Langton Long Blandford

15 LANGTON LONG BLANDFORD (8905)

(O.S. 6 ins., ST 80 NE, ST 90 NW)

Langton Long Blandford is a parish of some 1,200 acres, lying on the N. bank of the R. Stour, adjacent to Blandford Forum (Dorset III, 16). The land is almost wholly Chalk, rising from about 100 ft. in the S. to 350 ft. above sea-level in the N. A dry tributary valley of the Stour forms the N.W. boundary. Until 1933 the parish included Littleton, now part of Blandford St. Mary (Dorset III, 40); recent enlargement of Blandford Forum also has deprived Langton of a small area in the W. The village, reduced to the parish church and a few houses, stands on the river terrace of the Stour. Some 700 yds. to the S.E. the stables and other outbuildings of Langton House stand in the park of the former mansion, now demolished.

Ecclesiastical

(1) The Parish Church of All Saints, in the E. of the village, was rebuilt in 1861 to designs by T. H. Wyatt (Sarum Dioc. Regy.); the former church, built c. 1740, appears to have incorporated some part of a mediaeval structure (Hutchins I, 284), but nothing of this remains today. Some fittings from the two earlier churches are reset in the present building.

Fittings—Bells: three; treble inscribed 'W. W. TP. Anno Domini 1674', others modern. Brasses: reset in modern slate tablet (2¼ ft. by 2¾ ft.), comprising inscription plate, three figures, two scrolls, and shield-of-arms of Whitewood; presumably from former floor-slab of John Whitewood, his wife Joan, 1457, and his second wife Alice, 1467 (Plate 14); spaces left in inscription for date of John's death not filled in. Communion Table: In W. tower, of oak, with turned legs, plain stretchers and plain top, late 17th century. Credence Table: of mahogany, with moulded edge, legs with fretted stays, drawer with brass drop-handles, secular, late 18th century.

Monuments and Floor-slab. Monuments: In chancel, on N. wall, (1) of Louisa (Craufurd) Farquharson, 1839, marble tablet by J. Browne, London. In S. transept, on E. wall, (2) of Anne (Staines) Farquharson, 1837, marble tablet with shaped and carved head, by J. Browne; (3) of James Farquharson, 1795, marble tablet (Plate 38) with sculptured oval panel above, and shield-of-arms of Farquharson impaling Staines; on W. wall, (4) of Lieutenant Frederick Thomas Farquharson. 1841, marble wall-monument with representation of a sword, by W. G. Nicholl, London; (5) of Anne Farquharson, 1834, oval tablet with foliate border; (6) of Henrietta Anne (Farquharson) Grove, 1821, shaped marble tablet with urn finial and, on apron, shield-of-arms of Grove impaling Farquharson, by Shout, London. In nave, above N. arcade, (7) of Edward Vivian Keane, 1840, circular tablet with wreath surround, by J. Browne; (8) of Marion Harte, 1845, oval tablet by Marshall of Blandford; on S. wall, (9) of Sir William Fraser Bt., 1827, tablet by H. Wood, Bristol; (10) of Keith Fraser, 1826, round marble tablet with wreath and crossed-sword enrichment, by G. Mann, London; (11) of Elizabeth, Lady Fraser, 1834, tablet by H. Wood; (12) of Sir James Fraser Bt., 1834, wall-monument with shield-of-arms, by J. Browne. In N. aisle, (13) of William Crosse, 1815, and others of his family, 1792–1851, wall-monument with urn finial, by Kent of Blandford. In churchyard, ten paces W. of tower, (14) of Richard Pultney, 1801, and his wife Elizabeth, 1820, table tomb. Floor-slab: see Brasses.

Plate: includes Elizabethan silver cup and cover-paten, perhaps by Lawrence Stratford, but maker's mark worn away, with date-letter of 1568; original cover-paten with modern repairs and date-letter of 1908; also silver flagon and paten, c. 1850 or later, and silver-plated cup.

Secular

Langton House (90240562), built in 1827–33 to the design of C. R. Cockerell in place of an 18th-century house, was demolished in 1949. An engraving of the 18th-century house (Hutchins 1, opp. 284) shows a two-storeyed main range with six regularly spaced bays, flanked by projecting two-bay wings, also two-storeyed, but lower than the main range. Between the two central bays of the six-bay front the engraving shows a doorway and a columned porch with a Doric pediment; this porch is now at Langton Farm (8).

(2) Stables (90250562) of Langton House, with walls of finely jointed ashlar and with slate-covered roofs (Plate 47), stand some 70 yds. N. of the site of the former house (see above); they were built in 1832 and comprise an octagonal courtyard surrounded by two-storeyed ranges. Within the courtyard the ranges have eaves of exceptionally wide spread; externally the N.W. range extends to fill the N. and W. corners of the otherwise octagonal plan. The former coach-house, in the W. corner, has recently been remodelled to make a dwelling-house. The courtyard is entered at the centre of the S.E. and N.W. ranges through round-headed archways surmounted by plain pediments. Over the N.W. pediment is a clock turret with a cupola and a weather-vane, the latter with the date 1832.

(3) Kitchen Wing (90260556) of Langton House, of two storeys with walls and roofs as in (2), stands immediately N.E. of the site of the former house; it dates from c. 1827. The threebay S.W. front, originally facing a courtyard at the back of the main house, has a pedimented centre bay with a round-headed window in the upper storey.

(4) Brew-House (90320551), of two storeys, with walls and roofs as in (2), has in the S.E. front an archway surmounted by a turret with a cupola. The S.W. front is masked by an arcaded loggia of three bays, with round-headed arches springing from coupled rectangular piers. The building probably is of c. 1830.

(5) South Lodge (89880592), cottage, of one storey with rendered walls and slate-covered roof, was built c. 1830. In the S. front and in the E. and W. sides of the central block the wide eaves are supported on slender Roman-Doric colonnades.

(6) Lodge (90460526), cottage, of one storey with walls and roofs as in the foregoing, is probably of c. 1840. The S.W. front is symmetrical and of three bays, with a round-headed doorway and with plain sashed windows.

(7) The Rectory (89660587), of two storeys, with rendered walls and slate-covered roofs, is mainly of the early 19th century, but it incorporates a small 18th-century range in the western part. The S.E. front is symmetrical and of three bays, the centre bay defined by pilasters and a small pediment. At the centre is a french window; in the lower storey the side bays have sashed windows, in the upper storey all three bays have casement windows with glazing-bars arranged to form narrow marginal panes. The N.W. elevation incorporates banded rubble and brickwork of 18th-century date. Inside, the stairs have plain balustrades and an inlaid mahogany handrail. Reset in an internal wall is a 16th-century stone window of two lights with four-centred heads; it is perhaps from the former church.

(8) Langton Farm (89590585), house, of two storeys with attics, has walls of flint, rubble and brick, partly banded and partly rendered, and tile-covered roofs. In the N.W. range, now of ten bays, the six bays on the N.E. are of 17th-century origin; early in the 18th century the range was extended on the S.W. by another four bays and a S.E. wing was formed at the S.W. end of the extension. The mid 18th-century stone porch from Langton House (see above) was reset on the N.E. front, presumably c. 1827. Recently the main N.E. range has been rendered and the windows have been provided with modern casements. Inside, the original range contains some exposed beams; the 18th-century extension has chamfered beams with shaped stops resting on lightly chamfered wall-plates. A staircase with slender Tuscan-column balusters and a moulded handrail occurs in the 18th-century extension.

(9) Scotland Cottages (90840614), pair, of two storeys, with brick walls with some flint banding near the ground, and with tiled roofs, are probably of late 18th-century origin. Small brick buttresses in the lower storey suggest that the external walls may originally have been those of a barn. A cottage adjacent on the E. is of c. 1800.

(10) Langbourne House (90500808), of two storeys, has walls of rubble and brickwork, in part rendered, and tiled roofs. The W. range is of c. 1840 and has a rendered W. front of three bays in which a central doorway with a porch with Tuscan columns is flanked by plain sashed windows; similar windows occur in the upper storey; the roof is masked by a parapet above a moulded cornice. To the E. of the 19th-century range, on the S., extends an earlier range, probably of the 18th century, with walls partly of rubble and partly of brickwork. Many of the windows have iron casements with leaded lights, but on the S. side of the E. range the windows of the upper storey are sashed.

Roman and Prehistoric

A number of finds indicative of Iron Age and Romano-British settlement are known from the parish, all on the lower slopes of the Stour valley. Roman pottery including samian ware, and brooches have been found, principally near 89710597; bronze brooches and a pin in the B.M. (Durden Collection) probably came from this site. An inhumation in a cist N. of Langton House might also be Roman, since samian sherds were found nearby (Hutchins I, 289–90; Archaeologia, XXIII (1830), 415–6). 'Human remains and British urns' were found in 1840 at 90790544, and at least four silver Durotrigian coins were found at 90500530 (O.S. records).

Monuments (11–13), Round Barrows

(11) Bowl (91260732), on the parish boundary with Tarrant Monkton, lies on the crest of a N.–S. Chalk ridge, 360 ft. above O.D. Diam. 50 ft., ht. 5 ft.

(12) Bowl (91580658), on Little Down, on the crest of a Chalk ridge, 330 ft. above O.D., was about 45 ft, in diameter, but now is ploughed out. Probably this is 'Down Wood Barrow', opened by Cunnington in 1881 to yield three primary contracted inhumations and three secondary cremations, but no grave goods (Dorset Procs., XXXVII (1916), 46; Cunnington MS., no. 42).

(13) Bowl (91790613), in Buzbury Plantation, 350 ft. above O.D., probably is the barrow in which several urns were found in 1840 (Durden Catalogue, 18). Diam. 30 ft., ht. 3 ft.

Linear Ditches around Buzbury Rings; see Tarrant Keyneston (18), (19), p. 104.

'Celtic' Fields; see p. 118, Group (70).