Description

ST 81 SE IWERNE STEPLETON

4/157 Stepleton House
14-7-55
G.V. I

Country house, early to mid C17 with extensive alterations of the late C17
to mid C18. Flanking mid C18 pavilions. Ashlar walls with hipped, stone
slated roofs. Clustered, round brick stacks to rear of ridge. Plan appears
originally to have been of the courtyard type with entrance probably to the
east. Later the main entrance was moved to the south-front, the building
reroofed and the courtyard roofed. The pavilions were added in the mid C18.
2 storeys with attics and basements. 6 bays by 5 bays. Entrance front has
C18 2 bay centrepiece with rusticated ground floor and capped by pediment.
An upper floor round headed niche projects into the pediment. Windows are
probably late C18 or early C19 12-pane sashes in moulded stone architraves.
There is a first floor weathered strong course and a moulded eaves cornice.
The roof has 3 pedimented dormers, the central of which is segmental. Central
panelled door under flat stone hood on scrolled brackets. The east front has
a single bay pedimented centrepiece with a rusticated doorway with a flat
stone hood on scrolled brackets and a round headed window with keystone,,
flanked by Ionic pilasters. Flanking pavilions are best seen from the north.
They are of greensand ashlar with hipped stone slate roofs behind parapets
and with central brick stacks. First floor plat bands. Modillioned parapet
cornice. 2 storeys, 5 bays. 12-pane sashes in moulded architraves with
keystones. Some windows are false. Central, false fielded panel doors with
Gibbs surrounds. The connecting passage walls have rusticated pilaster
strips and panelled doors with moulded architraves and keystones. The eastern
passage consists of an open Ionic loggia to the south.

Internal features (RCHM). These are mainly C18 and include carved fireplaces,
doorways and panelling. Rococo plasterwork ceilings. Main staircase has
stone steps with shaped soffit and moulded nosings; the scrolled wrought-iron
balustrade supports a moulded and veneered wooden handrail. C17 rear stair
with turned balusters and square handrails. Study contains early C17
panelling. (RCHM, Dorset, vol. III, p.133-5, no. 2. Newman, J and Pevsner, N.
The Buildings of England: Dorset, 1972, p.240/1. Oswald, Arthur, Country
Houses of Dorset, 1935, p.159/161.)

Listing NGR: ST8633311294

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Stepleton House at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q17531200

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Cumbria: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990: Updated version
• 
  The Shredded Chef: 120 Recipes for Building Muscle, Getting Lean, and Staying Healthy
• 
  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)