwork.

(11) BARN (03321173), similar to the foregoing, on the E. of the courtyard, has been extensively altered while being adapted for use as stables. In the 19th century the S. end was removed and a pair of cottages was built in its place, with brick walls with ashlar dressings and tiled roofs designed to harmonise externally with (8). To the N., the barn abuts on a 19th-century Farmhouse of two storeys with brick walls and tiled roofs.

(12) RANGE (03291179), nearly parallel with (10),is single-storeyed with lofts and has walls partly of brickwork and partly weatherboarded, and a tiled roof. It is of the late 17th or early 18th century. <1, 3>

Home Farm Buildings. Grade II*. <2, 4>

<1> DOE (HHR), 1951, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest: Wimborne and Cranborne RD, 25 (Scheduling record). SDO17339.

<2> Newman, J, and Pevsner, N, 1972, The Buildings of England: Dorset (Monograph). SWX1290.

<3> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1975, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume V (East), 97 (Monograph). SDO129.

<4> DOE (HHR), 1986, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest: Wimborne District, 45 (Scheduling record). SDO18076.

<5> English Heritage, 1984-1987, Register of parks and gardens of special historic interest in England: Dorset (Monograph). SWX1383.

<6> Historic England, Historic England Archive, Object Number: BF112187. (Index). SDO14738.

Object Title: St Giles House, Wimborne St Giles.

<7> Lane, R, 2016, The Riding House, St Giles House, Wimborne St Giles. Building Investigation. (Monograph). SDO14454.

<8> Bailiff, I et al, 2017, St Giles House and the 'Riding House', Wimborne St Giles, Dorset. Scientific Dating and Bayesian Chronological Modelling (Unpublished document). SDO16303.

<9> National Record of the Historic Environment, 213843 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Aug 23 2024 4:11PM