Wolfeton House Lodge and associated gate piers and gates, Charminster, Dorset

Summary

Lodge and associated gate piers and gates at the south entrance to Wolfeton House, built around 1840. The lodge was extended to the rear and north-west in the late C20; these extensions are not included in the listing.

Description

MATERIALS: it is built from Purbeck stone, both coursed ashlar and random rubble, which is cut and squared, under artificial slate roofs with a stone chimneystack below the ridge. The late-C20 extension is built of reconstituted stone, and the metal-framed windows with leaded lights date from the late C20.

PLAN: the lodge is rectangular on plan, on a west-east orientation, with a main range of one room and a smaller, narrower block to the rear.

EXTERIOR: the lodge is single storey and it has a stone plinth and Tudor detailing, including square-headed casements of one, two and three lights in ashlar surrounds. The gabled main elevation faces the carriageway (east). To the centre is a plank door under a four-centred head within an ogee-arched ashlar surround. To either side, is a narrow, single-light leaded window which at its centre widens to an oval that cuts into the splayed reveals of the ashlar surround. Above the doorway is a stone shield with relief carvings of four starfish. The south elevation is three bays wide, and the west bay steps back. There are two ovolo-moulded mullioned windows of three and two lights containing late-C20 metal casements. The north elevation has a single metal-framed window in a stone surround which appears to have been renewed.

INTERIOR: the principal room is accessed directly from the main door in the east elevation, and has an egg and dart cornice, window shutters and a stone-flag floor, but the fireplace has been removed. Beyond, is a short passageway that leads to the smaller room to the rear, and then through to the late-C20 extension.

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES:
Attached to the south-east corner of the lodge, and abutting the gateway to the east, is a later curved rubble stone wall with dressed coping and a pedestrian entrance that has a wrought-iron gate with spear-points to the uprights. A wall is shown in this position on the historic maps. The two square piers that form the gateway across the drive, are built of Portland stone ashlar with a plain plinth, moulded capping and ball finials. The wrought-iron gate has plain uprights and bottom rail and a curving top rail.

Pursuant to s1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 it is declared that the late-C20 extensions to the lodge and the bridge over the River Frome are not of special architectural or historic interest and are excluded from the listing.

History

Wolfeton House (listed at Grade I) is a significant building constructed at the end of the C15 or early C16 and was the home of the Trenchards, a leading Dorset family in the C16, who lived at Wolfeton until the C18. The building underwent substantial enlargement and remodelling in a flamboyant and ‘unusual classical style’ (Hill, Newman and Pevsner, see Sources) in the later C16, and much of the present house dates from this period. During the early C19, by which time it had fallen into disrepair, the original early Tudor house was much reduced, leaving only its south-west corner and gatehouse (possibly from a slightly later phase). Extensive restoration and some rebuilding was carried out after the house was purchased by WHP Weston in 1862. Ten years later it was sold to Albert Bankes, a younger son of the Bankes family of Kingston Lacy. After his death in 1913, his widow lived there until 1947. It was later subdivided into flats and was purchased by the present owners in 1961 who returned it to a house.

To the south-east of the main house, Wolfeton House Lodge and the adjacent gateway appear to have been built around 1840 when a south driveway was laid out to connect with the newly-established section of turnpike road between Wrackleford and Dorchester. This was developed by the Maiden Newton to Dorchester Turnpike Trust which was formed by an Act of Parliament in 1777-78, and this new section, authorised by the third continuing act of 1840, bypassed Charminster village to provide a more direct route to Dorchester without the need to use another Trust’s route. The lodge stands on the north bank of the River Frome, and it has been suggested (Captain Thimbleby, see Sources) that it may have been built using stone from those parts of Wolfeton House which were demolished in the early C19. It is depicted first on the Ordnance Survey map of 1889, with a rectangular footprint comprising a main range and a smaller, narrower part to the west, and this remains unaltered on the historic Ordnance Survey map series through to 1958. In the late C20 the lodge was extended to the rear with an extension and a conservatory. Most of the windows to the lodge appear to have been replaced at the same time.

Reasons for Listing

Wolfeton House Lodge and associated gate piers and gates are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:
* the lodge is a well-executed and suitably-restrained composition that employs high-quality materials and good detailing;
* despite the loss of some original fenestration, it retains a good proportion of historic fabric, and the later extensions are carefully screened when approaching from the main road to the south;
* the associated gate piers are well made, contributing to the interest of the lodge.

Historic interest:
* the lodge and gate piers are important components of the Wolfeton House estate.

Group value:
* it has a strong group value with Wolfeton House (Grade I), the Riding House (Grade II*), stables (Grade II) and two further pairs of gate piers and flanking walls (both listed at Grade II).

External Links

Historic England Listing

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