Broadmayne

6 BROADMAYNE (7286)

(O.S. 6 ins. SY 78 NW)

The parish of Broadmayne, a narrow irregular strip of land, covers just under 1,000 acres 3½ m. S.E. of Dorchester. From the S.W. boundary, at the E. end of the S. Dorset Ridgeway at about 470 ft. above O.D., the land slopes gently N.E. on Chalk for 2 miles; beyond this there is a small area of Reading Beds in the extreme N.E. of the parish at just under 200 ft. above O.D. The bricks made in this area gained a considerable local reputation, and two derelict kilns remain in evidence of their manufacture.

The village lies on Chalk near the source of a small stream flowing N.E. Nearly all the houses older than the 18th century are in the village, probably as a result of the existence of the open fields which lay all round the village until 1811 (Enclosure Map and Award, in D.C.R.O.).

Earthworks include one of the very rare Dorset bank barrows.

Ecclesiastical

(1) The Parish Church of St. Martin stands at the N.W. end of the village. The walls are of faced, roughly squared and coursed rubble with ashlar dressings, all of Portland stone; the roofs are tiled, with stone-slated verges. The Chancel was built late in the 13th century and the Nave soon afterwards together with the South Tower, but the top stage of the tower was built or rebuilt late in the 15th or early in the 16th century. The church was extensively restored in 1865–6 by J. Hicks of Dorchester when the N. and E. walls of the chancel and the chancel arch were rebuilt; at the same time were added the North Aisle, involving the building of a N. nave arcade, and the North Vestry.

St. Martin's is in the minority of English churches with a S. tower; for the rest, the interest of the building has been adversely affected by heavy restoration.

Architectural Description—The Chancel (18½ ft. by 14½ ft.) has, reset in the 19th-century E. wall, a restored triplet of 13th-century lancet lights continuously roll-moulded internally. In the rebuilt N. wall is a reset and partly restored 13th-century lancet window and further W. a 19th-century archway. In the S. wall, which has been rebuilt in the upper part, are two lancet windows similar to that in the N. wall; between them is a 16th or 17th-century doorway with chamfered jambs and segmental-pointed head; it is now blocked. The chancel arch is of the 19th century.

The Nave (31 ft. by 19 ft.) has a N. arcade of 1865–6. In the S. wall, which has been lowered, are two windows, both insertions: the eastern of c. 1330, of greensand, is of two trefoiled ogee lights with a quatrefoil in a two-centred head, with the lights rebated for shutters; the western is of the 15th century and of two cinque-foiled lights in a square head with moulded reveals and label. The S. doorway of c. 1300, opening to the tower, has chamfered and partly restored jambs and two-centred head. The late 15th-century W. doorway has moulded jambs and a four-centred arch with a label with one surviving head-stop; the contemporary W. window is of three cinque-foiled lights with vertical tracery in a two-centred head with moulded reveals and a label with head-stops. Reset in the E. wall of the 19th-century N. aisle is a 13th-century archway, two-centred and of two chamfered orders, the outer continuous; reset in the N. wall is a window of similar form to the S.E. window in the nave.

The South Tower (6 ft. by 8 ft.) is of two stages divided by a restored string outside and three storeys inside, with a projecting parapet wall and gargoyles; the ground floor forms the church porch. In the S. wall is a doorway of c. 1300 with chamfered jambs and a two-centred arch of two chamfered orders, the inner order merging into the jambs, the outer continuous. Above the doorway is a later blocked window of one trefoiled light. The second storey has, in the S. wall, a window of c. 1300 and of two paired pointed lights, and in each wall of the bell-chamber is a late 15th or early 16th-century window of two trefoiled lights in a square head with a label.

Fittings—Coffin-lid: in N. aisle, tapering and moulded slab of Purbeck marble with raised cross on stepped Calvary, early 14th-century. Font: octagonal bowl of Portland stone with shafted angles, quatrefoil in each face and restored moulded underside, panelled stem and moulded base, 15th-century, restored.

Monuments: In chancel—on N. wall, (1) to Eliza, wife of John Gardiner, 1834, white and grey marble tablet; (2) to Laura Hussey, 1845, marble tablet, by Reeves of Bath; on S. wall, (3) to the Rev. David Urquhart, 1829, wall-tablet of grey, white and black marble with acroteria, urn and painted achievement-of-arms of Urquhart quarterly; (4) to John Henry Urquhart, son of above, 1844, marble tablet; (5) to Sally Wentworth, 1843, white marble sarcophagus-shaped tablet with draped urn, by Hellyer of Weymouth; (6) to Mary Damer Urquhart, 1850, and (7) to Jane Fyfe Urquhart, 1850, marble shield-shaped tablets linked together by an inscribed marble oval. In churchyard—S. of nave, (8) to William Gatch, 1691, and Ann his wife, 1698/9, table-tomb; (9) to John Sherren, 1714/5, Henry his son, 1752, and Thomasine, wife of Henry, 1761, table-tomb; (10) to Jeremiah Pount, 1692/3, headstone; (11) to John Tibbes, 1712, head-stone; (12) to Philip Tebes, 1703, headstone; S.W. of nave, (13) to Philip Bard, 1700, and Jeffery Samway, 1737/8, table-tomb; (14)–(16) table-tombs, 19th-century. Reset in the wall of a barn at the crossroads 150 yds. S.E. of the church, (17) to George, son of Henry . . . enens, headstone, 17th-century. (Barn demolished, headstone lost since survey)

Niche: In E. wall of S. tower, recess with trefoiled head, c. 1300. Piscinae: In chancel, (1) recess with moulded jambs, trefoiled head and round drain, c. 1300. In nave, (2) in S. wall, recess with trefoiled head, no drain, c. 1300. Stoups: In W. wall of nave, outside, (1) recess with round head and round bowl, mediaeval. In tower, (2) recess with pointed head, front of bowl broken away, c. 1300. Sundials: two; reset in N.E. quoins of chancel and S. wall of tower, scratch dials, mediaeval.

Secular

Unless otherwise described, the houses are of one storey with attics and of rubble with thatched roofs.

Dorchester-Wareham road

N. side:

(2) House is of two storeys; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are slate-covered. The front was hung with mathematical tiles early in the 19th century, and the wide doorway, the three wide casements with wooden lintels on the ground floor and the four smaller casements with segmental heads on the first floor are of the same date. The gabled porch was added late in the 19th century. Inside, the plan comprises a through passage and three rooms; each room has a fireplace, one in each gable end and the third backing on the passage. As part of a thorough renovation of the inside c. 1830–50 the present staircase was built alongside the back wall, with access from a longitudinal passage partitioned off in the middle room N. of the chimney-stack; the disposition strongly suggests that the original lay-out resembled that of Brenscombe Farm (Monument 145) in Corfe Castle parish, and that the house was built in the 17th century.

(3) House, of two storeys, was built in the 17th century on a plan comprising two rooms and a through passage. The plank-and-muntin walls of the passage remain. A small original window, now blocked, which lit a staircase on the S. side of the E. fireplace, also survives, but all the other windows were renewed in the 19th century. The W. gable with a parapet and the brick W. chimney-stack are 18th-century rebuildings.

(4) House stands 20 yds. N. of the road and is built of brickwork in Flemish bond (plan, p. 32). Above a central doorway is a stone inscribed WCM 1732 which no doubt is the date of the building. The house originally had only one fireplace, at the E. end. In the side walls of the W. end room are two large openings, now blocked. The window heads are three-centred and formed of two rings of brickwork, the inner being of red headers, the outer of glazed headers. The interior has been greatly altered.

(5) House, on the N.W. corner of the crossroads, is of two storeys (Plate 45). Above the door is a stone inscribed JGL 1698, the date of building. The S. front is designed with an attempt at symmetry; the central doorway has continuous chamfered jambs and a cambered lintel; the flanking windows on the ground floor have hollow-chamfered mullions, and the three first-floor windows have timber frames containing casements with leaded lights. The original plan (opp.) comprised two rooms at the front, each with a fireplace, and a staircase; the front door opened into the larger E. room, behind which was a kitchen; the W. room was a parlour. The insertion of a staircase in the 19th century has obscured the original arrangement on the N. but the eccentricity of the window, now blocked, in the N. wall of the parlour suggests that it was so placed to clear a small annexe; thus the deduction is that a doorway stood opposite the front door and opened to a lobby from which the kitchen and the farmyard were reached. (Burnt down 1966)

Barn, 35 yds. E. of the house, is of cob on a stone plinth about 4 ft. high; the roof is thatched. It is of the late 17th or early 18th century, nearly contemporary with the house. The roof trusses consist of jointed crucks with braced collars, the braces being small and curved. The members are fastened with separate tenon-blocks in mortices cut through the full depth of adjacent timbers and pegged. (Demolished 1966)

(6) Cottage is of cob with a brick front. It was built in the 18th century and heightened to two storeys in the 19th century.

(7) House is of cob on a stone plinth and was built in the late 16th or early 17th century. Inside is a wide fireplace with chamfered stone jambs and a chamfered cambered timber lintel. In the same room the axial ceiling beam, which is chamfered and stopped, has a pronounced curvature. The building has been enlarged and is now two cottages. (Demolished)

(8) Cottages, two, of two storeys, were built of cob with brick chimneys in the early 19th century; they have later porches. (E. cottage demolished)

S. side:

(9) House, of two storeys, was built in the late 16th century to a plan (p. 32) comprising a hall divided from an inner room by a plank-and-muntin partition, which has since been destroyed. Next to the fireplace is a small rectangular projection probably for a staircase; the present staircase was built in the late 17th century, a period when a through passage and third room were added. In recent years the interior has been considerably altered.

(10) House, of two storeys, was built probably in the early 17th century, on a plan comprising two rooms with the entrance in the E. end beside the fireplace. Towards the end of the century a through passage and a third room were added at the E. end, where a first-floor window with stone dressings still remains. The E. gable has moulded kneelers and coping. A back wing was built in the 18th century and extended in brick in the 19th century.

(11) Rectory, of two storeys with cellar and attics, is of brickwork, rendered, and with tiled roofs. It was built at the end of the 18th century on an L-shaped plan. The longer arm of the L comprises a range of four rooms with two chimney-stacks and a longitudinal stairhall at the front; the shorter arm, extending towards the road, is a kitchen wing. The S. or garden front, of some architectural quality, has a plain parapet; two large three-sided bay windows of wood on the ground floor and two three-light sash-hung windows on the first floor predominate.

(12) House, of two storeys and of cob with brick chimneys, has a symmetrical front. It was built in the early 19th century and is now in part a shop.

West Knighton Road

(13) Cottage, of two storeys, is of brick with a tiled roof with stone verges. It was built in the late 18th century.

(14) Cottages, three, of two storeys, form a range, the oldest cottage, built of cob in the late 18th century, being at the N. end. The adjacent pair, of stone, are slightly later and share one chimney-stack.

Watergates Lane

(15) House (734870, beside the road), of two storeys, is of cob on a brick plinth, with a corrugated iron roof. The visible features are of the late 18th century, but the proportions of the plan suggest that the house may have been built a century earlier.

(16) Cottages (739870), range of three, have undergone much alteration and are of uncertain date. The middle one, of cob, is the oldest, and has an extension to the E. in cob with a hipped roof. These two cottages may be of the 17th and 18th century respectively. At the end of the 18th century a brick cottage was built on the W. and shortly afterwards the earlier ones were refaced in brick.

(17) Watergates Cottage (741871), of cob, was built in the late 16th or early 17th century on a plan with a hall and an inner room. It was extended to the S.W. in the late 17th century by the addition of a third room with a fireplace. The roof trusses of the original house have principal rafters and collar beams.

Earthworks, Etc.

Mediaeval and Later Earthworks

(18) Settlement Remains, formerly part of Broadmayne village (733865), lie N.E. of the present village, covering about 6 acres. For relationship to the deserted mediaeval village of Fryer Mayne, see Knighton, West, (19). (R.A.F. V.A.P. CPE/UK 1934: 1052–3.)

Other Earthworks and Allied Monuments

(19) Bank Barrow, p. 431.

(20–29) Round Barrows, p. 440.