Historical Monuments in Winterborne Kingston
This
small extract is taken from the Royal Commission of Historical Monuments County
of Dorset Volume 3. Central Dorset: Part 2. (1970) Pages 300 – 303 by Jill
Morley.
WINTERBORNE
KINGSTON (8697)
(O.S.
6 ins. SY 89 NE, SY 89 NW, ST 80 SE)
This
parish has an area of 2,559 acres and lies on both sides of the Winterbome
stream, at altitudes between l6o ft. -and 400 ft. above sea-level; the land is
mainly Chalk. Until 1650 Kingston was combined with the adjacent parish of Bere
Regis (Dorset II, 11-22); since then the civil parish has been independent, but
the church remains a chapel-of-ease to Bere- The civil parish includes three
original settlements: Kingston, Turberville and Muston. Kingston and Muston may
well be represented among the numerous Domesday entries for the eastern group of
Dorset Winterbornes. Kingston and its open fields occupied the western
two-thirds of the area; Turberville, to the E., is now called Abbot's Court;
Muston lies still further E. and the common identification of Muston with
Turberville is an error. The church is the most notable monument.
ECCLESIASTICAL
(1)
THE CHURCH OF ST. NICHOLAS stands in the S.E. part of the village. The walls
are of flint and Heath stone rubble with ashlar dressings; the roofs are tiled.
The Chancel, Nave, West Tower and South Porch are of 14th-century origin but
were extensively restored in 1871, under G. E. Street, when the North Aisle and
the North Vestry were added.
Architectural
Description—In the Chancel (22; ft. by 14 ft.), the E. window and the archway
in the N. wall ace of 1871. In the S. wall is a partly restored 14th-century
doorway with chamfered jambs and a segmental-pointed head; further W. is a
14th-century window of two trefoil ogee-headed lights with a quatrefoil in a
two-centred head. The chancel arch is of 1871.
In
the Nave (56 ft. by 21 ft.), the N. arcade is of 1871 but the easternmost arch,
with chamfered responds, differs from those to the W. and probably represents an
earlier opening; this presumably led to the 'Muston Aisle' (Hutchins I, 146),
now wholly rebuilt. In the S. wall are three windows; the two to the E. are of
the l6th century and square-headed, each with four four-centred lights in
casement-moulded surrounds. The S. doorway is of the 14th century and has a
moulded and chamfered two-centred head with continuous jambs, and a chamfered
rear- arch with cinquefoil cusping. The western window of the S. wall is of the
l4th century and has two two-centred trefoil-headed lights; a similar window is
reset in the N. wall of the 19th- century N. aisle.
The
West Tower (10 ft. square) is of the l4th century. Externally it is not divided
into stages but it has ashlar angle buttresses of two weathered stages at the
N.W. and S.W. comers; at the top is an embattled parapet with a weathered and
hollow chamfered stringcourse and a moulded coping. Internally there are three
storeys. The tower arch is two-centred and of three chamfered orders dying into
the responds. The partly restored W. window is of two trefoil-headed lights with
a quatrefoil in a two-centred head; to the N. of the W. window, on the outside
face of the tower, are two reset pieces of Ham Hill stone, curved in outline and
perhaps parts of a former window. The second storey has a small square-headed
loop in the N. wall. The belfry has, in each wall, a two-centred window of two
trefoil-headed lights with a quatrefoil above; reset over each window and at
each comer of the tower is a mediaeval head-corbel. The South Porch has a
14th-century two-centred archway with ovolo and hollow-chamfered mouldings,
continuous jambs, and chamfered stops.
Fittings—Bells:
four; 1st, 2nd and 3rd by John Wallis, 1600, inscribed respectively 'Feare God',
'Prayse God' and 'Love God', 4th by William Elery, 1749. Brackets: In
nave, on E. splay of middle S. window, octagonal tapering bracket; beside
pulpit, stone corbel with chamfered edges. Candelabra: In chancel, scrolled
brass wall-brackets, late l7th or early 18th century. Chest: In N. aisle, of
hutch-type with old lock, late l7th century. Coffin-lids: In tower, two tapering
Purbeck marble slabs with double hollow-chamfered edges and raised crosses 13th
century Coffin-stools: pair, with turned legs, late 18th century. Communion
Table: In N. aisle, of oak, with turned legs and fluted top rails, late l7th
century. Font: of baluster form with ogee-moulded bowl, dated 1736 on pedestal;
font cover, of oak, dome-shaped, with pineapple finial, 18th century. Class: see
below, (3) North Farm. Monuments: In tower, on N. wall, (l) of Eliza Hussey,
1821, marble tablet. In churchyard, 20 paces S. of tower, (2) of Jenny Read,
1795, and others of same family, headstone with shaped top. Piscina: In chancel,
recess with trefoil ogee head and round bowl with outlet, 14th century. Plate:
includes silver- gilt cup of Elizabethan form, without date marks, probably late
16th or early l7th century; also silver-gilt paten without marks, perhaps l7th
century; also silver flagon and paten of 1811 with donor's inscriptions. Pulpit:
of oak, octagonal, with two heights of moulded panels and frieze of carved
panels, early l7th century. Miscellanea: In vestry, reset in S. wall, fragment
of a cresset-stone with two holes, probably mediaeval.
SECULAR
(2)
PLUMIEY FARM (86039765), house, stands 200 yds. W. of the church. The W.
part of the house is of 17th-century origin and has walls partly of cob, partly
brick-faced and partly rendered; it is single-storied with a dormer-windowed
attic. The E. part is of the late 18th century and two-storied; it has a
four-bay S. front of Flemish-bonded brickwork, patterned with blue headers and
with a plat-band at first-floor level. Both parts of the house have modern tiled
roofs.
Inside,
chamfered beams span the ground-floor rooms. The attic chamber of the W. part
has a fireplace with a cambered and chamfered timber bressummer. Over this is
some 17th-century moulded plaster wall enrichment in which two sprays of acorns
and oak leaves flank a central arabesque with tendrils, leaves and seed-pods;
above is a fragment of another spray.
(3)
NORTH FARM (86179786), about 270 yds. N. of the church, is the house
described by Hutchins (I, 145) as William Little's farm. It is of two
storeys, with walls of brick, flint and cob, and with tiled roofs; it appears to
be of mid 18th-century origin but it was extensively altered and enlarged in the
19th century and again more recently. The gabled E. wall of the 18th century
range is surmounted by two diagonal brick chimneystacks. Towards the E. end of
the upper storey the N. wall has a timber window of four chamfered square-headed
lights under a coved lintel; this is said to be the window in which the heraldic
glass of the Daccomb family, described by Hutchins, was formerly
set; the glass has now been removed (see below).
Inside,
some rooms have exposed lightly chamfered beams. The stairs are probably of the
late i8th century, with open strings, three turned balusters to each tread and a
moulded handrail ending at the bottom in a horizontal volute.
The
heraldic glass noted by Hutchins is now preserved at 'The Pines',
Salisbury Road, Ringwood, Hampshire. There are four shields with strap work
surrounds. One shield has the arms of Twynihoe impaling Daccomb, the latter
reversed; the second has Daccomb impaling two coats per fess (unidentified 17,
18); the third has quarterly Touchet, Willoughby?, Filiol or Parentyn and
Martin, impaling Daccomb; the fourth has Daccomb paly with a blank coat. A
lozenge-shaped quarry has the Daccomb griffin; another quarry is inscribed 1601.
The impalements appear to record alliances of the Daccomb family in the late
16th or early 17th centuries; a Twynihoe-Daccomb marriage took place in
1631
(4)
MUSTON FARM. (87149866), house, some 920 yds. E. of the church, is of two
stories and has walls partly of coursed rubble and partly of banded brick and
flint, and slated roofs. It is probably, of 17th-century origin but it was
extensively rebuilt, late in the 18th or early in the 19th century.
The
E. front is of four bays and is principally of banded flint and brickwork,
representing the later rebuilding, but a slightly projecting wall of coursed
rubble at each end of the elevation appears to survive from the earlier period.
In height these walls rise only to the level of the first-floor windowsills,
indicating that the house was formerly single-storied. The W. front is of mixed
rubble and brickwork with an ashlar quoin at the N.W. corner. The gabled N. and
S. end walls and the southern part of the W. wall are masked by additions that
are probably of the late 18th century. Inside, the plan of the original range
comprises a through-passage with one room to the N. and two rooms to the S.; the
two southern rooms are separated from the W. wall by a passage which ends, to
the S., at a doorway with a head with a raised centre.
(5)
HOUSE (87359708), about 200 yds. E. of the foregoing, is of one storey with
an attic and has brick walls and a thatched roof. The central part of the range
appears to be of the late 17th century; the additions to E. and W. are probably
of the 18th century.
The
S. front (Plate 58) is symmetrical and of five bays; the middle bay, containing
the doorway, has a projecting two- storied five-sided porch, probably of the
18th century and perhaps inspired by that of Anderson (2) which stands only I m.
to the E.; it has a round-headed archway with a projecting keystone and impost
blocks, and in the upper storey it has a small stone window of one
elliptical-headed light with recessed spandrels and a weathered,
hollow-chamfered hood mould. The windows of the adjacent bays have plain wooden
casements with shallow segmental brick heads; the additional bays to E. and W.
are set a few inches back from the original facade and have similar but slightly
larger windows.
Inside,
the ground plan of the original range comprised only two rooms; one has 3 large
open fireplaces, the other had a smaller fireplace, now blocked up. The E. and
W. additions arc each of one room. Throughout the house the rooms are decorated
with a richness that is exceptional for a rural dwelling. On the ground floor,
the room to the W. of the entrance is lined from floor to ceiling with fielded
panelling in two heights, with a moulded cornice and a moulded dado rail. The
room in the W. extension has a panelled dado with a moulded rail, and a ceiling
cornice enriched with acanthus ornament, egg-and-dart mouldings and a
hollow-chamfer; the added room at the E. end on the ground-floor has a panelled
dado. In the attic storey the E. bedroom is lined from floor to ceiling with two
heights of fielded panelling. The two bedrooms of the original range have
similar panelling, with moulded cornices; the ceilings are coved and segmental
in cross-section. In the W. attic the floor-level is higher than elsewhere.
(6)
COTTAGE (87160751), 130 yds. S. of the foregoing, is single-storied with
attics and has walls of cob and brick, and a thatched roof. It was built at two
periods, the E, part of the range being of the late 17th century while the W.
part is of the late 18th century; the two parts were formerly separate tenements
although now combined as a single dwelling. The 17th-century range has cob walls
and the 18th-century walls are of brick.
Inside,
the original range has two ground-door rooms divided by a plank-and-muntin
partition; the W. room is the larger of the two and has an open fireplace with a
bread oven to the N.; the other room is unheated. The ceiling of the W. room
rests on two chamfered beams and chamfered wall-plates; the fire- place is
spanned by a stop-chamfered bressummer and above it the two ceiling beams arc
shouldered; to the E where the beams rest on the plain head of the plank-and-muntin
partition, the chamfers arc stopped. The attic is divided into three small rooms
by plank-and-muntin partitions, and a chamfered beam with shaped stops spans one
room. The ground-floor room of the 18th-century extension has two stop-chamfered
beams, and a fireplace set back to back with the original chimneybreast.
(7)
COTTAGE (86249756). 50 yds. S. of the church, is single storied with an
attic and has cob walls and a thatched roof; it was probably built early in the
17th century. Inside, a chamfered beam is exposed and the attic contains a
chamfered doorway with a four-centred head. {Demolished.)
(8)
COTTAGE (86249768) 100 yds. N. of the church, is two- storied with walls of
stone and cob, and a thatched roof. The nucleus is of the early 17th century.
Chamfered beams are exposed inside and one first-floor window retains an
original chamfered timber surround.
(9)
COTTAGE (86109768), 130 yds. N.W. of the church is two-storied and has
rendered walls, probably of cob, and a thatched roof; it is of the late 17th or
early 18th century. The E. front is symmetrical and of five bays, with a central
doorway and two casement windows on cither side; on the first floor arc four
two-light casement windows, one of them original and with a moulded timber
surround. The fireplaces and chimney- stack are it the centre of the range.
MONUMENTS
(l0-l8) unless described otherwise, the following monuments are
single-storied with attics and have cob walls and thatched roofs. They are of
the l8th century.
(10)
Cottage (86440765), originally a pair but now united to make one dwelling,
stands 230 yds. E. of (1). The E. front, of four bays, was rebuilt in banded
brick and flint in the 19th century but the other walls are original and of cob.
The ground plan of each original tenement consisted of two rooms, one with a
fireplace and one unheated- The fireplaces are set back-lo-back and have a
common chimneystack on [lie party-will; [hey have Mop-chamfered bressummers and
formerly had ovens beside them, but only one of these survives. A chamfered beam
spans each heated room.
(11)
Cottage (86299774), 170 yds. N.E. of (1), is two-storied and has recently
been re-roofed with tiles and divided into two tenements. The W. part of the
range has an original winding staircase and an open fireplace, now blocked. The
ceiling beams arc unwrought.
(12)
Cottage (86209764), 60 yds. N.W. of (1) is two-storied. The W. front is
approximately symmetrical and of five bays with a central doorway; the
chimneystacks are on the gabled N. and S. walls. Inside, at the S. end of the
range is an open fireplace with a stop-chamfered bressummer- The ceiling beams
are unwrought.
(13)
Cottage (86269750). 120 yds. S.E. of (1), was partly rebuilt in the 19th
century. The ground plan is of three bays with the chimneystack between the
central bay and that to the W. A roughly chamfered longitudinal beam spans each
bay. A partition has been removed and the central bay and that to the E. have
now been made into one room, a post being inserted to support the beams.
(14)
Cottage (86219751), 120 yds. S, of (l), has a S. front of three bays; the
entrance was originally in the middle bay but it has now been transferred to a
modem W. extension. Inside, the ground floor contains two original rooms; that
to the W. has a fireplace and is spanned by a longitudinal chamfered beam. The
E. room is unheated.
(15)
The Old Parsonage (86439762), 200 yds. E. of (1), is two- storied and has
rendered brick walls, The N. front is approximately symmetrical and of four
bays, with i central doorway in a gabled single-storied porch. The first floor
is marked by a plat-band. The ground-floor windows have segmental heads and
those of the first floor are square-headed; [he window sashes appear to be of
the 19th century. One of the first-floor openings has been blocked. A
chimneystack occurs on each gabled end wall and a third stack occurs near the
middle of the range. Internally the house appears to have been extensively
remodelled about the middle of the 19th century.
(16)
Cottage (87179746), 950 yds. E. of (1), is probably of the late l8th century
but it has been much altered. The E. and W. fronts arc now of four bays and the
original fenestration has been lost. The fireplaces and chimneystacks are on the
gabled N- and S. end walls. Inside, the plan has been modified but it probably
consisted originally of a through-passage with two rooms to the N- and one room
to the S. The kitchen, at the N. end, has three chamfered beams; other beams
occur at the heads of the through- age partitions and a chamfered beam occurs in
the S. room.
(17)
Cottages (85689779), originally a range of four tenements now converted to
make two, stand about 600 yds. W. of (1). The range is two-storied and of four
bays; each original dwelling had one room on each floor. On the ground floor the
fireplaces are set back-to-back, with two chimneystacks symmetrically disposed
in the range.
(18)
Malthouse (8569765), 150 yds. S. of the foregoing, is probably of the 18th
century; it is now used as a barn and has been much altered. The plan comprises
a long E.-W. range, with a malting kiln to the N., at the W. end. Inside, traces
can be seen of two upper floors, now removed; the first floor was only 5 ft.
above the ground floor. The floor of the kiln is of perforated bricks supported
on iron beams.
The
following monuments are probably of the first half of 19th century—
Abbot's
Court Dairy
(86689795), a brick-built house and barn, stands on the site of the former
Abbot's Court (Hutchins I, 148).
The Greyhound Inn (86199782), 240 yds. N. of (1),
has cob walls and tiled roofs.
A House (86329761), 80 yds E of
(1), with walls of banded brick and flint, was formerly The Bush Inn.
North West Farm (85949764), house,
300 yds W. Of (1), has walls of brick and of banded brick and flint.
A House And Shop (86199751), with cob walls and slated
roofs, was a range of three tenements until c.1900.
Cottages, two adjoining (86299764), with walls of
brick and cob, and slated roofs, are said to have originated as one house,
perhaps in the i8th century.
Hill Barn (86789895), 1,600 yds. N.W. of (l) is
partly of banded brick and flint and partly of cob; the roofs are slated.
MEDIAEVAL
AND LATER EARTHWORKS
(19)
SETTLEMENT REMAINS (871976) of the former hamlet of Winterbome Muston are
found near Muston Farm; they consist of about 3 acres of very disturbed scarps
and banks, and form coherent pattern except for a small enclosure immediately E.
of the farm. The enclosure is a rough rectangle, 40 yds. by 25 yds. And is
bounded by low banks.
(20)
CULTIVATION REMAINS. The three-field system at Winterbome Kingston remained
largely unenclosed until 1848 (Map and Award, D.C.R.O.; also Tithe Map 1842).
The fields can now be seen only as traces of ridge-and-furrow on air photographs
(R.A.F. CPE/UK 1934: 2122-3); they occur S. Of West Down Barn (847976), in the
former 'Little Field', and N. of West Down Barn (847985), in the former
"North Field'. Projecting S.W. from the boundary of 'Little Field' (847975)
are the stubs of some strip fields that probably belong to an earlier system;
they lie at right-angles to the fields that were enclosed in 1848 and perhaps
indicate that the open fields were laid out anew at some period.
Little
is known about the open fields of Winterborne Muston, but they certainly
existed; the final exchange of intermingled lands was affected in 1774 (Map of
Intermixed Lands at Muston, copy in D.C.R.O.). Slight remains of seven flat
strips, 20 yds to 25 yds wide and at least 200 yds long, bounded by low banks,
exist N. of Muston Farm (873987).
ROMAN
AND PREHISTORIC
21)
ROMANO-BRITISH WELL on Kingston Down, excavated J. C. Mansel-Pleydell
in 1890 is not precisely located. The finds are in D.C.M. The well lay at about
200 ft. above O.D. was dug into Chalk, overlaid by wash from Woolwich and
Reading Beds. The well was 3⅔ ft. in diameter and 85 ft. deep to the water
level; for the lowest 12 ft. its diameter increased to 4 ⅓Ft. The filling
included samian and coarse pottery, coins from the late 1st to the 4th
centuries, bronze brooches and bracelets, pieces of shale, an engraved
bloodstone, and a shallow Purbeck marble vase. A piece of bronze strip incised
with a bird figure may have decorated a priest's sceptre. A circle of tiles 6
ft. in diameter lay 4 ft. E. of the well and enclosed a small sarsen stone and
an iron knife. To the N.E. was a rectangular pit, 6 ft. by 5 ft. in area and 4
ft. deep, containing burnt pottery and flints and ashes. These and the contents
of the well suggest that the site was associated with a shrine. (Dorset Procs.
XI (1890), 1-6; Ant.]. XXXIII (1953), 74-5).
(22)
SETTLEMENT (865003), prehistoric or Romano-British, on Muston Down, is
marked by banks, ditches and scarps, now mostly levelled by ploughing, covering
an area of some 6 acres. The settlement lies among 'Celtic' fields (Group (66),
p. 343) at about 250 ft. O.D., on ground that falls gently southwards from a
ridge some 500 yds. to the N. The main surviving earth- works consisted of two
dykes, (a) about 45 ft. across, overall, with an outer ditch, (b) about 34 ft.
across, overall, with an inner ditch; the dykes met at an acute angle and formed
the W. side of an area of 2 acres, otherwise defined on the N. by a low curved
lynchet, on the E. by a further lynchet, and partly on the S. by a scarp
returning from this lynchet. Dyke (a) was contemporary with 'Celtic' long
fields, the lynchets of which had formed against its ditch. About 150 yds S. of
this partly enclosed area, and joined to it by a narrow ditch are the remains of
a curving length of ditch about 20 ft. across with traces of a bank on its N.
side. This suggests that dyke (b) may have been part of another enclosure
contemporary with 'Celtic' fields of different form. Other slight ditches
visible on air photographs (R.A.F. CPE/UK 1934,5122-3) include traces of a
rectangular enclosure, 200 ft. by 100 ft., 70 yds. S.W. of (b), and further
indicate the complex development of the site. The settlement has not produced.
finds, but early Iron Age and samian ware has been recovered front the
associated 'Celtic' fields. There is a possible connection with Combs Ditch (Winterbome
Whitechurch (19)). A line of small banks and scarps runs from the N.E. of the
settlement area to join, at 86570075, a bank, which projects S.E. from the angle
of Combs Ditch and which is perhaps associated with an Iron Age phase of this
earthwork, (plans, pp. 304, 343).
(23)
INHUMATION BURIAL, Romano-British, in an undecorated lead coffin, was found
in 1858 at Dairy House (86159717), on a N-facing chalk slope at about 200 ft.
above O.D.
(Hutchins
I, 148; Shipp albums in D.C.M., V, 202).