Listed Building record MDO9988 - Handel House, 65 High West Street, Dorchester

A stone building, the former George Inn built around 1600, which was faced with red brick and extended at the back in the eighteenth century. It is part of the Dorset County Museum. Surviving original features include a stone fireplace on the first floor, and and oak door frame and panelling.

(SY 69219074). Handel House, with shops (Nos.65-6 High West Street) adjoining the Dorset County Museum, was built of stone, late in the 16th century and entirely refronted in brick in the 18th century. Modern shop fronts have been inserted and the whole of the original north wall removed. An extension of the museum is now housed on the first floor with additions on the north. the front part of the building was formerly the George Inn, dating from circa 1600, according to DOE. <1-2>

Six clay pipes were found during repairs to the ground floor. The pipes were reported to have been under a slab of stone. Their condition and date range did not suggest an associated find, but perhaps a child's hoard. (3)

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 1, 125 (Monograph). SDO148.

<2> DOE (HHR), 1976, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest: Dorchester RD Addendum April 1976 (Scheduling record). SDO17430.

<3> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1956, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1955, 154 (Serial). SDO55.

<4> National Record of the Historic Environment, 453544 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Aug 22 2024 7:46PM