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November, 2011:

Long Bredy

West of the county town of Dorchester is a landscape interrupted by ancient barrows holding the bones and relics of long past generations; it is known as the Bride Valley. Here, between Little Bredy and Litton Cheney, is the parish of Long Bredy. Beneath Martin’s Down, protected on three sides by grassy hills and at the end of a lane to the north of the cluster of buildings that make up the centre of the village sits the parish church, dedicated to St. Peter.

The church is built of stone in the Early English style. The chancel is 13th century and unusual in being taller than the nave. In 1842 Benjamin Ferry, an architect who was no stranger to Dorset, having restored many churches in the county was retained by Canon Lundy Foot to redesign and refurbish the chancel. Canon Foot was rector at Long Bredy for 44-years. In 1862-1863 it was said of the church: “the greater proportion of the building was in a very dilapidated condition”.  John Hicks, the Dorchester architect, carried out further restoration work which saw the addition of a south aisle and vestry and the loss of many original features including “an old ugly gallery perilously supported on a single iron pillar.” However, but the 15th century tower survived these alterations.
 
Pevsner tells us to take particular note of “the leaf corbels in the nave and the leaf capitals of the chancel arch”.  This is the work of sculptor Benjamin Grassby of Powerstock, but possibly his most important work here is the font. The bowl is of Purbeck marble with medallions of alabaster depicting the emblems of the four Evangelists let into the vertical surfaces. It is supported at the corners by serpentine columns and a Purbeck marble shaft, the whole resting on a Purbeck marble plinth.

Most of the present day villages in the Bride Valley have revealed evidence of earlier settlements: Roman coins and pottery have been found near to St. Peter’s church. On the Downs to the north of the village is a Neolithic bank barrow 645 feet long, which stands in the middle of a group of eight round barrows and to the south-east there is a long barrow 116 feet long. There are eighteen round barrows in the parish.
 
It is thought there may have been a Saxon church here but the earliest record of it was when land was given to the Abbey at Cerne Abbas in 987. At the dissolution of the monasteries all the land held by Cerne Abbas was sold by the Crown and Long Bredy was bought in 1539 by Hugh Sidway of Netherbury; he parcelled the land up into smaller lots and sold it on. We know that early in the reign of Elizabeth l land hereabouts was owned by Thomas Martin (who gave his name to Martin’s Down), William Prowte of Litton, John Hodder also of Litton, and Henry Hurding.

The Hurding family is known to have farmed here as tenants of Cerne Abbas since 1300 and after purchasing land they prospered: ‘Ralph Hurding of Longbriddie’ is listed as one of the ‘gentlemen’ of Dorset who contributed to the costs of the Armada. By the 17th century the Hurding land holdings included property in Litton Cheney and they were the main land owner in Long Bredy where they were the Lords of the Manor. However, they did not have the right to appoint the parson for the parish; that belonged to the Mellor family at Little Bredy. John Hurding was the last male of the family. He died in 1695 and was buried in the north transept of the St. Peter’s church.

The Hurding family lands were bought by George Richards of Warmwell; he was a merchant trading primarily with Spain and in 1710 he was appointed Sheriff of Dorset. John Hutchins mentions the building in 1740 of ‘a handsome red brick house’ by George Richards. Contrarily, there is an entry in the Long Bredy church registers that says the house was built in 1709. Entries in an account book that has survived from 1713-1718 support this and reveal George Richards was ordering provisions to be delivered to him at Long Bredy, suggesting he was living there from quite early in the 18th century.
 
When his son, also named George, inherited the estate he bought the living of Litton Church and installed his son John there but John continued to live at Long Bredy where, for thirty years, he was known as the hunting parson. He had his own pack of hounds that he kept near to the family home in a field, which to this day is still known as Kennel Mead.

The Richards’ red brick house was close to Kingston Russell house, which, in 1802, when John Richards passed away without an heir, was owned by the Michel family and they bought the Richards estate and promptly demolished the house. A century earlier the Michel’s appear to have had a hand in the downfall of the Sydenaham family of Wynford Eagle. (See our story ‘The End of the Sydenham Dynasty’ in the Wynford Eagle category.) There are memorials in the church to members of both the Hurding and Richards families.

In 1862 all of the Michel holdings including Kingston Russell House were sold. The Purchaser was the Duke of Bedford and in the half-century this family owned the estate there were many improvements made to the village. In 1913 the Bedford Estates sold off their holdings. Kingston Russell House and over a hundred acres were purchased by the Gribble family and several hundred acres were purchased by the Symes family, who had previously leased the farm-land from the estate. During the 20th century further changes of ownership of the lands originally gifted to Cerne Abbas a thousand years ago have taken place. We will discuss Kingston Russell House in more detail in a separate article about the civil parish of Kingston Russell.

In 1650 the rector of Long Bredy was the Revd. Ralph Ironside. He was turned-out from his living by the Long Parliament for continuing to read from the Book of Common Prayer. Reinstated at the Restoration he became Archdeacon of Dorset in 1661. He died on the 5th of March 1682 and was buried on the 7th of March under the chancel’s north wall with his wife, who had passed away three days before him.
 
At a church open day in 2007 the campanologists were to show off their skills but as they started to ring the bells instead of a harmonious pealing they got the fright of their lives when three of the ropes immediately snapped, falling on the circle of ringers below. Fortunately no one was hurt. An inspection revealed the fourth rope had been cut as well.
 
This was a planned act of sabotage. The culprit must have stolen the key to the tower from the vestry, climbed the steep stairs of the tower, unlocked a trap door and stood on a bench to reach the ropes and with a knife sliced them through just enough for them to fall when pulled.

Happily, no murders followed the event and it wasn’t necessary to call in Inspector Barnaby or Miss Marple, although the press likened the event to the opening of an Agatha Christie murder-mystery. The deed was assumed to be the work of a disgruntled parishioner fed up with the sound of the bells.
 
At the time there were whispers it might have been a misguided publicity gimmick to raise money for the church. Unlikely, but if that had been the case it was, as far as publicity goes, spectacularly successful and well timed, July and August being “the silly season” for journalists when even the smallest stories can make headlines and the events here were reported by several national newspapers. With headlines like: “Bells cut off in their chime” this tranquil little village could be said to have enjoyed its fifteen minutes of fame.

Lerrets and Fishing Off Chesil Beach

The Lerret is a traditional Dorset boat designed specifically for use off the Chesil Beach. They have been around for at least four centuries; David Carter found one mention of a Lerret in the minutes of Weymouth Council of 1615:  “…Mr Mayor J. Roy also furthered Harbour Works eg 2 Lerretts to save the towne boatt from castinge awaye £0.7s.4d…”

Alas, in the name of ‘progress’ and in common with many of the old ways, they are disappearing. In 2010 a new boat was built and launched at Lyme Regis but other than that David Carter, who has made a study of the boats, tells us he believes only four still exist: Pleasure, Blessing, Blessing Two and Silver Star. (David has sent us a photo of Silver Star which we have placed in the photo section).

Lerrets were used for fishing off the Cheseil Beach and are known to have been owned by fishermen from Portland, Wyke, Chickerell, Fleet, Langton Herring and Abbotsbury. Information from Weymouth Council suggests that in the early years of the 20th century over 50 Lerrets were in regular use by fishermen from the area. We have some of the names and the owners: Agnes (Before 1914); Bunger (Fred Sergent); Cauliflower (Sid Huddy); Dawn; Fearless; Girl Pat; Lark; Linnet; May Queen; Ping Pong (F & E Sergent); Queen Mary; Rescue (Jim Burlage); Scarisbrick (Henry Pitman); Speedwell and Twilight (George Morris); Bluebell and Comrades (both owned by the landlord of the Swan Inn, at Wyke, Tom Hatcher); Dauntless (George Randall); Ena (known to have been built in 1926); Lucky Liza (Robert Denman); Mackerell; Nellie and Silver Star (Fred and Toby Randall); Plum (John Randall); Vera( a 19th century boat).

At first glance a Lerret appears to be like any other large wooden rowing boat. But look again. Where is the stern and why is the bottom flatter than a conventional boat? Approximately sixteen feet in length with a beam of between five and six feet, there are three main thwarts across the boat, which would usually be rowed by four men seated on the middle and forward seats, although in some circumstances six oars would be used. Lerrets are double-ended with a high stern post to enable them to be launched off the steep Chesil beach and hauled up onto the beach. Their wide beam and unusually flat bottom makes them very buoyant and they will survive all but the most extreme seas.

The oarsmen will pull double-handed, but the rowers on one side pull stroke alternately with those on the other side. Each oar has a block of wood fixed to the loom by spikes and lashing, this block is known as the copse and it has a hole through it to receive the iron thowle pin, and it is fixed to the gunwale of the boat so standing about five inches above it.
 
The mackerel move to deeper water by the end of August and soon the weather and seas change from their benign summer ways and will become very ill tempered;  this is the signal for the Lerrets to be ‘beached in’ for the winter. The boats will be pulled to the top of the beach where it is flat, a hollow is made in the beach and the Lerret ‘sunk’ into it, secured with ropes and boxes of pebbles.

William Bilke will be remembered as one of the Wyke fishermen who one day netted 63,000 mackerel off the Chesil Beach. Despite his success on that trip, like most other fishermen in the area he would have had to find other employment as well as fishing to make a living – in William’s case labouring.

He was born in Wyke Regis in 1876; his father, also William, being a fisherman. His grandfather, another William, was a shoemaker but his grandmother, Mary, was the daughter of Joseph Summers, a fisherman. When her husband died in 1865 Mary Bilke went into business as a general carter and by 1871 her eldest son William (24) and Edward (15), his brother, were established fishermen. At that time boys as young as eight could be found helping the men on the beach.

In 1875 William Bilke married Eliza Hallett, they named their first child, who arrived in 1876, William John, and like his father and uncle he was fishing by the time he was 15. In 1898 William married Janetta Critchell and by 1911 the couple had three sons and two daughters. William John Bilke had a long life; he passed away in 1963 aged 87 years; he was buried at All Saints, Wyke Regis. William was also known for shrimping or prawning in the Fleet Lagoon. He would spend hours at a time raking along with a shrimp net in water up to his waist as he worked with the ebbing tide, but he will forever be remembered for his part in landing the big catch.
 
Eli Hatcher was born at Osmington in 1827 and came to Wyke Regis in the 1840’s to find a bride and employment. He married Elizabeth Roberts late in 1849 and became the landlord of the Swan Inn, where he and his sons would have come into contact with the fishermen of Wyke. Indeed his son Thomas who took over as landlord at the Swan in the 1890’s described himself as an innkeeper and fisherman and is known to have owned two Lerrets.

The Lerret has earned its place in Dorset’s maritime history. Primarily a fishing boat, their crews have often risked their own lives launching into challenging seas to rescue mariners in difficulty on the turbulent seas off our coast.

There are photos of Lerrets in the photo gallery.

Maiden Castle: a Condensed History

It is probably impossible to exaggerate the sovereign status of Maiden Castle among the 80 known defended prehistoric hillforts in Dorset alone, or to play down its importance in the heyday of this type of site throughout England as a whole. Yet this fortified hill is of no great elevation, being plainly visible from the air as an extensive kidney-shaped enclosure girded about by three great tiered embankments or ramparts with interstitial ditches. From ground level however, this amazing site, barely two miles south west of Dorchester town centre, may appear only as a great linear embankment or ridge.

To re-trace Maiden Castle’s evolution from its earliest antiquity we have to regress some six thousand years to the time of the first farmer’s arrival in England. At that time the Maiden hill would probably have appeared as a plain insignificant low elevation on the tract of lowland between the river Frome to the north and the coastal ridge to the south. It is further likely that the site and its immediate environment was well wooded in those days, or until the agricultural immigrants arrived.

These immigrants were settlers of the New Stone Age (Neolithic) from continental Europe. Finding the hill a favourable location for establishing a communal base, the hill and the surrounding land were clear-felled and the eastern end (knoll) was enclosed by a discontinuous bank and double line of ditches, creating the feature known to archaeologists as a causewayed enclosure. This had an area of about 20 acres, but very little activity took place within it at first. Later the enclosure seems to have served a charnel function for the ritual disposal of the dead, as the deposition of a considerable amount of human and animal bone with some pottery took place in the ditches and pits.

There is then evidence that the site went out of use in the later Neolithic. Following this the bank was razed and partly overlain by the construction of a type of monument unknown from anywhere else outside Dorset. This was an extremely elongated mound known as a bank barrow, which in the Maiden Castle example is 545 metres (1790 feet) long and was found to contain a mutilated burial at one end. This suggests that the bank barrow may have originally been a long barrow, which for some possibly ritualistic reason was greatly extended.

For until the early first millennium BC it appears that Maiden Castle seems to have been a place serving an almost exclusively ritual or funerary function. There is no evidence for any continuation or extension of habitation within the enclosure from the late Neolithic and into the Bronze Age. The only feature to be added during this period being a round barrow, which could well be contemporary with the barrow to be seen in the ploughed field to the north-west.

It has therefore been supposed that towards the end of the Neolithic around 2000 BC the focus of settlement shifted towards Poundbury Camp, the other major prehistoric site near Dorchester, or else into the Frome valley. Certainly during the Bronze Age the land around Maiden Castle was divided up for agriculture by means of lynchets and field systems. This has been taken to indicate increasing pressure on the land from population growth, though there is no evidence that the hilltop itself was ever brought into cultivation.

By the Mid Bronze Age some land became exhausted from over cultivation. A Revival of Maiden Castle as a focus of occupation then appears to take place around the same time, for a bank was constructed from north to south down the middle of the hill, segregating the Neolithic enclosure from the western half. There is some indication that the latter was then used for ranching or grazing sheep. High-caste burials evidently continued locally, as the dividing bank is associated with the appearance of more round barrows.

One of the popular misconceptions about hillforts is that they were wholly an innovation of the Iron Age peoples, and so had no precursors in the earlier period. But it is now recognised that many of these fortified hills had their origin in the Bronze Age, although they were unlikely to have been fully revetted at this time.

The arrival of the Iron Age in Britain is usually taken at around 700 BC, when a new wave of settlers from the continent arrived in southern England. At Maiden Castle possible pressure of population forced the new immigrants to bring the hilltop into use as a place to live and not just for stock-keeping or religious functions. A single rampart was constructed at the east end, using the line of the much earlier Neolithic enclosure bank almost entirely, with a ditch and double portal entrance retained throughout later modifications. This enclosed about 16 acres, but was later enlarged to 47 acres to take in
the west knoll. With this enlargement the original defences were strengthened and double entrances protected by outworks constructed at each end. At the east entrance two defended corridors were also designated.

Many hut dwellings were constructed, but from around 200 BC some abandonment of the site for smaller settlements outside seems to have taken place, for some of the defences were eroded and some huts collapsed. Then in about 150 BC the main rampart was doubled, additional lines of defence were built, and the outworks around the east entrance were greatly increased in complexity. Though curiously, the ramparts on the south side were never finished properly. Here they are of the type called ‘glacis’ i.e. the counter scarp of the bank sloped straight down into the ditch. But by the Mid Iron Age settlement within the enclosure was well organised, with areas for living, religion and animal husbandry.

Between 100 and 75 BC the site underwent another major reconstruction. The inner rampart was modified and the outer ones strengthened. (Initially these ramparts were of the box type, i.e. they were revetted by timber on both sides.) The inner gates were left unaltered, but both entrances were completely re-modelled with greater depth and complexity. This persistent reinforcing of the ramparts has been interpreted as an expression of civic pride or as a defence against rival tribes beyond the hill or, ultimately, the Romans.

But the arrival of the Romans in the area was a whole century in the future when Maiden Castle was at its peak, though anticipation of a Roman invasion could have been rife by the early 1st century. Nevertheless the threat seems to have prompted last minute fortifications at the entranceways in readiness, but to no avail. The threat became a brutal reality in 45 AD when a cohort of the 2nd Legion under the command of Vespasian (a future emperor) laid siege to the hillfort at the east entrance. Despite the complexity of the interlocking outworks, the Roman’s superior arsenal and tactics easily surmounted the obstacles.

Those survivors from among the many slain in the ensuing conflict are thought to have abandoned the site for settlements below, as their way of life in primitive timber hovels would have been out of keeping with the Roman way. After the conquest of the hill a square, roofed shrine with accompanying priest house was built in the north-central part of the enclosure.

With this temple the retraceable history of Maiden Castle is concluded and then lost for another 19 centuries. In the 1930 the eminent archaeologist Sir Mortimer Wheeler undertook his famous excavation of the east entrance area and revealed to the world the grizzly fate of the hillfort’s defenders. He excavated a cemetery of the fallen, many showing broken bones and in one instance the skeleton of a man with the Roman ballista-bolt which killed him still embedded in his spine! The finding of mounds of ammunition showed that the defenders had collected pebbles from Chesil Bank to use as sling stones.

Interestingly, it has been said that Wheeler, in concentrating on the late Iron Age and Roman phases of the hill’s history, disturbed the causewayed enclosure without having any idea of what it was or that it was there – in other words he discovered it by accident.

More recently in 1985 and 1986 new excavations were undertaken with the aim of extending Wheeler’s trenches to extract new data. But in conclusion it can be said that much about the earlier part of the Maiden Castle story is based on flimsy evidence, and is therefore not above re-appraisal should more information be forthcoming in the future.

Little Bredy

West of the county town of Dorchester is an area known as the Bride Valley. Here, tucked-up in the shadow of Old Warren, a hill rising to 250 feet and thought to be an Iron Age fort, is the picturesque village of Little Bredy.
 
Nearby is the Valley of Stones, well known for the many boulders strewn along its floor and slopes. From here came the material for the stone circles and numerous chambered tombs in the vicinity: two thirds of all Dorset’s monuments of this type are to be found within four miles of this valley. Our ancient forefathers left us tantalising glimpses into how they lived and throughout Dorset their monuments remain standing, challenging us to discover there significance, though some have fallen in disarray.

Presently home to about 85 people, the village and parish of Little Bredy has a long history. The Domesday Book records the manor of Litelbidia being held by The Abbey of Cerne and this continued until the dissolution of the monasteries. Phillip Vanwilder acquired the manor only to sell it on in 1584 to Robert Freke of Iwerne Courtney, who, in turn conveyed it to Robert Mellor, the husband of his daughter, Margaret.  Robert Mellor was from Came. Towards the end of the reign of Elizabeth I Robert Mellor built a house on the site where the present Bridehead House stands. Robert was succeeded by Sir John Mellor, a supporter of Charles I during the Civil War, who left the manor and house to his youngest son, Robert, who died at Little Bredy in 1655; he was buried at Came, continuing a family tradition. Robert Mellor’s widow left the manor and house to her son Edward who moved away to Buckinghamshire. Before he died in 1699 he sold off some of the family’s Dorset property to pay off debts; it is known that at this time the house at Little Bredy was burdened by mortgages. The Bridges family, who were tenant farmers, moved into the property, which was eventually sold with the manor, by the Mellor family in 1730 to William Meech of Charminster. The Bridges farming family continued to live in the house throughout the 18th century. They were buried in the Little Bredy churchyard and there are memorials to them in the church. In 1798 John Meech, the grandson of William, sold the estate.

The purchaser was Robert Williams of Hertfordshire; his family were originally from Winterborne Herringston in Dorset. The new owner was a wealthy London banker, the senior partner in Williams and Deacon’s Bank. He owned a large property portfolio as well as a fleet of ships to facilitate his trading interests in the Indies.

Over four generations the Williams family brought many changes to Little Bredy. During the 19th century the house, Bridehead, was expanded and a lake was made by the damming of the spring forming the source of the River Bride. Old cottages belonging to the estate were improved and a school was built. A look at the census record for 1851 gives some idea of the status of the Williams family. Besides himself he was host to thirteen relations, all served by some twenty servants. The line of four Robert Williams to own Bridehead all became Members of Parliament. The last Robert Williams became the 1st Baronet of Bridehead.

The parish church is dedicated to St. Michael and All the Angels. In 1847 the villagers were asked to put-up a small team of builders who had been drafted in to restore the medieval church. This resulted in it being rebuilt with only the tower and a part of the chancel, including some of the original medieval windows, surviving. The architect was Benjamin Ferry, no stranger to Victorian Dorset where he had restored many churches. But on this occasion he was only responsible for the design; the architect on site was Arthur Acland, the brother-in-law of Robert Williams, who commissioned and paid for the work. The nave was replaced and extensions to the north and south aisles were added. The original tower was reinforced to take a steeple and four new bells were added to the existing two. The memorials to the Bridge family were re-set into the south walls of the new nave.

The Bride Valley is a peaceful and picturesque area where rural life goes on at a pace dictated by the seasons and the stone circles, monoliths and numerous barrows continue to keep our forefather’s secrets.

Beer Hackett

This small parish of a little over 900 acres is four miles south-west of Sherborne; its neighbour to the north is Thornford, with Lillington to the east and Leigh to the south. The population of the parish, which includes the tything of Knighton, has held steady throughout the census decades at about 80-90; traditionally agriculture has been the major employer of labour here.
 
There are some attractive stone cottages in the village but little else. There are no village shops or other amenities but there is the parish church dedicated to St. Michael. Except for the tower the church was rebuilt in 1882 by George Crickmay, an architect who had a hand in the design and restoration of many Dorset churches during the 19th century.

Much was salvaged from the original church: masonry, the west window, the tower windows, gargoyles and the porch doorway all found there way into the present building; the tower was restored in 1897. St. Michael’s has a chancel, nave, and porch and the west tower housing four bells.

There is a photo of St. Michael’s church in the photo section.

Kingston Maurward Manor – A Tale of Two Houses

One of Dorset’s Elizabethan gems is Kingston Maurward Manor, a rare E-plan house, of which only Parnham, Chantmarle and Anderson Manor bear some comparison. But the latter had their origins some one hundred years later than the manor at Maurward, so making its ground plan unique for the Dorset of its century.

It was in about 1597 that Christopher Grey, a descendant of a county family who had married into the Maurward family some two centuries earlier when they inherited the estate named after them, built the house in Maurward Park that would become known as The Old Manor. Little information about the building of this house has been handed down, and virtually nothing is known about where the Greys had been living up until then. However, it has been noted that a particular architectural detail of the house – window mullions with moulded bases – also occurs in Wolfeton House near Dorchester, suggesting that the same mason had been employed on both houses.

Angel Grey, grandson of Christopher, then built an extension onto the south-east side of the Old Manor early in the 17th century, though his reason for doing so is not exactly known. Three quarters of a century later in 1700 George Pitt married Laura Grey, a descendant of Angel, and they commissioned the building of a new house on a site across the park from the manor. This is now Kingston Maurward House.

Structurally, the attic of the Old Manor comprises eight great A-frames and some of these still bear numbers carved into them by the Tudor carpenters. The joists supporting the first and second floors are 15” x 15” oak beams. The house is entered through the middle wing of the west front, where the screens passage would originally have been. The Great Hall would have been off to the right with the Great Kitchen opposite, occupying the north wing of the ‘E’.

More recently the foundations of what appears to have been a staircase tower once occupying the space between the Tudor house and the Grey extension were discovered, though nothing else remains of the original tower today. Of course, there must have once been a means of access to the upper storeys which was later destroyed. As it happened Angel Grey, the builder of the 17th century extension, was a staunch Royalist, and it has been supposed that the destruction of the staircase occurred during the Civil War by a troop of local Roundheads, perhaps in an attempt to render the upper floors of the house uninhabitable.

By the time the new house built by Pitt in 1700 was completed the Old Manor had become subordinate and largely un-maintained as the estate then passed through other owners. Dorset County Council eventually bought this house in 1947 and converted it into five private residences for council tenants, but by the late 1950’s it had again fallen into disuse. By 1947 however, the new house had become the home of the county’s agricultural and horticultural college.

After the Old Manor had fallen derelict the County Council, with the support of the agricultural college, came to an agreement to have the building demolished, a decision which led to a public outcry. For a while nothing was done, but then a chance meeting at a London party between the manager of a Bedfordshire plastics company and the secretary of The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings proved to be the critical fulcrum.

Rohan Sturdy had a sound personal reason for being enthused by what he heard about Maurward Old Manor from the SPAB secretary. He belonged to a scion of the Sturdys of Trigon near Wareham and accordingly felt his roots to lie in Dorset.
Sturdy was then living in Bedfordshire to be near his business, but in 1962 Dorset County Council leased the manor to him at a peppercorn rent, in return for an obligation on his part to restore it. For the next six years until 1968 contractors were at work on restoring the house almost every day. Sturdy’s daughter, who had a second home at Lulworth, also threw herself into this labour of love, taking on an assistant supervisory role.

Upon completion a grateful County Council even granted Sturdy a freehold on the property, though the businessman never lived there himself; neither did his son, a farmer in Gloucestershire, when in turn the house was bequeathed to him. For the next decade the house would be sub-let to tenants before being privately sold to the predecessors of the present owners.

During its years of dereliction the Old Manor suffered extensive deterioration in its structure and ground management. When the work of restoration began most of the windows had lost their glass and floors had collapsed from being infested with death watch beetle. Outside, the peace of the grounds was disturbed by the sound of clucking and crowing from henhouses on an adjoining chicken farm.

In his restoration, sturdy incorporated imitations and fittings from other houses. For example, restoration of some of the panelling was modelled on original panelling in Stinsford Church. The 17th century stairway tower was restored, recycling masonry from a demolished Tudor house in Weymouth, while the re-installed spiral staircase, which comes into use on the 1st floor, is said to have been made from the timber of a single oak grown on the Trigon estate. Another staircase was brought from Haddon Hall in Suffolk and installed in a new hall built into the space formerly occupied by the screens passage and part of the Great Kitchen. Sturdy also converted much of what had been the Great Hall into an L-shaped drawing room in which the original Tudor fireplace was re-exposed after removing eight layers of lathe and plaster.

The remaining space – actually the ground floor of the north wing – is now a spacious comfortable dining room. The new kitchen was installed between the drawing room and the large room occupying most of the ground floor space in the Greys extension wing. Access to the drawing room is through an imposing archway that Sturdy called ‘Angels arch’. He further re-inforced some of the original oak beams with girders or steel cradles and installed several bathrooms.

Under the present owners the voluminous and long-deserted attics have been modernised, and one has been converted into a luxurious bed sitting room. Maurward Old Manor is now in the formative years of a new life as a guesthouse, with three superb bed-and-breakfast suites installed on the 1st floor. For one of these suites a custom designed and made four-poster bed in Elizabethan style was commissioned, reproducing the family crest of the Maurwards on one side and that of the Greys on the other. Rusting glazing bars in the windows have been replaced with ones made of stainless steel, and in the garden an Elizabethan yew hedge has been planted.

The Old Kingston Maurward Manor is therefore effectively an “Elizabethan” manor built in the 1960’s! And on inspection it would be hard to imagine a reproduction more faithful to the original anywhere. Under the present owners devoted labours it has been given a new lease of life, and one in which it is earning a living for itself. The Old Manor is indeed a credit to Maurward Park.