Lydlinch

28 LYDLINCH (7413)

(O.S. 6 ins. ST 71 SW, ST 71 SE)

The parish has an area of about 3,400 acres and is divided into two parts, distinct from one another both geologically and historically. The W. part is roughly square and lies entirely on Oxford Clay at a general altitude of 200 ft. to 250 ft., except where a slight eminence near the centre rises to 300 ft. The other part is a narrow tongue of land stretching out to the E.; it lies on Corallian Beds and has an altitude of 200 ft. to 300 ft. The W. area is drained by the R. Lydden and the Caundle Brook, the latter forming the N. boundary; the tip of the E. tongue drains into the R. Divelish.

The parish probably contains three original settlements: Lydlinch, Stock Gaylard and Plumber. The western square was divided between the first two while Plumber occupied the eastern tongue. Stock Gaylard, in the N.W. corner of the area, continued to be a separate parish until the 19th century; its territory extended over the S. part of the area although separated from the village by ground belonging to Lydlinch. (fn. 1) Today Stock Gaylard village is represented only by its church (2) and manor house (5). Lydlinch village consists of the parish church (1) and about twenty houses in the N.E. quarter of the western square. Plumber is a single farm (6). Stock Gaylard and Plumber are both named in Domesday Book, but Lydlinch is not, although it was almost certainly in existence. Lydlinch and Stock Gaylard both had open fields, but there is no evidence of them at Plumber.

Secondary settlements such as Hydes, Stroud Farm, Ramsbury (which is probably Berry Farm), Blackrow and Holebrook Green led, by the 14th century at the latest, to the formation of enclosures beyond the open fields. (fn. 2) Enclosure of the waste and consequent formation of new farms continued in the post-mediaeval period; for instance the late 16th-century Haydon Farm (9) is likely to have come into existence in consequence of the enclosure of part of Haydon Common, and the date of Little Rodmore Farm (20) confirms the implication of the geometrical field layout, that the S.W. corner of the parish was enclosed in the 18th century. Ridge Farm (18), also with geometrical fields, reflects later 18th-century enclosure in the S. part of the parish.

The strung-out hamlet of Kingstag in the S.W. corner of the parish is probably another late 18th-century development. The monuments noted there are not earlier than the 19th century, but buildings are shown on the O.S. map of 1811, and it must be presumed that several existing late 19th-century cottages replace others of somewhat earlier date.

Enclosure of the common lands continued into the middle of the 19th century (fn. 3), and even today some 80 acres of Lydlinch Common remain unenclosed.

The principal monuments are the parish church and Stock Gaylard House. The parish is notable for the large number of 17th-century farmhouses to survive.

Ecclesiastical

(1) The Parish Church of St. Thomas À Becket stands on the W. side of Lydlinch village. Its walls are of rubble with ashlar dressings; the roofs are covered with Welsh slates, except in the chancel which has stone slates and the tower which is leaded. The Chancel and Nave appear to be of 15th-century origin but with much restoration and alteration; the West Tower is of the early 15th century; the North Aisle and South Porch are of the 16th century. In the first half of the 19th century the nave walls were heightened, the chancel arch was restored, a new N. arcade was inserted and a new low-pitched nave roof was provided; the North Vestry was probably added at this period. The chancel was re-roofed in 1875.

A passage in Hutchins (2nd ed. IV, 62), describing the church as it was before restoration, mentions two round-headed arches; these might have been of the 12th century but they have now gone and the font is the only remaining evidence for a building of that period.

Architectural Description—The walls of the Chancel (20½ ft. by 16¼ ft.) rise from chamfered plinths. The gabled E. wall has a restored 15th-century window of three ogee-headed trefoil lights below vertical tracery; the two-centred head has a moulded label with square stops. In the N. wall are two square-headed 15th-century windows, each of two ogee-headed cinquefoil lights; between the windows is a 19th-century doorway to the vestry with a moulded four-centred head and continuous jambs. The S. wall has two windows uniform with those of the N. wall and between them is a S. doorway with a moulded four-centred head and continuous jambs, original but largely restored. The chancel arch is segmental-pointed and of two orders, the outer with a hollow-chamfer, the inner with an ogee moulding; these mouldings are continuous on the responds but the inner order is interrupted at the springing by shaped brackets of the late 19th century on which rests a modern rood-beam. A projection from the W. wall of the Vestry probably represents a former rood-loft vice turret.

The Nave (33½ ft. by 22½ ft.) has, to the N., an early 19th-century two-bay arcade with boldly chamfered four-centred arches, continuous chamfered responds and an octagonal centre pier. At the S.E. corner is a two-stage buttress, apparently modern. W. of the buttress a short length of the S. wall is thicker than elsewhere, the thickness terminating at a weathered capping some 3 ft. below the eaves; presumably this is a vestige of the nave wall as it was before being rebuilt and heightened early in the 19th century. In the thick part of the wall is a single-light window with a cinquefoil ogee head and blind spandrels in a square-headed casement-moulded surround. The S. doorway is flanked symmetrically by two 19th-century windows uniform with the E. window of the chancel, but somewhat taller. The doorway is of the late 15th century and has a moulded four-centred head with continuous jambs.

In the North Aisle (29 ft. by 8½ ft.) the N. wall has a chamfered plinth and small square-set buttresses of three weathered stages. Between the buttresses are two square-headed windows, each of three cinquefoil-headed lights; they appear to be of the late 15th century and are presumably reset. Hutchins describes two-light windows in this position, possibly in error. In the W. wall is a 16th-century window of two four-centred lights under a square head.

The West Tower (11 ft. square) has a double chamfered plinth and is divided into three stages by hollow-chamfered and moulded string-courses. At the top is an embattled parapet with a continuous moulded coping. At each corner is a diagonal buttress around which the string-courses are continuous. The buttresses are of four stages, with moulded and weathered offsets about half way up each of the tower stages. Above the buttresses, diagonally-set pinnacles mark the four corners of the embattled parapet and terminate in obelisk-shaped finials. At the centre of each parapet a smaller pinnacle rises from a gargoyle in the parapet string-course and ends in a moulded capping at battlement level; above is an obelisk slightly smaller than those at the corners. The tower arch is two-centred and has two hollow-chamfered orders with continuous responds and square plinths. In the E. part of the N. side is a projecting vice turret with two small loop lights, the upper one with radial tracery. The vice doorway has a chamfered four-centred head with continuous jambs. The W. doorway has a four-centred hollow-chamfered and ogee-moulded head with continuous jambs. Above, the two-centred casement-moulded W. window contains three trefoil ogee-headed lights with vertical tracery above, and a moulded label with square stops. In the second stage the E. wall is divided at about half height by a weathered offset, above which the wall is set back about 1 ft.; the outline of a former nave roof, steeper than the present roof, can be traced immediately below the offset. The vice turret terminates in a weathered stone capping at about the same level as the E. offset. Internally the vice newel ends at a roll-moulded and hollow-chamfered capital; the doorway at the top of the vice is square-headed. The W. wall of the second stage of the tower has a small window with a two-centred head and continuous jambs. In the third stage, each side has a two-centred belfry window of two cinquefoil-headed lights with a blind quatrefoil above; each window has a moulded label with return stops; on the E. and N. sides the window heads are partly masked by modern clock-faces. S. of the eastern clock-face is a small loop.

The South Porch (7½ ft. by 8½ ft.) has an archway with a moulded four-centred head and continuous jambs ending at run-out stops. A churchwardens' inscription dated 1753, over the opening, probably refers to repairs; the archway appears to be of the 16th century. At the apex of the gable is an 18th-century finial with a sundial attached to the S. face. Reset low down in the E. wall is a small 15th-century quatrefoil loop.

The mid 19th-century Roof of the nave is of four bays and has three tie-beam trusses filled in with trefoil-headed vertical tracery in wood; the trusses rest on coved and moulded wall-plates.

Fittings—Bells: five, by Thomas Purdue; treble recast 1908; 2nd with initials CB, NR, CW, TP and date 1681; 3rd recast 1908; 4th with initials C B, N R, C W, date 1681 and inscription 'Three bells were caste and hey made fowre They all here hangs now in this tower'; 5th with initials C B, N R, T P, date 1681 and inscription 'First second fowrth and tennur tells They were the fowre made of three bells'. Brass: In N. aisle, reset on N. wall, shaped brass plate inscribed 'Good Sr. for Jesus sake forbear to move the bodies that rest here. R.B.P. 1767'. Doors: three; S. door with vertical external planks and horizontal internal planks, with original wrought-iron studs and strap-hinges and wooden lockcase, 16th century, with 19th-century cover-fillets; door to tower vice with chamfered ribs terminating in four-centred head, 16th century; at head of tower vice, similar door, square-headed. Font: (Plate 26) comprising square Purbeck marble bowl with splayed angles and chamfered under-edge, vertical sides of bowl decorated with round-headed flush panels in grooved outline, bowl rests on large central shaft with four small corner shafts, all standing on chamfered base; late 12th century. Gallery: At W. end of nave, supported on wooden uprights shaped as hollow-chamfered columns with attached shafts; front of gallery with carved panelling in which the panel-heads are of cast-iron; 19th century. A section of same parapet, perhaps originally from W. end of N. aisle, now forms dado on N. side of chancel. Glass: In nave, reset in E. window of S. wall, formerly in chancel (Hutchins IV, 191), four panels depicting winged angels with feathered bodies, two headless (Plate 144), 15th century. In W. window of tower, in tracery lights, five 15th-century fragments. Hatchments: In chancel, on S. wall, (1) wooden lozenge (Plate 44) with cartouche-of-arms tierced in pale, Brune, Dennis, Collier quartering Williams, presumably for Charles Brune, c. 1650, who married Margaret Dennis and Jane Collier. In nave, on N. wall, (2) lozenge of wood and canvas with arms of Fane impaling Flint, 19th century; on W. wall, (3) wooden lozenge with arms probably of Jeffery. Graffiti: On S. doorway, 17th-century scratched initials and dates; on stone seats in porch, 18th and 19th-century initials and dates.

Monuments and Floor-slabs. Monuments: In nave, on E. wall, (1) of Nicholas Romayne, 1702, baroque white marble wall-monument with shield-of-arms of Romayne, flower-swags and drapery, surmounted by metal crest. In N. aisle, on E. wall, (2) of John Combe, 1745, grey and white marble wall-monument with black slate panel and brackets, erected 1746; on N. wall, (3) of Philip Henville, 1803, white marble tablet with gadrooned head on black back-plate with arms, by Reeves of Bath; (4) of Francis William Fane, 1844, tablet by White of Bath. In churchyard, E. of chancel, (5) of John Bugg, 1781, headstone; (6) of Richard Crocker, 1806, headstone; N. of chancel, (7) of Levi Bewsey, 1831, headstone; S.E. of chancel, (8) of Elizabeth, 1653, and of Richard [Tr]ime ?, 1654, table-tomb; S. of chancel, (9) of Thomas Forward, 1609, table-tomb with Latin inscription; (10) of Robert Fill, 1640, table-tomb with inscription on fascia of top slab, further inscription on plinth defaced; S. of S. porch, (11) of an anonymous lady, a benefactor of the church, table-tomb, probably 18th century. Floor-slabs: In nave, (1) of Nicholas Fill, 1662, and Ann Fill, 1668, grey Purbeck stone with incised decoration and inscription; (2) of Joseph and Nicholas Romayn, both 1668, grey Purbeck stone with incised decoration and inscription; (3) of Joseph Romayn, 1661, grey Purbeck slab with incised decoration and inscription. In N. vestry, reset headstones from churchyard, (4) of John Williams, stone slab with pointed head and partly defaced inscription; (5) of Samuel and Thomas Lambert, 1803, 1810, stone slab with shaped head; (6) of Mary Lambert, 1811, similar slab carved in two oval panels, with drapery.

Piscina: In chancel, in S. wall, with two-centred head and cinquefoil cusping, 15th century. Plate: includes cup and cover-paten of silver, both with date-marks of 1573 and maker's initials I P, cover-paten inscribed 1574; another paten without hallmarks inscribed 1717. Pulpit: of oak, now forming three sides of hexagon, with fretted decoration of cusped arcading below cornice, stem similarly decorated; early 19th century, originally free-standing. Royal Arms: In tower, on S. wall, painted wood lozenge with arms of James II, dated 1686. Screen: In tower arch, of wood with fielded panels, upper part of door with balustraded openwork, late 18th century. Sundials: On apex of porch gable, square stone with iron gnomon, probably 18th century; on S.W. buttress of tower at top of second stage, stone plate with Roman numerals, much worn; on S.E. buttress of tower, traces of similar sundial. Miscellanea: In gable of porch, square stone inscribed '. . . Romayn [C]hurch [W]ardens, 1753'. Reset in E. wall of porch, small fragment of 12th-century carved stone. In vestry, plans of church lands dated 1711 and 1720. In ringing chamber of tower, painted inscription—

     Rules to be observ'd by Ringers.

     Put off your Hats, your Belts & Spur's,
     And when you ring make no Demurs,
     Sound out the Bells well if you can,
     (Silence is best for evry Man,)
     But if a Bell you overthrow,
     Six Pence unto the Clerk you owe.

     John Hopps & John Young. Church Wardens 1746.

(2) The Church (of unknown dedication) at Stock Gaylard (72241298) stands near the N.W. corner of the parish, in the park of (5), and is no longer associated with a village. The walls are of squared rubble with ashlar dressings and the roofs are stone-slated. The building comprises Chancel, Nave, South Porch and North Vestry; it was almost completely rebuilt in 1884. Among various mediaeval features included in the rebuilt church are a well-preserved 13th-century tomb effigy and a bell that probably is of about the same date.

The Chancel has, in the S. wall, a restored mediaeval doorway with a chamfered two-centred head and continuous jambs. To the W. is a window of one light with a chamfered two-centred head and trefoil cusping, perhaps old but restored. In the Nave the N. wall has a reset 16th-century window of two segmental-headed lights in a square-headed casement-moulded surround; a similar window is reset in the S. wall. The mediaeval S. doorway has a two-centred ovolo-moulded head with recut chamfered jambs and broach stops. At the centre of the gabled W. wall is a restored square-headed window, perhaps originally of the 15th century, with two hollow-chamfered lights with four-centred heads below blind spandrels. The South Porch has an archway with a chamfered two-centred head, probably of the 16th century.

Fittings—Bells: two, in bell-cote over W. gable; 1st perhaps 13th century with narrow pear-shaped form; 2nd probably 15th century with Lombardic inscription, AVE GRACIA GABBRALA AVE. Communion Table: In chancel, with stone slab (6 ft. by 2½ ft. by 5½ ins.), perhaps originally from a table-tomb, roll-moulded and hollow-chamfered on N., W. and S. edges, E. edge hidden; slab rests on reset Purbeck marble table-tomb, 1¾ ft. high, with moulded and chamfered corners, decorated on exposed faces with retooled, cusped and sub-cusped hollow-chamfered tracery forming square quatrefoil panels alternating with narrow cinquefoil-headed panels, each quatrefoil with blank shield at centre; below, moulded plinth with square quatrefoil panels. Stone slab, probably 14th century, discovered in church during restorations; table-tomb, 15th century, brought from Canford Magna (Dorset Procs., XLVI, 25). Font: Octagonal stone bowl with vertical sides and hollow-chamfered under-edge, vertical faces with quatrefoil panels enclosing flowers, hollow-chamfered under-edge with coarse foliate carving, octagonal panelled stone pedestal and chamfered base; 15th century. Glass: In S. window of chancel, roundel depicting Crucifixion (8½ ins. diam.), early 16th century, Flemish; in nave, reset in S. window, two panels representing St. James and St. John, mid 19th century.

Monuments: In nave, in S. wall, reset in 19th-century cinquefoil-headed recess, (1) recumbent effigy (said to be of Sir Ingelramus de Walys) in mail armour (Plate 14), with plain heater-shaped shield hanging from left shoulder, legs crossed and right hand resting on pommel of sword, spurred feet on couched lion; Ham Hill stone, second half of 13th century. On S. wall, W. of S. doorway, marble tablets: (2) of Rev. John Yeatman, 1819; (3) of Emma Yeatman, 1842; (4) of Rev. Harry Yeatman, 1796; (5) of members of Lewys family, 1749, tablet with arms; (6) of Theophila Burland, 1802, tablet with arms, by T. King, Bath; (7) of John Farr, 1773, and his wife Mary, 1783; (8) of James, 1811, and Bridget Wolcott, 1835; (9) of Louisa Moilliet, 1844, white marble monument by Osmond of Sarum. In vestry, (10) of Anna [(Freeke) Stevens, 17]20, painted wooden panel with mitred surround, painted scroll-work and shield-of-arms, now indecipherable. Externally, on N. wall of chancel, (11) of Richard Stevens, rector, 1728, stone cartouche with scrolled surround. Painting: In vestry, oak panel 4 ft. high by 1½ ft. wide representing apostle, perhaps St. John, probably part of rood-screen, early 16th century. Piscina: In chancel, in E. wall, with chamfered two-centred head and corbelled bowl, perhaps mediaeval. Plate: includes silver cup with hallmark of 1732, maker's initials I.W. and inscription 'Deo et Ecclesiae de Stock Gaylard', and matching silver flagon with hallmark of 1750 and similar maker's mark, inscribed 'The gift of Mrs. Braithwaite'; also silver alms-dish with hallmark of 1791, maker's initials R.S., dedicatory inscription of Berkeley Burland and arms of Burland impaling Lewys; also pewter alms-dish, perhaps mid 18th century. Miscellanea: Refixed on modern S. door, oak box lock, perhaps early 17th century.

(3) Mission Room (72531123), 1 m. S. of (2), is of one storey, with walls of coursed rubble with ashlar dressings, and with a thatched roof; it was built probably in 1836. In the W. front the entrance doorway has a moulded and hollow-chamfered round head and continuous jambs; to the S. is a square-headed window of two round-headed lights with mouldings as on the doorway; to the N. are two windows uniform with the first. An iron strip in the threshold is dated 1836. Internally there is a single room with a raised platform at the S. end. A lean-to kitchen has been added on the E.

Secular

(4) Twofords Bridge (75071375), ½ m. N.E. of the parish church, carries the main road from Sherborne to Blandford across the R. Lydden and appears to be of the 18th century. It is of coursed rubble with ashlar dressings and has two segmental arches. The central pier has semicircular cut-waters with rounded tops. The parapets have rounded ashlar copings and there is an ashlar plat-band at road level. The causeway to the E. was raised on three land arches in 1825 (Agreement of 25th August 1825, D.C.R.O.).

(5) Stock Gaylard House (72231330), 1¼ m. S.W. of Lydlinch church and some 30 yds. N. of (2), is of two storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are of rubble, in most cases rendered externally, and the roofs are stoneslated. The house appears to date from early in the 18th century. Towards the end of the same century the principal rooms were remodelled and the house was enlarged westwards, probably by John Berkeley Burland whose wife Theophila (Farr) inherited the estate in 1773. The original W. walls are to some extent indicated by old plinths, now seen indoors. Further additions are of the 19th century.

The E. front is symmetrical, with a pedimented centre pavilion of three bays and two flanking bays on each side. The windows are sashed and have moulded stone architraves; the central doorway has stone pilasters and a pediment; at the eaves is a moulded stone cornice. The N. front is of five bays, in general with sashed windows as on the E. In the two eastern bays a three-light sashed window of c. 1800 takes the place of the original ground-floor windows. In the two western bays the ground-floor windows have casements with moulded stone surrounds, mullions and transoms of the late 18th century; the attic has been developed into a third storey by raising the old cornice and substituting low-pitched slates for the former stoneslates. The S. front is of five bays, with sashed windows somewhat higher than those on the E.; the three eastern bays are more closely spaced than those to the W. and a straight joint in the stone plinth indicates the original extent of the range. The W. wall of the S. range has late 18th-century casement windows with moulded stone surrounds, as at the western end of the N. front.

On the W. of the principal building and perhaps originally isolated, the late 18th-century kitchen range is single-storied with an attic and has walls of rubble and of ashlar; it is roofed with stone-slates; the windows are casements, with stone mullions and transoms as before described.

Inside, the entrance hall has a fireplace surround with a frieze of foliate swags, and mutules below the mantelshelf; above is a portrait medallion of John Berkeley Burland. The drawing room was redecorated late in the 18th century, presumably by Burland, and the ceiling level was raised at the expense of the chambers above; the fireplace surround is of wood with cartonpierre enrichments depicting wreathed musical instruments and other emblems; the door-case has an entablature with inverted swags and paterae. In the dining room the sideboard recess is flanked by classical columns. The stairs have open strings, scrolled spandrels, mahogany newel posts in the form of slender Doric columns, and moulded mahogany handrails. The bedrooms over the heightened drawing room are approached by flights of steps and have deep coved ceilings rising into the former attics.

In the garden to the W. of the house is a circular Pigeon Cote with rubble walls, and a tiled roof partly hidden by a parapet. The cote appears to have been remodelled as a summer-house in the 19th century, with the re-use of earlier elements from elsewhere. To the S. are an upper and a lower doorway and small windows flanking the lower doorway; all these openings have segmental-pointed heads and are of the 19th century; the lower doorway has a brick head while the other openings have heads and jambs of moulded ashlar. Over the upper doorway is a lozenge shaped stone panel carved with the arms of Lewys (Plate 48). Small windows similar to those already described open to E. and W. in the upper storey. On the N. side is a ground-floor window of two lights with two-centred heads and continuous hollow-chamfered jambs; in the upper storey a single-light window is blocked by a clock which is probably of the late 18th or early 19th century. A cast-lead rainwater head has the shield of Lewys and the date 1675. A scrolled wrought-iron weather-vane caps the conical roof.

The Stables, to the W., are of one storey with rendered walls and slated roofs; they are of the late 18th or early 19th century.

(6) Plumber Manor (77181179), 2 m. S.E. of (1) and at the E. extremity of the parish, is of two storeys with attics and is built partly of rubble and partly of brick, with ashlar dressings. The roofs are slated. Although extensively remodelled, the house incorporates a considerable part of the 17th and 18th-century mansion illustrated by Hutchins (IV, facing 189).

The S. range has a S. front of coursed rubble with a chamfered plinth and a coved eaves cornice. All openings are modern replicas in the 17th-century style and probably replace those depicted by Hutchins in the right hand part of his engraving. The E. wall of the wing is of rubble below and of ashlar above the first floor. In the upper storey, to the N., is a square-headed two-light window with chamfered and hollow-chamfered jambs and mullions. The N. elevation of the S. range is of English-bonded brickwork with a chamfered plinth of rubble and quoins of ashlar. On the ground floor are two two-light windows with restored stone jambs and heads; the first-floor openings are modern. Near the W. end of the N. elevation, at right-angles and thus facing E., is a gabled 17th-century stone bay with an attic window of two square-headed lights and the remains of a moulded label; below, the bay is masked by modern additions. The roof of the S. range is modern but the E. chimney-stack, of brick, in two separate parts united at the top by an arch, is as depicted by Hutchins and presumably is of the 18th century.

The large W. range seen in Hutchins's engraving has been demolished. The W. end of the S. range repeats the plinth and cornice of the S. front and is probably a modern rebuilding. N. of this, the W. front is set at an angle for a short stretch and this too is modern. Reset in this part of the wall is a chamfered four-centred 17th-century door head, now spanning a window. Further N. the masonry appears to be old, although repointed and pierced by modern openings; it is probably the E. wall of the demolished W. range, reused inside-out; in the upper storey is a blocked stone window of one light, probably reset. At the N. end of the W. front the old masonry returns and is incorporated in the S. front of a modern N. range; in it is a reset doorway with a chamfered square head and jambs; beside the doorway is an old pump with a cast-lead head bearing the letter B and four rosettes. Internally, the house has been entirely rebuilt and an 18th-century wooden staircase has been brought from elsewhere.

To the S., a large block of Farm Buildings of squared and coursed rubble is perhaps of the late 18th or early 19th century; the roofs are modern. The walled inner Garden depicted in Hutchins's engraving lies to the N. of the house but all the other garden walls and pavilions depicted have gone. Some 75 yds. S. of the house, a small late 18th or early 19th-century Bridge spans the R. Divelish with three round-headed brick arches with ashlar keystones.

(7) Lydlinch Old Rectory (74351330), 150 yds. S.E. of the parish church, is of two storeys with rendered walls and slated roofs; it is of the mid 19th century. To the N. an L-shaped range of outbuildings and a barn have rubble walls with slated roofs and are probably of the 18th century. At the N. end of the barn is a two-storied cottage with rubble walls and a tiled roof; it also is of the 18th century.

(8) Stock Gaylard Old Rectory (72071240), 650 yds. S.W. of (2), is two-storied with rubble walls, partly rendered, and with tiled roofs. The main part of the house is of the early or mid 19th century; it has a three-bay S.E. front with sashed windows and a central doorway. The lower rear wing probably dates from the 18th century; in its original form it may have been single-storied.

(9) Haydon Farm (76301159), house, has an L-shaped plan and is of two storeys with rubble walls, in part rendered, and with tiled roofs; it dates from the late 16th century. All windows are modern, but the S.W. doorway has a moulded stone architrave with a square head, above which is a moulded hood supported on scrolled stone brackets. On the N.E. front a square-headed doorway, nearly opposite the first, has a heavy moulded oak frame and a door made of vertical and horizontal planks fastened with iron studs. Inside, the parlour in the projecting N.E. wing has a four-panel ceiling with richly moulded cross-beams and wall-plates. The original fireplace in the N.E. wall is blocked up; beside it is a newel staircase to the first floor. The S.W. wall of the adjacent passage is of plank-and-muntin construction, as are both sides of the through-passage which connects the N.E. and S.W. doorways; in the through-passage the muntins have moulded edges. The room to the S.E. of the through-passage has a ceiling of sixteen square panels formed by the intersection of six elaborately moulded beams, three each way, and corresponding wall-plates. The S.E. room, separated from the middle room by another plank-and-muntin partition, has two unmoulded ceiling beams and an open fireplace. Other plank-and-muntin partitions occur on the first floor.

Monuments (10–16)

Except as otherwise noted the following monuments are 17th-century farmhouses of two storeys, with rubble walls, thatched roofs and casement windows.

(10) Manor Farm (74331324), house, 130 yds. S.E. of the parish church, is an early 18th-century farmhouse with walls of coursed rubble, brick chimneystacks and stone-slated roofs. A small two-storied extension to the W. is of brick with a tiled roof. The main part of the house has a symmetrical N. front of three bays (Plate 58). The central doorway is sheltered by a small gabled porch with an arched entry; on either side is a casement window of three square-headed lights with chamfered and hollow-chamfered stone jambs and heads, and hollow-chamfered labels with return stops. Corresponding with these openings, on the first floor, are three similar two-light windows. All these windows are leaded and in each light the top row of panes is arcaded. The S. elevation is rendered and the casement windows are modern.

(11) Coombe Farm (74351350), house, 200 yds. N.E. of the parish church, has roofs which appear formerly to have been thatched although they now are covered with asbestos tiles. The house dates from the 17th century and is of one build except for the E. wing, which appears to be a little later than the main range. The casement windows are of wood and are nearly all modern; however, the E. elevation has, on the ground floor near the N. end, a window of one light with an oak frame with pegged joints, perhaps original, and a similar two-light window on the first floor. To the S. of the projecting E. wing the E. elevation has an original doorway with a square-headed chamfered oak surround, and a door of nail-studded planks hung on wrought-iron strap hinges with triple poppy-head finials. On the first floor in this part of the E. elevation a stretch of disused wall-plate indicates a former roof level.

Inside, the original ground plan of the house is only partly preserved. The central stairs and chimney-stack are probably insertions, and a plank-and-muntin partition that originally traversed the house to the S. of the W. doorway has been partly reset. In the N. room the open fireplace has been modified; to the E. of the chimney breast is an original spiral staircase with solid wooden treads. The ceiling has moulded wall-plates and a moulded cross-beam supporting heavy joists of square crosssection. The S. wall of this room is a plank-and-muntin partition in which the muntins are beaded on the N. and ogee-moulded on the S.; the doorway through the partition has an ogee head and a nail-studded plank door. The central room has a stop-chamfered beam and exposed ceiling joists; the fireplace has a chamfered bressummer, one chamfered jamb and one moulded jamb, both of wood but mounted on stone plinths. On the W. side of the fireplace the entrance passage is closed with a nail-studded plank door. To the E., the doorway into the E. wing has an ogee-headed surround set in a length of reset plank-and-muntin partition. The S. room has a stop-chamfered ceiling beam and, in the S. wall, an open fireplace with a chamfered bressummer; to the W. is an oven. The N. side of this room retains part of an original plank-and-muntin partition, and mortices for the continuation of the same partition are seen in the transverse beam. Associated with the inserted stairs is an open partition composed of two heights of turned oak balusters, presumably reset. The E. wing has a stop-chamfered ceiling beam and wall-plates. On the first floor, the N. and middle rooms have stone fireplace surrounds with four-centred heads and continuous jambs, that of the N. room is moulded and that of the middle room is chamfered. There are various lengths of plank-and-muntin partition on the first floor, and several doorways have nail-studded plank doors.

(12) Rodmore Farm (72491208), house, nearly 1½ m. S.W. of the parish church, is of the 17th century but with a modern slated roof. The plan of the original house is L-shaped, with the re-entrant angle to the S.E. The W. front is of three bays and has, to the N., a stone window of three square-headed lights; at the centre is a similar but slightly lower two-light window and to the S. is another, now blocked; the latter has a hollow-chamfered label with return stops. On the first floor, the N. bay has a four-light window, the middle bay has a two-light window and the S. bay is blank. Although the pitched roof of the W. range stops at a gabled N. wall with a brick chimney-stack at the apex, the W. front continues beyond the line of this gable to form a single-storied N. extension with a lean-to roof against the N. gable; the masonry of the extension is continuous with that of the W. front. In the attic storey of the extension is a blocked square-headed single-light window with a chamfered and hollow-chamfered stone surround. On the E. front, the lean-to N. extension has a two-light stone window on the ground floor and another in the attic; the former retains part of a moulded label. The E. gable of the E. wing has, at the apex, a cylindrical stone chimney-stack with a moulded square capping (cf. Glanville's Wooton (6)). Internal inspection was not allowed.

(13) Blackrow Farm (72731197), house, 1¼ m. S.W. of the parish church, has an L-shaped plan with the main range facing N.W., and a S.E. wing at the back; it appears to be of the late 17th or early 18th century. The N.W. front has four bays; the two to N.E. have, in each storey, uniform stone windows of three square-headed lights with chamfered and hollow-chamfered surrounds; the ground-floor windows have hollow-chamfered labels, those above are without labels. The third bay of the N.W. front contains the doorway, sheltered by a modern porch; above it on the first floor is an oval bull's-eye window with a moulded ashlar surround. The fourth bay is uniform with the first two. Inside, few original features remain. Some rooms have chamfered ceiling beams and there are some plank-and-muntin partitions, notably between the N. and central rooms, where the muntins have beaded edges. One fireplace has a head with a raised centre.

(14) Holebrook Green Farm (74721196), house, nearly 1 m. S. of the parish church, is a mid 17th-century farmhouse with an L-shaped plan. Originally it was of one storey with attics in a thatched roof, but the rubble walls have been heightened in brickwork to provide an upper storey and a new roof of corrugated iron has been substituted. The S. front, of four bays, retains one original stone window of three lights with chamfered and hollow-chamfered surrounds, and a hollow-chamfered label with return stops; the other openings are modern. Inside, a central through-passage has, on one side, a plank-and-muntin partition in which an ogee-headed doorway leads to the E. room. Here the ceiling rests on two chamfered beams and the open fireplace has a chamfered bressummer with a raised centre. In the W. room, chamfered wall-plates and intersecting beams form a panelled ceiling, and the fireplace has another chamfered bressummer.

(15) Stroud Farm (72871357), house, nearly 1 m. W. of the church, is a late 17th-century farmhouse with an L-plan in which the S. wing is two-storied and the W. wing is one storied with an attic; to the S. is a two-storied late 18th-century extension. The original part of the house has recently been re-roofed. Internally there are no noteworthy features; the ceiling beams are rough-hewn and all old fireplace openings have been blocked up.

(16) Hydes Farm (73241234), cottage, nearly 1 m. S.W. of the church, is of one storey with attics. The farmhouse evolved in three stages: at the centre is a small 17th-century rubble cottage of one storey with an attic; in the 18th century the cottage was extended to the S. in brickwork; to the N. is another addition, perhaps a little later, of light timber framework with brick nogging. N.E. of the cottage are large farm buildings, substantially built in rubble.

Monuments (17–22)

The following houses are of the 18th century and, except as otherwise noted, are of two storeys with rubble walls and casement windows.

(17) Blackmore Farm (74381369), house, 400 yds. N.E. of the parish church, has walls of rubble and of brick, partly rendered, and tiled roofs. The windows are modern wooden casements. The oldest part of the house faces S. and is of four bays. The E. bay has a three-light ground-floor window and a two-light first-floor window. Next is the front doorway with a moulded timber frame and a tiled hood on wooden brackets; over it on the first floor is a round bull's-eye window. The third and fourth bays are uniform with the first. The E. gable wall is of rubble and there is a blocked window on the first floor. To the rear, in line with the E. gable, projects a two-storied N. wing, of rubble on the ground floor and of brick above. At the W. end of the S. front a two-storied addition extends the range for one more bay and then turns S. in an L-shaped plan; this wing contains stables and lofts. Inside the house, the W. room of the original range is lined with 18th-century fielded panelling in two heights with moulded skirting, dado rail and cornice. The stairs, opposite the front doorway, are of oak, with close strings, turned newels and balusters, and moulded handrails. The ground-floor room in the W. extension has a chamfered beam and an open fireplace with a cambered and chamfered bressummer.

(18) Ridge Farm (72971075), house, 1¾ m. S.W. of the parish church, is of two storeys with dormer-windowed attics. The walls are of rubble in the lower storey and of cob above; the roofs are thatched. The W. front, of three bays, has a central doorway flanked symmetrically by original four-light casement windows above which, on the first floor, are three uniform three-light windows; the jambs, mullions and heads are of oak, and the casements are of wrought-iron with leaded glazing. Internally, some ceilings have chamfered beams; there is an open fireplace, now blocked.

(19) Berry Farm (73751149), house, 1¼ m. S. of the parish church, has walls of rendered rubble and tiled roofs. The plan is oblong, with a lean-to addition along the whole length of the rear N. side. Inside, are chamfered beams and large fireplaces, now blocked.

(20) Little Rodmore Farm (72061113), house, nearly 2 m. S.W. of the parish church, is of early 18th-century origin and formerly was of one storey with a dormer-windowed attic; it had rubble walls and a thatched roof. In recent years the attic has been removed, the lower storey has been re-roofed with asbestos and the walls have been incorporated in a range of farm buildings.

(21) The Three Boars' Heads Inn (74591373), 600 yds. N.E. of the parish church, has brick walls, in part rendered, and a tiled roof. The symmetrical three-bay S. front has sashed windows and a central doorway. It is probably of the late 18th century.

(22) Cottage (74481368), ¼ m. N.E. of the parish church, is of one storey with a dormer-windowed attic; some walls are of rendered brick and others are of timber-framing with cob infilling; the roof is thatched. The leaded casement windows have wooden mullions and heads. Inside, there is a plank-and-muntin partition with beaded muntins, and some chamfered ceiling beams.

(23) Cottage (74321332), 80 yds. S.E. of the church, has a tiled roof and appears to have been much restored. Inside, the S. room has an open fireplace with a moulded timber bressummer with a raised centre; on the N. side of the room is a chamfered plank-and-muntin partition. Certain older fittings have recently been brought from elsewhere.

Early 19th-century buildings in the parish include the following: House, 330 yds. N. of the church, is of two storeys with rendered walls and low-pitched slated roofs; it has a symmetrical threebay S. elevation with sashed windows and a central doorway with a metal hood on trellised iron uprights. Cottages, two, 220 yds. S.E. of the church, are two-storied, with rubble and brick walls and slated roofs, the E. cottage perhaps being of the 18th century. Cottages, three, at Kingstag (72491095), (72521095) and (72521101), are two-storied with walls of brick and cob, and with thatched roofs.

Mediaeval and Later Earthworks

(24) Settlement Remains (723130), formerly part of the village of Stock Gaylard, lie immediately E. of (5). The village is probably the 'Stoches', belonging to William of Eu in 1086 (D.B. Vol. I, f. 82a), which had a recorded population of 11. The church was not taxed in 1291 (Hutchins III, 690). By 1304 only two people are listed as belonging to the manor (Cal. I.P.M., Vol. 4, 144), and only three are listed in the 1327 and 1333 Subsidy Rolls; thereafter there is no record of population.

The remains, covering about 2 acres, consist of a roughly rectangular area bounded to N., E. and S. by a low bank or scarp 1 ft. to 2 ft. high, and by the garden of Stock Gaylard House on the W. The interior is disturbed by later drainage channels but there are remains of closes bounded by low scarps, and at least two well-defined building platforms.

(25) Cultivation Remains. In the mid 14th century a three field system was in operation at Lydlinch (Dorset I.P.M., Vol. I (1916), 438); the fields appear to have been gradually enclosed over a long period of time and a small fragment still remained in the present century (S. & D.N. & Q., XXIII (1939–42), 62). Traces of ridge-and-furrow of these fields can be seen on air photographs (R.A.F. CPE/UK 1974: 1168, 2183–4) in a number of places around the village (e.g. 741124, 744123 and 753133); they consist of gently curving furlongs underlying existing field boundaries.

Nothing is known of the date of enclosure of the open fields of Stock Gaylard but it had taken place before the 18th century, when the park at Stock Gaylard House was laid out. Ridge-andfurrow of these fields remains in the park (e.g. at 721132) and further traces can be seen on air photographs; the ridges are 6 yds. to 8 yds. wide and are arranged in butting furlongs.

Ridge-and-furrow within old enclosures beyond the former open fields remains on the ground or can be seen on air photographs in a number of places; for example N. of Hallow Hill Plantation in an area enclosed from Lydlinch Common (732135), also N. of Little Rodmore Farm (721111) and S.W. of Haydon Farm (762115). These remains all lie within the existing fields and have ridges 7 yds. to 9 yds. wide and headlands 10 yds. wide.