Wimborne Minster

22 WIMBORNE MINSTER (0099)

(O.S. 6 ins., SU 00 SW, SZ 09 NW)

The Urban District of Wimborne Minster covers 653 acres on the N. bank of the R. Stour and on both banks of the R. Allen which joins the Stour in the S. of the town. The area consists almost entirely of flat river terraces between 60 ft. and 70 ft. above O.D., except in the N.E. where the land rises across London Clay and Bagshot Beds to over 200 ft. Before 1894 the parish of Wimborne Minster had an area of nearly 12,000 acres, most of it now divided between Colehill, Holt and Pamphill. The town grew up at the point where an E.-W. route following the N. bank of the Stour intersected a N.-S. route along the Allen. The mediaeval town was confined to the W. bank of the Allen and in Saxon times it occupied only a small area in the immediate vicinity of the Minster. The houses were probably centred on a rectangular market place on the N.W. of the Minster, now reduced by infilling to the present exiguous Corn Market; names such as West Row and Cook Row perhaps indicate the process of infilling.

Subsequent enlargement of the town took place along two nearly parallel streets, East Borough and West Borough, extending N. from the Saxon nucleus. No doubt one of these streets represents the original northbound road, but the other thoroughfare is a deliberate creation. When this development occurred and by whose initiative is not known; the earls of Leicester who held the manor of Kingston Lacy in the 12th and early 13th centuries may have been responsible (Dorset Procs., 89 (1967), 168–70). The area between the Square and Walford Bridge (4) is known to have been a mediaeval sub-manor of Kingston Lacy; it was called 'The Manor of the Borough', and tenants held their property by burgage tenure. Another extension of the town to S.W. of the Minster was perhaps a contemporary development, but the excavated remains (82) indicate that this development was short-lived.

Apart from the Minster, a church of Saxon origin enlarged in the 12th and 13th centuries, little remains of mediaeval Wimborne. It continued as a small town, without attaining formal borough status, and it is doubtful if the 'borough' area was built-up much before the 18th century. Late in the 17th century the population numbered only 750, of whom 140 lived in the Manor of the Borough. In the 18th century the population increased but slowly, although the aspect of the town was improved by the construction of a few town houses. The character of a small Georgian country town persists in spite of modern changes; even by 1921 the population had risen only to 3,683, and much of this was in consequence of late 19th-century development of the land on the E. of the Allen. Modern boundary revisions have transferred the Domesday settlement of Leigh from Colehill to the urban district.

Ecclesiastical

(1) The Minster Church of St. Cuthburga (Plates 66–71), near the centre of the ancient town, is the successor of a monastery founded by Cuthburh, sister of Ine, King of Wessex (688–726). (fn. 1) The monastery was certainly in existence with Cuthburh as abbess in 705, when Aldhelm, Bishop of Sherborne drew up a letter there. (fn. 2) The foundation comprised two monasteries governed by a strict rule. An early description of conditions at the monastery is included in the life of St. Leofgyth (a friend of Boniface and abbess of Tauberbischofsheim), composed by Rudolf of Fulda in 836 on the basis of information from Leofgyth's disciples: (fn. 3) '[At Wimborne] two monasteries were of old founded by kings of that [English] race, surrounded with high and stout walls and supplied with a sufficiency of income by a reasonable provision; one a monastery of clerics, the other of women. From the beginning of their foundation each of them was regulated by that rule of conduct, that neither of them was entered by the opposite sex. For a woman was never permitted to enter the congregation of men; or any man the house of the nuns, except priests only, who used to enter the churches solely to perform the office of Mass, and when the service was solemnly concluded, immediately to return to their own dwelling. Truly, any woman who renounced the world and wished to be associated with their community entered it never to go out again, unless a good reason or matter of great expediency sent her out by the advice [of the abbess]. Moreover the mother of the congregation herself, when she had need to make arrangements or give orders about any outside affairs for the profit of the monastery, spoke through the window, and from there decided whatever expediency required to be arranged or commanded.' (fn. 4)

Wimborne, a royal residence, was the scene of the rising by the atheling Ethelwold in 900; (fn. 5) among the charges brought against him was the unlawful abduction of a nun, perhaps from the monastery. His father Ethelred, Alfred's elder brother, was buried at Wimborne. (fn. 6) St. Cuthburh's tomb was among the most venerated shrines of Saxon England. (fn. 7) In the middle of the 11th century the church was a royal chapel; later it had a dean, four prebendaries, three vicars, four deacons and five singing men. (fn. 8)

A disturbed fragment of coarse tessellated pavement exposed in an opening in the present nave floor (fn. 9) may well represent the original church of St. Cuthburh, but with this exception the oldest part of the present building dates from the first half of the 11th century. The pre-conquest church was probably cruciform, with a Crossing extending in characteristically Saxon manner beyond the width of the arms (Dorset I, xlviii). Rubble masonry and weathered string-courses of Saxon date survive in the W. walls of both Transepts, and in the N.W. turret (Plate 1).

In the 12th century the church was enlarged and extensively rebuilt, but the Saxon transepts and at least the foundation of the crossing were retained. The E. end and the remodelled crossing were built in the second quarter of the century; the Nave of four bays with a clearstorey, flanked by North and South Aisles, dates from the third quarter. The E. end appears to have been planned with five chapels in echelon, the central presbytery of two bays being flanked by one-bay side chapels and these in turn being flanked by transept chapels, as at Shaftesbury (Dorset IV, 58). The general arrangement is attested by surviving fragments, although the apses on the accompanying plan remain conjectural. The plan of the Saxon crossing with its salient angles was retained for the Central Tower, the lower part of which probably accommodated the choir. The position of the pulpitum is marked by the narrow eastern bay of the nave and the adjacent wide piers.

During the first half of the 13th century the E. end was again rebuilt, a rectangular Ambulatory and a square-ended Lady Chapel being built on the E. of the high altar. No doubt the Lady Chapel windows (those of the present chancel) were visible from the choir, above the reredos of the high altar. At the same time the E. chapels of the transepts were eliminated. About the middle of the 13th century the transepts were extended to twice their former length.

At the beginning of the 14th century the level of the Lady Chapel floor was raised some 6½ ft. to allow the construction of a vaulted crypt, two bays long from E. to W. and three bays wide. At first the crypt appears to have been entered from the ambulatory by small stairs set diagonally on each side, but in c. 1350 it was extended westwards, the ambulatory itself being made to descend to the level of the crypt floor. At the same time the Chancel was rearranged and the high altar was set in the place of the former Lady Chapel, with stairs rising to it from the choir. Also at this time the lateral walks of the ambulatory were widened to form North and South Chapels with their outer walls on the line of the sides of the 12th-century transept-chapels. The central archways were now formed in the side walls of the former sanctuary. Other 14th-century works include the building of the vaulted South Vestry, the westward extension of the nave and aisles by two bays, and the construction of the North Porch. Early in the 15th century a spire was added to the central tower. About the middle of the 15th century the West Tower was built, and soon after this the nave was heightened by the construction of a new clearstorey; also at this time the N. porch and the S. vestry were provided with upper storeys, the latter now a Library. The spire collapsed in 1600 (Coker, 113; B.M. Add. MS. 24776, f.205) and the parapets and pinnacles of the central tower were built in 1608. The South Porch has a 15th-century arch, but the walls are probably of the 17th century and the voussoirs reset.

Restoration appears to have been initiated in the 1840s under the direction of Charles Barry (Ecclesiologist, VI (1846), 183, 195), but the project was left in abeyance. In 1855 more comprehensive restorations were undertaken by T. H. Wyatt (specifications, 1850, 1855, Sarum Dioc. Regy.; Builder, 31 Oct. 1857, XV, 629), during which the N. and S. chapels were almost entirely rebuilt. (An 18th-century plan by William Bastard (Bodleian Lib., Gough Maps 6, f. 48, 49) shows the E. wall of the N. chapel some 10 ft. E. of its present position.) The nave clearstorey was rebuilt in 1857.

As a monument of architectural and historical importance the minster church is surpassed, in Dorset, only by Sherborne. A considerable amount survives of the pre-conquest building, and the 12th-century nave and tower are more than usually impressive; the 13th-century Lady Chapel (now the chancel) contains features of great beauty and interest.

Architectural Description—The Chancel is divided between the sanctuary and the choir by a flight of seven steps. The E. wall is of c. 1230 and has clasping buttresses at the angles; the masonry has been extensively restored both externally and internally. The E. windows (Plate 68) are three separate gradated lancets, with a quatrefoil over the middle light and with sexfoil openings over the side lights; the rear-arches form a continuous arcade with moulded trefoil heads rising above clustered Purbeck marble shafts; the arches have dog-tooth ornament and foliate cusp-points; the labels have restored head-stops. In the N. wall is a lancet window of the same period; the splays have Purbeck marble shafts and the moulded rear-arch has chevron ornament and a label with head-stops. Further W., the N. side of the chancel has three arches. That on the E., of c. 1230 and originally spanning the ambulatory, is two-centred and of three moulded orders with a label having robed and seated figures as the end-stops (Plate 70). The responds have shafts of Purbeck marble with moulded caps and bases; on the chancel side the shafts are cut by the line of the high sanctuary floor over the crypt. Above the arch are two 13th-century clearstorey lancets with two-centred rear-arches carried on a central head corbel; the moulded internal labels have stiff-leaf end-stops and centrally are turned upwards to enclose a foliate lozenge. Immediately W. of the 13th-century archway is a triple wall-shaft of the same period, with a stiff-leaf capital; the moulded base is of 1855. This shaft and the one opposite on the S. of the chancel probably supported a beam with candle-prickets spanning the high altar (cf. Henry Bradshaw Soc., LXXV (1937), 182). The centre archway on the N. of the chancel is of the second half of the 14th century, extensively restored; the arch has three chamfered orders and the responds have engaged shafts with moulded caps and bases. The westernmost of the three arches is of 12th-century origin, but probably rebuilt in the 13th century; it is two-centred and of two orders with plain voussoirs. The E. respond has attached shafts with moulded bases with spur-ornaments, caps enriched with scallops and volutes, and moulded and enriched abaci; on the W. respond the outer order dies into the tower pier and the inner order springs from a scalloped corbel. The S. wall of the chancel has an eastern window nearly uniform with that on the N. Of the three arches further W. the first, of c. 1230, is similar to the corresponding opening on the N.; only the W. label-stop, representing Moses with the tables of the law, is preserved (Plate 70). The adjacent wall-shaft is as on the N. The 14th-century centre arch, extensively restored in 1855, is similar to the corresponding opening on the N.; the responds are of 1855. The westernmost archway again is similar to that corresponding with it on the N., but the caps of the E. respond are scalloped and the W. corbel is plain. The S. clearstorey of the 13th-century E. bay is uniform with that on the N.; further W. each side of the chancel has three lancets of 1855; those on the N. replace similar openings, probably of 13th-century origin, but a drawing preserved in the library shows that the S. clearstorey formerly had a square-headed window, probably of the 17th century.

In the Crypt the six eastern bays are of c. 1300 while the three western bays, forming a low-level ambulatory, were added c. 1350. The crypt is entered through the W. bay by broad flights of steps which descend from the N. and S. chapels and pass under wave-moulded two-centred arches with labels; these are inserted between the responds of the 13th-century arches. In the earlier part of the crypt (Plate 66) the stone vault is of quadridartite form with sunk-chamfered ribs springing from octagonal columns and attached cylindrical wall-shafts with moulded caps and bases. The splayed sides of the N.W. and S.W. wall-shafts may indicate the position of stairs which descended from the 13th-century ambulatory. The four windows in the E. bay are of 1855; further W. on each side, a pointed opening cut diagonally through the wall enables the crypt altar to be seen from the N. and S. chapels. In the later W. bays of the crypt the wave-moulded vault-ribs spring from polygonal wall-shafts. Between the two parts of the crypt are three two-centred arches of two chamfered orders, the inner order with hollow-chamfered cinquefoil cusping.

The E. and N. walls of the North Chapel were rebuilt in 1855; previously the E. wall was 10 ft. further E., probably a 15th-century modification. The 12th century doorway at the W. end of the N. wall, with moulded imposts and a segmental head set under a half-round label, was carefully dismantled in 1855 and is said to have been rebuilt in its former position (Wyatt's specification, Sarum Dioc. Regy.). A hollow-chamfered string-course on the N. face of the pier between the two western archways on the S. of the chapel remains from the chapel which stood here in the 12th century. At the W. end of the N. chapel is a two-centred mid 14th-century archway of three chamfered orders, the innermost order springing from moulded stone capitals on Purbeck marble shafts. The three main trusses of the 19th-century roof spring on the S. side from reused 13th-century Purbeck marble wall-shafts with moulded caps and bases; they rest on polygonal stone brackets and were probably set in this position in the 15th century. The narrow E. roof bay results from the resiting of the E. wall in 1855.

The E. wall of the South Chapel and the eastern part of the S. wall were rebuilt in 1855. At the W. end of the S. wall, the 14th-century vestry doorway has chamfered jambs and a two-centred head. On the W., a mid 14th-century archway similar to the corresponding opening in the N. chapel, is now blocked by the organ. The adjacent opening is modern.

The South Vestry has a 14th-century stone vault, restored in 1855, with a foliate boss and moulded ribs which spring from angle-shafts with moulded caps and bases. In the E. wall is a restored window of two trefoil-headed lights; the S. wall has a similar window of one light, and a square-headed doorway to the 15th-century stair on the S.W. The stair, in an octagonal turret with an embattled parapet, is lit by two small chamfered loops. The Library, built above the vestry in the 15th century, has a reset 14th-century E. window of one trefoil-headed light, and a modern two-light window of similar form in the S. wall. In the W. wall is an opening to the S. transept (see below).

The Central Tower is of four stages, the three lower stages open to the church. While the ground plan implies that the structure survives from the 11th century, the surface stone-work in the lower part is not earlier than the second quarter of the 12th century. The E. arch of the crossing is of depressed semicircular form and of two plain orders; the inner order springs from double attached shafts with cushion-capitals, moulded abaci and moulded bases; the outer order on the W. side of the arch springs from similar attached shafts. The W. arch is similar, but has attached shafts below the outer order on both E. and W. sides. The N. and S. arches are uniform in detail with the E. arch, but stilted (Plate 69). The second stage is of the mid 12th century and has, internally on each side, two roll-moulded two-centred wall-arches, blind in the upper part, but opening below into galleries wherein each bay has four round-headed, roll-moulded arches springing from stone respond-shafts and Purbeck marble detached shafts, with foliate or scalloped capitals and moulded bases (Plate 68). Banded shafts in the angles of the stage rest on head-corbels at gallery level and are carried up into the third stage. The third stage, also of 12th-century date, has two round-headed windows in each side with roll-moulded heads, shafted jambs with carved capitals, moulded rear-arches and shafted splays with carved and moulded caps and moulded bases; between the windows externally and internally are blind wall-arches with moulded two-centred heads (Plate 1). The 12th-century top stage has on each external face a wall-arcade of seven bays with interlacing semicircular moulded arches springing from engaged shafts with moulded bases and moulded or carved caps; one bay on each side is pierced by a lancet window; the other bays have recesses of similar form. Inside, each side of the top stage has a central pointed window, unrelated with the external arcade, and a blocked round-headed opening which probably gave access to an angle turret at the base of the former spire. Squinches across the angles were evidently inserted to support the spire. The tower is crowned with an embattled parapet and angle-pinnacles, erected in 1608.

The E. wall of the North Transept contains a shallow recess (Frontispiece) with an irregular rounded head; it was discovered in 1893 (S.D.N.Q., III, 249). The N. jamb, with a 12th-century chamfered and rebated string-course below the springing of the round head, is a relic of the northernmost of the five eastern chapels of the 12th-century church (above, p. 80), the rear wall of the recess being built when the chapel was abolished in the 13th century. At first the wall of closure appears to have been decorated with a simple chequer pattern enriched with roses, frets and a border of bent-riband design (Tristram, Eng. Mediaeval Wall Painting, II (13th cent.), 609), but in the second half of the 13th century the upper part of the recess had a Crucifixion scene. About the middle of the 14th century the original painting was replaced with another Crucifixion, of less outstanding quality, and probably at the same time a carved stone bracket (part of a late 12th-century corbel table) was inserted at the foot of the cross, damaging the original painted chequer-work. What now survives is the greater part of the Virgin's figure from the 13th-century painting, and the Christ crucified and the St. John from the 14th-century painting; the lower part of the 14th-century Virgin's robe is also seen. A little later in the 14th century, when the adjacent archway to the N. chapel was built, the recess had to be made narrower and the Crucifixion painting became asymmetrical; other paintings, now indecipherable were superimposed subsequently. The slightly anomalous position of the adjoining 12th-century doorway in the N. aisle is likely to result from the rebuilding of 1855. Further N. in the E. wall of the transept is a restored late 13th-century window of two trefoil-headed lights with a quatrefoil in a two-centred head; the rear-arch is moulded and the label has head-stops; the splays have shafts with moulded caps and bases. The N.E. and N.W. angle-buttresses, of three stages with gabled offsets, were extensively restored in 1855. In the N. wall is a much restored late 13th-century window of four trefoil-headed lights with tracery in a two-centred head; the rear-arch springs from pairs of Purbeck marble shafts with moulded caps and bases. In the W. wall is a window uniform with that on the E. The Saxon stair turret (Plate 1) is round in its upper part and the square exterior at ground level results from 12th-century refacing. The original structure is of small-scale Heathstone rubble, each step of the spiral stair having a shaped newel-stone with a 'tail' extending into the rubble riser; the spiral vault is of rubble. The doorway is of the 12th century, with moulded imposts and a plain semicircular tympanum with a moulded surround. High up on the W. side of the transept, an internal gallery is formed with four courses of chamfered corbelling; of 12th-century origin, restored in 1855, it connects the head of the Saxon turret stair with the galleries of the central tower. Externally, on the W. wall of the transept and on the turret, Saxon string-courses with rounded weathering remain in situ; the adjoining masonry is of rubble. The transept communicates with the N. aisle through a mid 14th-century archway with a two-centred head of three chamfered orders, the innermost springing from moulded stone capitals above Purbeck marble respond-shafts; this arch probably replaces a 12th-century arch of the same width, but lower. The S. respond-shaft has a reused 12th-century moulded stone base and rests on a 12th-century chamfered plinth wide enough to accommodate two such bases; presumably the original respond had coupled shafts. A 12th-century hollow-chamfered string-course on the tower pier stops at the point where it abutted against the former spandrel. On the N., the respond-shaft is applied to a wall-face with diagonal tooling, probably of 12th-century date. Above, the upper string-course of the Saxon turret continues on the W. wall of the transept and returns around the salient N.W. angle of the central tower.

The South Transept has, in the E. side, a 14th-century archway similar to that on the N. The adjacent square-headed opening has recently been made in the back of a former niche with chamfered jambs and a two-centred head, the archway which formerly led to the S. chapel now being blocked by the organ. Further S. in the E. wall is a restored 13th-century window, partly blocked when the vestry was added; it is of one pointed light with a moulded rear-arch and splay shafts with moulded caps and bases; the upper part of the window opens into the library. In the S. wall is a large two-centred window, probably of 14th-century origin, with tracery of c. 1855. Externally, and also inside the S. aisle, the W. wall of the transept retains a Saxon string-course as on the N.; the irregular termination of the early rubble masonry indicates that there was originally a S.W. corner turret and the lower part of the wall has irregularities suggesting a former doorway to the turret. The 14th-century archway between the transept and the S. aisle is similar to the corresponding archway in the N. transept.

The Nave (Plates 67, 69) has N. and S. arcades of six bays, the first four bays being of the 12th century, the others later. The narrow first bay has two-centred arches of two plain orders springing from imposts on the E. with scallops and scale-ornament, and from half-round shafts on the W. with scalloped caps and moulded bases. The next three bays on both sides have two-centred arches of two orders with chevron ornament; the enriched labels have carved masks as stops and on the keystones on the nave side (Plate 8); the restored columns and responds have scalloped caps and moulded bases. The two western bays are of the early 14th century and have two-centred arches of two chamfered orders. The octagonal columns and the half-round E. responds have moulded caps and bases; the bases of the responds have carved spurs; the capital of the N. respond has ball-flowers connected by serpents, also roses, foliage, and two small shields: one a cross formy, the other three fusils, perhaps for Delafield and Montacute. Above the arcade in the four easternmost bays of the nave are the much restored round-headed windows of the 12th-century clearstorey; the heads are of two orders outside, the outer order springing from jamb-shafts with scalloped caps (Hutchins III, 201). A chamfered string-course immediately below the window openings is at the same level as the Saxon strings, noted above, on the salient angles of the central tower. A higher clearstorey extending the whole length of the nave was added in the 15th century; it had six windows on each side, each window having three lights under tracery in a square-headed surround (Bodleian Lib., Gough Maps 6, f. 49; Hutchins III, 201); this clearstorey was dismantled in the 19th century and rebuilt with five windows, using old masonry. Reset internally on the splays of the W. tower buttresses are two 12th-century corbels. The nave roof, rebuilt in 1857, has 24 carved wooden bosses which appear to be of the 17th century, reset. Most have foliate decoration, but some are heraldic and among these are shields-of-arms of Bankes, of Hanham, of Montagu quartering Monthermer (wrongly coloured), and one probably of Vere.

Twelfth-century masonry in the N. wall of the North Aisle at its junction with the N. transept indicates that the aisle retains its original width. Early in the 14th century it was lengthened in correspondence with the nave, and also heightened. The three eastern windows are of the mid 14th century, each with two trefoil-headed lights under a quatrefoil spandrel light in a two-centred head; between them are 14th-century buttresses of two weathered stages. The somewhat earlier 14th-century windows in the western part of the aisle have cinquefoil-headed lights and quatrefoil spandrel lights. The N. doorway is of the 14th century, with a two-centred arch of two chamfered orders and continuous jambs; over it, a 15th-century doorway to the upper storey of the porch, reached by ladder, has a chamfered two-centred head.

The South Aisle, like that on the N., has a 12th-century outer wall, but the windows and buttresses are of the 14th century and are uniform with those on the N. The 14th-century S. doorway has a two-centred head of two chamfered orders with continuous responds.

The West Tower was built about the middle of the 15th century and is of three main stages, with a moulded plinth, moulded string-courses at three levels, an embattled parapet, gargoyles, and angle-pinnacles with crocketed finials. The high tower-arch has a moulded two-centred head with continuous responds. In the W. wall is a modern doorway with a two-centred head; the transomed six-light W. window is modern except for the roll-moulded two-centred rear-arch. The lower storey of the tower has a stone vault with moulded diagonal, ridge and subsidiary ribs and a central bell-way; the vault springs from foliate corbels and has foliate bosses. The second stage has a small window to the nave on the E., and S. of it, above the nave roof, a window of one light with a four-centred head; the N. and S. walls have each a small window of one trefoil-headed light with head-stops to the label; in the W. wall is a quatrefoil loop. The belfry stage has, in each wall, two windows of two transomed cinquefoil-headed lights under a four-centred head with a label with head-stops; the lights below the transoms are trefoil-headed and the jambs are casement-moulded.

The North Porch was built c. 1330. The N. archway is segmental-pointed and of three orders, one moulded and two chamfered, with a label; the inner order springs from shafts with moulded caps and bases. Within the porch is a quadripartite stone vault of two bays with moulded ribs and foliate bosses; the ribs spring from shafts with moulded caps and bases. The room over the porch, added in the 15th century, has a square-headed N. window of two trefoil-headed lights.

The South Porch has a two-centred arch of two chamfered orders dying into plain responds; in its present form it is probably of the 17th century (cf. Bod. Lib., Gough Maps 6, f.49), but it includes a reused 15th-century arch.

Fittings—Armour: Formerly on bracket above monument (2), now in library, bascinet with vizor of bellows form (Plate 40), probably for use in foot combat, c. 1510 (Arch. J., XXXIX (1882), 184–5). In N. chapel, above monument (4), combed close-helmet, late 16th-century, with added wooden cap-of-maintenance.

Bells: ten; eight recast 1911, two more recent. Benefactor's Table: In W. tower, on N. wall, 19th-century inscription on lead plates recording benefaction of Joseph Collett by deed of 1621. Books: see Library. Bracket: In recess in E. wall of N. transept (Frontispiece), under-side with moulded double concavity and foliate terminal, soffit painted red, early 13th century, reset.

Brasses: In chancel, (1) in Purbeck marble paving slab (22 ins. by 16½ ins.), half-length representation of King Ethelred, perhaps 15th century; below, copper inscription plate, probably 17th century; brass shield, perhaps mediaeval (Plate 20); (2) let into moulded border of tomb-slab of monument (1), fragment of black-letter inscription strip. In S. chapel, reset on S. wall, (3) of Elenor Dickenson, 1571, plate (14 ins. by 15½ ins.) with English verse in black-letter (Plate 20); (4) of William Smith. 1587, plate (4 ins. by 20½ ins.) with inscription in Roman letters (Plate 20). In library, (5) of M . . . ., fragment of plate (2½ ins. high) with black-letter inscription in English, probably 16th century.

Chairs: three, of oak with turned legs and stretchers, backs with carved and crested rails, 17th century.

Chests: (Plate 71) In N. chapel, (1) oak dug-out chest with recessed lid on four strap-hinges, possibly 13th-century; (2) of oak, in two compartments, each with separately hinged lid and hasp, formerly with five locks, probably mediaeval; (3) of oak with moulded lid and base, four strap-hinges and six locks, lid and base 17th century, body perhaps earlier. In library, (4) with panelled front and ends, and framing with chip-carving, mid 17th century; (5) generally as (4), but with fluted framing, mid 17th century; (6) with three elaborately carved front panels and enriched framing, late 17th century; (7) with panelled front and sides, late 18th century. In S. aisle (8) of oak, assemblage of 17th-century parts, including arcaded panels, caryatid uprights and rails with chip-carving.

Clock: In W. tower, said to date from 1612 (churchwardens' accounts); striking-jack in form of soldier, in N. window of W. tower, early 19th century. Clockface: In lower stage of W. tower, on S. wall, supported on three reused 12th-century stone corbels carved with a rose, a grotesque face and foliage, rectangular wooden case made up of reused early 17th-century woodwork, with two angels perhaps from former organ case at top and with three reused 18th-century cherub-heads below; astronomical clock-face with central boss representing earth, revolving surround with gilt constellations and moon, outer border with revolving sun.

Coffin-lid: In W. tower, part only, with head of cross, Purbeck marble, early 14th century. Communion Table: In crypt, with stout turned and carved legs, enriched stretchers, top rails with strapwork, 17th century.

Font: (Plate 18) with octagonal Purbeck marble bowl with two trefoil-headed panels in each face, set on eight Purbeck marble shafts, early 13th century (spirally fluted stone central shaft perhaps 12th century); moulded octagonal base, 15th century.

Glass: In chancel, in central E. window, early 16th-century Tree of Jesse said to be from Flanders and made up with 19th-century glass, comprising four complete figures including David, parts of two more figures and fragments of others; at top, Virgin and Child, at base, donor's inscription of W.J. Bankes, 1837. In lateral E. windows, by Willement, 1837. In N. and S. chapels, heraldic glass associated with monuments (1) and (2), Willement, 1839.

Graffiti: On monument (2), on duke's effigy, initials and dates from 1641.

Lectern: In crossing, brass eagle and orb, the latter with engraved shield-of-arms of Wayte, initials A.W. and date 1623 (Plate 21); shaft and base modern.

Library: In room above vestry, with chained books bequeathed by William Stone, Principal of New Inn Hall, Oxford, brought to Wimborne 1686 (J. M. J. Fletcher, Dorset Procs., XXXV (1914), 21–4).

Monuments and Floor-slabs. Monuments: In chancel, on N., (1) of [Gertrude, 2nd wife of] Henry Courtenay, marquess of Exeter, [1558], Purbeck marble table-tomb with moulded plinth decorated with quatrefoils, panelled sides with cusped quatrefoils enclosing shields formerly with brasses, plain top with moulded edge retaining part of brass margin with black-letter inscription '. . . conjux quondam Henrici Courtenay marchionis Exon. et mater Edwardi Courtenay nuper Co . . .'; on S., (2) of [John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, 1444, and Margaret (Beauchamp), his wife], Purbeck marble table-tomb with alabaster effigies (Plate 10); duke in plate armour, angels at head, lion at feet, collar of SS, and Garter; duchess with sideless cote-hardi and cloak, coronet and collar of SS, angels at head, at feet a boar; sides and ends of table-tomb with cusped panelling enclosing blank shields, those on S. formerly with brasses, moulded base with quatrefoils; base on S. supported over entrance to crypt on three-centred Purbeck marble arch with cusped spandrels and shafted responds. In N. chapel, in S.E. corner, (3) stone table-tomb with chamfered plinth and moulded capping, probably 17th century; upon it, mutilated effigy (Plate 11) in mail armour with plain coif, and gauntlet composed of rectangular plate scales, surcoat, head on helm, remains of shield charged three lions [in engrailed border] probably for Fitzpiers, early 14th century; reset on wall above, four stone shields similarly charged. In N. chapel, reset against N. wall, (4) of Sir Edmund Uvedal[e], 1606, erected by Mary (Dormer) his wife, alabaster monument (Plate 14) with panelled base with shields-of-arms of Uvedale impaling Dormer and of Dormer quartering other coats; above, recumbent effigy in armour and inscription tablet in strapwork surround flanked by Corinthian columns supporting entablature and achievement-of-arms, Uvedale quarterly of eight with other coats. In S. chapel, in recess in S. wall, (5) of Anthony Etricke, 1703, plain coped slate sarcophagus (Plate 11) with shields-of-arms—on coping, Etricke impaling Davenant, Etricke impaling Bacon, Etricke impaling Hopper, Player impaling Etricke and Hody impaling Etricke; on front, flanking date 1693 subsequently altered to 1703, (a) Etricke with inescutcheon of Bacon quartering Crane, impaling the same, (b) Etricke with inescutcheon of Wyndham, impaling the same; reset on S. wall, (6) of William Ettricke (sic), 1716, white marble tablet with shield-of-arms. In N. transept, on N. wall, (7) of Elizabeth, wife of Nicholas Pope, 1663, small stone panel. In N. aisle, on N. wall, (8) of Harry Constantine, 1712, and others of his family, marble tablet with baroque architectural surround (Plate 17); on W. wall, (9) of Thomas Hanham of the Middle Temple, 1650, erected by Margaret (Doddington) his widow, painted alabaster wall-monument (Plate 16) with inscription panel flanked by shields-of-arms of Hanham and Doddington; above, kneeling figures in niches flanked by Ionic columns, centre spandrel with shield-of-arms of Hanham quartering Long and Broughton, impaling Doddington quartering other coats; overall, broken pediment with cartouche-of-arms of Hanham as before. In S. aisle on S. wall, (10) of members of the Fitch family, erected 1705, with arms of Fitch impaling Russell and of Fitch with inescutcheon of Leigh; (11) of William Warham, 1612 and of Anthony Warham and Honor (Loope) his wife, stone and marble monument erected in 1746; (12) of Mary (Fitch) Russell, 1773 (Plate 17), marble tablet with cartouche-of-arms, crest and urn finials; (13) of Bartholomew Lane, 1679, slate tablet in carved stone surround with pediment, emblems of mortality and arms of Lane (Plate 16); below, three reset panels probably from former table-tomb; (14) of George Ellis Beethell, 1741, marble tablet with shield-of-arms.

Floor-slabs: In S. chapel, in N.E. corner, (1) of . . . wife of Anthony Wayte, probably 1619, Purbeck marble with chamfered edge; near S.E. corner, (2) Purbeck marble slab with 19th-century brass plate recording interment of John de Berwick, 1312 (Hutchins III, 213); on W., (3) of W. E[tricke], 1663, slate slab with shield-of-arms of Etricke impaling Willis; adjacent, (4) of Robert Russell, 1718, worn slate slab with arms of Russell impaling Hookes. Loose in W. tower, (5) worn and broken Purbeck marble slab depicting gowned figure with gloves, formerly in N. transept (Hutchins III, 205).

Paintings: (Frontispiece) on E. side of N. transept, in recess formed by blocking of presumed 12th-century apse, 13th-century chequer-work with riband border and Crucifixion scene above; the latter over-painted in 14th century with another Crucifixion; still later over-paintings fragmentary. (Tristram, loc. cit.; S.D.N.Q., III, 249; Arch. J., LIII (1896), 173–4.)

Pavement: In nave, 9 ins. below present floor, near 2nd column from E. on S. side, disturbed fragment (about 2 ft. by 1 ft.) with 1¼-inch terracotta and white limestone tesserae bedded in rammed chalk, pattern indecipherable (Hutchins III, 201; Arch. J., XX (1863), 345; Dorset Procs., XXXIX (1918), 30–1; Ibid., 84 (1962), 106–9); perhaps 8th century.

Piscinae: In chancel, beside sedilia, (1) stone recess with reset 13th-century moulded trefoil head, projecting bowl with restored foliate ornament on polygonal shaft, 14th century. In crypt, in E. wall, (2) of Purbeck marble, recess with pointed and moulded head and shafted jambs, round drain, groove for shelf, 14th century. In N. chapel, reset in E. wall, (3) stone recess with moulded jambs and ogee cinquefoil head in square surround with blank shields in spandrels, 15th century; foliate corbel modern. In S. chapel, in S. wall, (4) stone recess with chamfered trefoil head and round drain, late 13th century, restored. In N. transept, in E. wall, (5) recess with cinquefoil head and round drain, late 14th century, restored. In S. transept, in E. wall, (6) trefoil-headed recess with hollow-chamfered surround with shaped stops, grooves for shelf, 14th century, one side modern; in S. wall, (7) trefoil-headed recess with dog-tooth ornament and shafted jambs with moulded caps and bases, 13th century.

Plate: includes two uniform cups and cover-patens with assay marks and donor's inscriptions of 1638; flagon with assay mark of 1681 and donor's inscription of Robert Higden; large flagon of 1847; large stand-paten with donor's inscription of Thomas Boxeley, 1634; alms-dish with assay mark of 1721 and donor's inscription of Anthony Etrick, 1722; two secular salvers, one with assay mark of 1781, the other not dated; verger's wand with silver finial of 1806.

Royal Arms: In nave, over W. tower arch, Stuart arms carved in relief (Plate 40), 17th century. In library, small wooden shield-of-arms of Elizabeth I with crown and garter, supported by lion and dragon.

Sedilia; In chancel, on S., with seats in the bays and piscina (q.v.) on E.; panelled supports with pinnacles between bays, and cinquefoil ogee arches with crockets and elaborate finials; small trefoil-headed loop in W. side; 14th century, restored.

Stalls: In chancel, seven each side, with desks; seats with shaped arm-rests with moulded capping, misericords carved with foliage and fruit on N. side and with fruit, acanthus and bearded head (Plate 19) on S. side; desks (Plate 71) with enriched arcaded panels, frieze and top-rail; ends panelled and arcaded, with strap-work cresting; 1608 (Hutchins III, 208), remodelled 1866; at W. end, priests' desks made up with panels from former organ-case.

Sundial: formerly on gable of S. transept, now on pedestal S. of W. tower, rectangular stone structure with bracketed cornice and strapwork cresting, incised dials on three sides, one with date 1676; early 17th century with later repairs.

Miscellanea: In crypt, (1) carved and moulded stones, including parts of figures, head of recess, corbels etc., 12th to 15th century. In library, (2) eighteen pieces of alabaster retable with figures, 15th century; (3) broken portion of cross-shaped Purbeck marble finial with crucifixion on one side and king on reverse (Plate 9), early 15th century; (4) seven 15th-century wooden foliate roof-bosses, one with 17th-century leaden shield-of-arms added; (5) four slip-tiles, probably 14th century; (6) stone label-stop carved with female bust, crowned, 15th century; (7) portion of painting on plaster, male head, late 13th or early 14th century.

(2) Congregational Chapel, 500 yds. N. of (1), has rendered walls and a slate-covered roof; it is in the Gothic style and dates from 1846. Inside, the chapel measures 33 ft. by 72¾ ft., and has a six-bay roof with hammer-beam collar trusses.

Fittings—Monuments: On E. wall, (1) of James Panton, 1778, oval tablet; on W. wall, (2) of Martha White, 1804 and others of her family, marble tablet. Seating: In N. gallery, plain seats with 'pointed' uprights.

(3) Former Baptist Chapel, 70 yds. N. of (2), has brick walls and a tiled roof and was built in 1788 (Salisbury Journal, 20 Oct.); it is now a warehouse, but its former ecclesiastical use is known from documents in the owner's possession. The N. and S. walls retain each a tall segmental-headed window; the E. and W. end walls are masked by later buildings. Inside, the hall (33 ft. by 22 ft.) has a moulded cornice and a coved ceiling. Turned wooden balusters reset in a gate at the entrance to the premises have perhaps been taken from some internal fitting of the chapel.

St. Margaret's Chapel, see Pamphill (1), p. 44.

Secular

(4) Walford Bridge (00950064), of squared rubble and brick with ashlar dressings, carries the road to Cranborne across the R. Allen on seven arches. The W. side has six segmental-pointed arches with large chamfered voussoirs springing from cut-water piers with pyramidal capping, except the central cut-water which supports a pedestrians' refuge; these features appear to be of the 17th century and probably correspond with Quarter Sessions orders of 1666–7 (D.C.R.O.). The seventh and northernmost arch is semicircular and probably was added in 1802 when W. Knott and W. Stainer of Wimborne undertook extensive repairs (contract, D.C.R.O.); the projecting keystones in the 17th-century arches and the brick parapets are also of this period. The E. side of the bridge, with shallow segmental ashlar arches, brick spandrels and a plain brick parapet with ashlar coping, appears to date from the 19th century.

(5) Julian's Bridge (00389985), of ashlar and squared rubble with some brickwork, carries the road to Bere Regis across the R. Stour on eight segmental-pointed arches (Plate 26). Within these arches are seen the chamfered Heathstone voussoirs of a narrower bridge in which some arches are semicircular, others two-centred. The earlier structure was built in 1636 (Quarter Sessions orders, D.C.R.O.). The outer arches were added in 1844, on both sides of the former bridge, to allow widening of the roadway; at the same time an additional arch was made. Above road level the additions of 1844 carry brick parapet walls with ashlar coping and with corbelled pedestrian refuges. The centre refuge on the S. has stone cartouches inscribed 1636 and 1844, the earlier date-stone perhaps having been removed from the original bridge and reset.

The causeway on the W. has three segmental-pointed arches of ashlar and brickwork, probably of 1844.

(6) Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, 100 yds. S. of (1), was established in 1563 and has twice been rebuilt; it is of two storeys with attics and has brick walls with ashlar dressings, and tiled roofs. The original building was burned down and rebuilt before 1640 (B.M., Add. MS. 24776, f. 205). A drawing of the 17th-century building, by J. Buckler (1828), is preserved (B.M., Add. MS. 36361, f. 196). In 1849 the school was again rebuilt in a style imitating that of the 17th century and possibly incorporating some part of the former building (Illustrated London News, XV (1849), 309).

(7) Dean's Court, 250 yds. S. of (1), is said to stand on the site of the mediaeval Deanery; it is of two storeys with attics and basements and has brick walls with ashlar dressings, and tiled roofs (Plate 65). The N. and E. ranges were built in 1725 (Hutchins III, 232), apparently enclosing a mediaeval hall in the angle. In 1868, however, the hall and room on the S. were rebuilt and nothing remains visible of the mediaeval structure.

The N. front is symmetrical and of seven bays, with rusticated ashlar pilasters emphasising the corners and the three central bays. The doorway has a stone surround with Ionic three-quarter columns supporting a broken pediment with a cartouche-of-arms of Hanham impaling Norris (Sir W. Hanham married Mary Norris of Nonsuch in 1717). The basement storey is faced with rusticated ashlar. The sashed windows in both main storeys have square heads with keystones; the window over the doorway has a moulded stone architrave and scrolled cheek-pieces. Above the three middle bays the brick parapet which masks the roof is replaced by a stone balustrade.

The E. front is similar to the N. front, but of five bays; the central doorway has a stone hood projecting on carved brackets; the central first-floor window has a moulded stone architrave.

In the S. front the eastern bay has details continuous with those on the E.; the western bay, of 1868, has mullioned and transomed windows with elliptical-headed lights under moulded labels. Similar details occur in the W. front.

Inside, the principal rooms, including the hall of 1868, have walls lined with pine panelling in two heights, or panelled dados. The vestibule has a plaster ceiling simulating cross-vaulting in which the ribs are embellished with laurel wreaths in high relief; the pilasters have capitals with console enrichment and the archivolts of the surrounding openings have keystones in the form of heads. The main staircase has stone steps, wrought-iron balustrades and mahogany handrails. Reset in the windows of the hall are six oval glass panels with strapwork surrounds enclosing shields-of-arms—(i) Constantine with label and crescent impaling, quarterly, Neville and other coats, dated 1583; (ii) Constantine impaling Hanham quartered with other coats; (iii) Hanham, dated 1581; (iv) Hanham quarterly with Long, impaling Popham and Kentish; (v) Hanham quartering Long, dated 1586; (vi) Allye impaling Constantine, dated 1581; (vii) Castile quartering Leon. Reset in the window of a passage on the first floor; (viii) oval panel as before with shield-of-arms of Hanham quartering Long together with fragments of inscriptions. These panels appear to be of 16th-century origin.

A Stable Range some 25 yds. W. of the house has brick walls and tiled roofs and is of c. 1725. The N. side of the range is treated architecturally to correspond with the N. front of the house.

About 100 yds. N.W. of the house is a brick Garden Wall, serpentine on plan, with ashlar coping; probably it is of the first half of the 18th century.

(8) 'Lewens' (01339991), house, 400 yds. E. of (1), of two storeys with attics, has brick walls and tiled roofs (Plate 72); it is said to date from 1654, but it was greatly altered about the middle of the 18th century; the original plan was probably of class J. The 18th-century modifications resulted in an approximately symmetrical S.W. front of five bays, with a central doorway and with square-headed sashed windows in both storeys. Subsequently the doorway was transferred to the bay adjacent on the S.E., the stairs were re-sited and a N.E. wing was added. A beam in the roof bears the date 1654. An upper window in the N.E. elevation appears to be of the 17th century.

(9) Old Manor Farm (02189995), house, of two storeys with brick walls and tiled roofs with stone-slate verges, is of 16th-century origin. Above a plinth with a chamfered ashlar capping the E. front is of red brick with a diaper of blue header bricks. Flanking the southern of the two E. doorways are casement windows of four (originally five) square-headed lights with chamfered and ovolo-moulded timber mullions; similar openings of four lights are set symmetrically above the ground-floor windows. The N. bay of the E. front and the N. end wall of the range were rebuilt in timber framework, probably in the 17th century. In the 18th century a kitchen wing was built on the W., and other additions were made at the N. end of the range. Inside, the original range has a class-J plan; the throughpassage between the middle room and that on the N. is not original. In the 19th century the large fireplaces were blocked up, the stairs were remodelled on a circular plan and the 18th-century kitchen fireplace was altered. The ground-floor rooms of the 16th-century range have large stop-chamfered beams.

The farmhouse was formerly surrounded by a Moat of class A1 (a) (fn. 10), forming an island 100 ft. square with a wet ditch 15 ft. to 30 ft. wide and 4 ft. deep. The Tithe Map of 1845 shows the moat complete, with an entrance causeway on the E., near the N. corner; today only the W., S. and part of the E. sides remain.

(10) Cottages, range of three, 400 yds. N.W. of (1), recently demolished, were two-storeyed and had cob walls faced with brickwork, and thatched roofs. The two dwellings on the S.E. were of the 17th century; the third was of the 18th century.

(11) House, 300 yds. S.E. of (1), is of two storeys with brick walls and tiled roofs and is of the second half of the 18th century. The E. front is approximately symmetrical and of three bays, with a round-headed central doorway with a fanlight, flanked by three-quarter Roman-Doric columns with independent entablatures which support a hood in the form of an open pediment. Flanking the doorway are square-headed sashed windows of three lights; in the upper storey similar windows flank a sashed window of one light. Inside, the plan is of class U.

East Street, Dean's Court Lane and King Street

(12) Houses, pair, Nos. 10 and 11 East Street, are of two storeys with brick walls and tile-covered roofs; they are of the mid 18th century. In the four-bay S. front the lower storey has 19th-century shopfronts; the upper storey retains square-headed sashed windows with keystones. The W. elevation has in the lower storey a square-headed casement window with a gauged brick lintel; the upper storey has a sashed Palladian window under an elliptical brick arch. Inside, the ground-floor rooms have been obliterated, but the first-floor rooms retain fielded panelling. An 18th-century staircase with Tuscan-column balustrading remains.

(13) Courtenay's Almshouses, now demolished, were a range of six two-storeyed dwellings, with walls partly of squared rubble and partly rendered, and with slate-covered roofs. Although the foundation dates from 1557 (Hutchins III, 249), the recently demolished buildings appeared to be of the 17th century. Inside, the ceilings had chamfered wall-plates with shaped stops.

(14) Cottage, No. 7 Dean's Court Lane, now demolished, was single-storeyed with an attic and had timber-framed walls nogged with brickwork, and a thatched roof. It was of the 17th century and had a class-I plan.

(15) North Lodge, of two storeys with dormer-windowed attics, has brick walls, partly rendered, and a tiled roof; it appears to have been built in 1715, but was much altered in the 19th century. The rendered W. front is asymmetrical and of four bays. The main doorway, in the second bay from the S., has a four-centred head, a fanlight with 'Gothic' tracery, a door with fielded panels with two-centred heads, and similarly panelled reveals; on plan, the door and the reveals together form half an ellipse. In the S. bay the ground-floor opening has a square-headed french window with glazing bars forming pointed lights; the other ground and first-floor windows are plain openings with sashes. The date 1715 worked in relief in the 19th-century rendering above the doorway probably perpetuates a date inscribed on the original façade. The plan is of class T.

(16) House, No. 3 King Street, now a shop, two-storeyed with brick walls and a tiled roof, dates from the middle of the 18th century. Until recently the N. front was of blue header bricks with red brick chaînage and comprised three bays, the upper storey retaining plain sashed windows with projecting aprons. The two W. bays have now been demolished and the E. bay has been altered.

(17) House, No. 5 King Street, of 16th-century origin with minor 18th-century additions, is two-storeyed with attics and has timber-framed walls with brick nogging, and tiled roofs. The gabled N. elevation retains an original first-floor window of three square-headed lights with chamfered wooden surrounds. The attic has a small two-light window. A grotesque mask at the head of each corner post probably formed the terminal of an ornamental barge-board on the gable, now gone.

Inside, the plan appears originally to have been L-shaped, with two ground-floor rooms, that on the N. with an open fireplace on the E.; the S. room probably was unheated. The stairs in the re-entrant angle are of the 18th century; the original stairs may have been beside the chimneybreast.

(18) House, No. 6 King Street, adjacent to (17) on the W., is of two storeys with attics and has rendered walls and tiled roofs. It is probably of late 18th-century origin and a stone in the N. gable inscribed 1w 1687 appears to be reset. The W. front is symmetrical and of three bays, with plain square-headed sashed windows. Inside, the plan is of class T.

(19) House, No. 7 King Street, some 30 yds. W. of (18) and now demolished, bore a date-stone of 1706. It was of two storeys, with brick walls and a tiled roof, and had a symmetrical N. front of three bays with a central doorway and plain square-headed casement windows. The plan was of class T.

(20) Houses, two adjacent, Nos. 49 and 50 King Street, now demolished, were two-storeyed with attics and had brick walls and tiled roofs; they were of the mid 18th century. In the E. front the square-headed doorways had flat hoods on shaped brackets.

(21) Cottages, range of four, Nos. 45–48 King Street, now demolished, were two-storeyed with brick walls and thatched roofs and were built in the 18th century. The plans were of class S.

(22) House, No. 44 King Street, now demolished, was of two storeys with brick walls and a tiled roof and had a symmetrical S. front of three bays; it was of the early 19th century.

(23) House, No. 9 King Street, of two storeys with brick walls and a tiled roof, is of the late 18th or early 19th century. The N. front is approximately symmetrical and of three bays, with segmental-headed sashed windows and with a square-headed central doorway under an open-pediment hood on shaped brackets. The plan is of class T.

(24) Houses, Nos. 10, 11 and 12 King Street, are two-storeyed with brick walls and tiled roofs. Each has a symmetrical three-bay N. front with a central doorway as in (23) and with plain square-headed casement windows. No. II is larger than the others. All are of the early 19th century and have class-T plans.

(25) House, No. 30 King Street, formerly a pair of cottages and now demolished, was of two storeys with attics and had timber-framed walls clad with mathematical tiles, and a tiled roof; it dated from the second half of the 18th century.

(26) House, now demolished, was of to storeys with brick walls and slate-covered roofs; it probably was of 1827, the date on a rainwater head. The N. front, of four bays, included a bow-fronted shop window with a moulded cornice.

West Street

(27) House, No. 26, of two storeys with brick walls and a tiled roof, dates from the second half of the 18th century. The four-bay S. front is faced with blue header bricks with red brick dressings. Two bays in the lower storey are occupied by a 19th-century shop-front; the round-headed doorway has a fanlight and is flanked by acanthus brackets supporting an open pediment hood; the fourth bay has a plain sashed window. In the upper storey four sashed windows with brick aprons are disposed asymmetrically. Inside, the plan is of class T. The staircase has fielded panelling and trellis-work balustrades.

(28) House, No. 7, of two storeys with rendered walls and slate-covered roofs, was built in the first half of the 19th century. The N. front retains an original round-headed doorway with a fanlight and with a flat hood on shaped brackets; the other ground-floor openings have been obliterated to make shop-windows; the upper storey has five square-headed sashed windows.

(29) House, No. 30, of two storeys with brick walls and tiled roofs, is of the early 19th century with later 19th-century additions. The symmetrical five-bay S. front is flanked by slightly lower two-storeyed pavilions, each of one bay. At the centre is a round-headed doorway flanked by triple-shafted jambs supporting an open pediment. The sashed windows of the five central bays have segmental heads with keystones; the openings of the flanking pavilions are round-headed. The plan is of class T.

High Street

(30) House, No. 36, of two storeys with brick walls and a tiled roof, is of the late 18th century. The E. front, of two bays, has a modern shop-front in the lower storey, but the upper storey retains segmental-headed sashed windows and a moulded eaves cornice with dentils.

(31) House, No. 35, of two storeys with brick walls and a tiled roof, has recently been wholly rebuilt. The E. front is symmetrical and of three bays; it formerly had a central doorway with an open-pediment hood on scrolled brackets on the ground floor, and three large sashed windows in the upper storey. Above the first-floor windows was a plain string-course and a low parapet. A lead rainwater pipe on the N. of the doorway was dated 1798.

(32) Cottage, two-storeyed with timber-framed walls and a tiled roof, is of the 17th century; in the 18th century the S. front was refaced in brickwork. The N. elevation retains two original casement windows of three square-headed lights.

(33) 'The Priest's House', of two storeys with attics, has walls partly of squared rubble, partly of knapped flint with rubble banding, and partly of timber-frame construction; the roofs are tiled. It is a substantial town house of the early 17th century, with 18th-century additions. The house is now divided into two parts, that on the S. with a ground-floor shop, the other with a museum of local antiquities.

In the irregular five-bay W. front the lower storey is largely modern, but original coursed rubble masonry is exposed in the upper storeys of the gabled N. bay. An 18th-century sashed window on the first floor has an original moulded and weathered label with square stops; the attic has a stone window of two square-headed lights with a similar label. At the top of the gable the lowest courses of a brick chimney-stack remain. Elsewhere the W. front is of the 18th century.

The northern part of the E. elevation (Plate 72) is of banded flint and rubble. The gabled N. bay has stone ground-floor and first-floor windows of four square-headed lights under labels as described, and the attic has a similar three-light opening. In the lower storey of the adjacent bay one jamb is preserved of an original doorway with a four-centred head; the other jamb is obliterated by an 18th-century doorway. In the middle bay the lights of the ground-floor window have four-centred heads and roll-moulded and hollow-chamfered stone surrounds. The next bay of the E. elevation contains an original stone doorway with a chamfered elliptical head. To the S. of this doorway the building is timber-framed with brick nogging, but it is largely masked by later additions.

The S. elevation, now masked by a modern building, has two gabled bays; a sketch made while the contiguous site was empty shows the E. bay to be of timber framework. The N. elevation is entirely masked by the adjoining building.

Inside, it is clear that the original ground plan was a half-H and that the central room on the W. side, together with a passage on the S. and perhaps part of the shop, take the place of a former forecourt; the building-up of the court appears to date from early in the 18th century. On the ground floor, the E. wall of the former forecourt is of coursed rubble and ashlar. At the base is a moulded stone plinth and in the wall is a blocked stone window, originally of five lights with four-centred heads and roll-moulded and hollow-chamfered surrounds; above, a moulded label with square stops is partly masked by the inserted first floor. A 17th-century doorway with a moulded four-centred head and continuous jambs with pedestal-shaped stops, now occupying the place of the S. light of this window, appears to have been reset in the 18th century when the window was blocked. To the N. of the blocked window, a square label-stop projecting from the wall-face suggests the position of another window at a higher level.

Although now partitioned, the middle bay of the original house was evidently a hall (17½ ft. by 27 ft.), lit from E. and W. by the windows with four-centred heads noted above. The N. end of the hall has a large open fireplace surround with a moulded four-centred stone head and continuous jambs. In the 18th century an E.–W. passage was formed in place of the fireplace and the depth of the recess was greatly reduced. In the S. part of the former hall a timber post (p) suggests the position of former screens; the adjacent corridor with a staircase presumably replaces a screens-passage. The elliptical-headed doorway at the E. end of the corridor is of the 17th century. The reset doorway noted above probably comes from the W. end of the screenspassage.

The parlour has an early 17th-century plaster ceiling with moulded intersecting ribs, and a plaster wall frieze with stamped or cast arabesques (Plate 38); on the E. side, over the window, the arabesques give place to an inscription: Al People Refrayn from SYN. IW. AW (Plate 9). As IW could stand for John Woods, incumbent at the minster between 1604 and 1620, this could possibly be one of the missing prebendal houses (Hutchins III, 223), but the name 'Priest's House' appears to have no documentary authority earlier than the 25-inch O.S. of 1862. The parlour walls have 18th-century bolection-moulded pine panelling. The original fireplace, now concealed by the panelling, has a stone surround with a moulded four-centred head and continuous jambs with shaped stops. The present stairs are of the 18th century, but the label-stop noted on the N. of the W. hall window indicates a small mezzanine window in this place and suggests that the original stairs were a little to the N., that is, on the W. of the chimneybreast.

On the first floor, the hall chamber retains a fireplace with a moulded four-centred head similar to that of the hall, but smaller. There are traces of a blocked W. window in the same chamber.

The S. cross-wing, presumably containing the service-rooms of the 17th-century house, has been extensively remodelled and nearly all original features are obliterated. The ground floor is a shop. A brick chimneybreast in the middle of the first floor of the wing, presumably now supported on beams spanning the shop, appears to be an 18th-century insertion; nothing is seen of an original fireplace.

The roofs over the 17th-century parts of the house retain original collared and strutted tie-beam trusses with two purlins on each side, and ridge purlins.

(34) Houses and Shops, three adjacent, are of two storeys with attics and have brick walls and tiled roofs. The three tenements were formerly one, the New Inn; it had a W. front of seven bays, probably of c. 1700; the S. tenement is now the Albion Hotel. In the W. front the lower storey is modern, but the through carriage-way of the hotel in the third bay from the S. doubtless repeats an original feature. The upper storey retains seven tall sashed windows and a continuous moulded eaves cornice. Inside, some first-floor rooms have 18th-century panelling, and a room at the N. end of the range has a niche with shaped shelves and a niche-head with elaborate plaster-work. Oak staircases in the N. house and in the hotel on the S. have closed strings, stout turned balusters and square handrails of c. 1700.

(35) Houses and Shops, two adjacent, of two storeys with brick walls, in part rendered, and with tiled roofs, are of the first half of the 18th century.

(36) Mill House, of two storeys with brick walls and a tiled roof, is of c. 1820, but much altered. The plan is of class T.

(37) Mill, of three storeys with brick walls and a tiled roof, has the date 1771 carved on a fragment of a mediaeval window-head reset in the gabled E. wall. Originally a water-powered corn mill, the building was severely damaged by fire in 1952.

(38) The Crown Hotel, of two and of three storeys with brick walls, in part rendered, and with slated and tiled roofs, is of c. 1820 (advertisement, Salisbury Journal, 2 Sep., 1826). A two-storeyed E. wing may be of the late 18th century.

Church Street and Cornmarket

(39) Houses, two adjacent, Nos. 9 and 10 Church Street, are two-storeyed with attics and have brick walls and tiled roofs; they are of the mid 18th century. No. 9 has a two-bay E. front with a central doorway with an open pediment hood on shaped brackets; on the S. is a bowed shop-window, probably of the early 19th century. In No. 10 the original façade is obliterated by a modern shop front.

(40) Market House, on the N. side of the Cornmarket, is of two storeys and has brick walls and a tiled roof. It was built in 1758 and originally comprised an open loggia in the arcaded lower storey and a first-floor hall above. The S. front is of one bay, with an elliptical-headed gauged brick archway in the lower storey and with a Palladian window above. The roof is masked by a curvilinear brick gable, at the centre of which is a dated inscription of 1758. The E. elevation is of four bays with round-headed arches below and with plain sashed windows above; the former archways have been converted to doorways and a window, and one of them is blocked. Most of the W. elevation is masked by an adjacent house, but there is evidence that it too had an open ground-floor arcade. The first floor rests on large beams; access to the hall is by a wooden staircase with closed strings, chamfered newel posts and stout column-shaped balusters. The hall ceiling has a moulded plaster cornice.

(41) Cottages, two adjacent, Nos. 9 and 10 West Row, are single-storeyed with attics and have rendered walls and tiled roofs; they appear to be of the 17th century.

(42) The White Hart Inn, of two storeys with rendered walls and tiled roofs, appears externally to be of the late 19th century. Two ground-floor rooms, however, have 17th-century ceiling beams with deep chamfers and shaped stops. It is uncertain if they are reset, or if the building is of the 17th century, extensively rebuilt.

(43) The George Inn, of two storeys with rendered walls and a slate-covered roof, is probably a late 18th-century building although an inn of this name appears to have occupied the site since the 16th century. The N. front is symmetrical and of three bays, with a central doorway under a pediment-shaped hood, and with plain sashed windows in both storeys.

(44) House and Shop, of two storeys with brick walls and a tiled roof, is of late 18th-century origin. The chamber over the through carriage-way which passes between the shop and (43) has a Venetian window with heavy glazing bars, perhaps of early 18th-century date and reset.

(45) House, of three storeys with brick walls and a tiled roof, is probably of the mid 18th century. The two-bay W. front is mainly of yellow header bricks, with two moulded stringcourses and chaînage of red brick. Beside a 19th-century bow window the lower storey has an 18th-century square-headed doorway, with a curved hood on scrolled brackets with leaf enrichment. The upper storeys have plain sashed windows. Inside, the house has been altered and the original plan is lost.

East Borough

(46) House, of two storeys with rendered walls and tiled roofs, is of late 17th-century origin, but it was extensively remodelled and enlarged in the 19th century. The W. front is symmetrical and of five bays, with a central doorway sheltered by a low tetrastile porch with Roman-Doric columns and pilasters, and with plain sashed windows in both storeys. A plat-band marks the level of the first floor. Inside, the plan is of class U, but differences in floor-level suggest that the E. range is of earlier date than the main rooms on the W. The service wing on S. and E. incorporates a 17th-century cottage with timber-framed walls. Panelling of 17th-century date has recently been brought from elsewhere.

(47) House, of two storeys with rendered walls and a slate-covered roof, is mainly of the early 19th century. The S. front is symmetrical and of three bays, with a round-headed central doorway under an open-pediment hood on scrolled brackets, and with sashed windows in both storeys. The bays of the façade are defined by slender pilasters. Inside, the plan is of class T. The service wing at the rear appears to be of the mid 18th century.

(48) Cottage, now demolished, was two-storeyed with brick walls and a modern iron roof; it dated from early in the 18th century and had an E. front of two bays with a central doorway. The plan was of class T.

(49) 'Allendale', house, now the Civic Centre, is of three storeys with attics and cellars, and has rendered walls and slate-covered roofs (Plate 72). It was built in 1823 to the design of Sir Jeffry Wyatville (Colvin, 739) and has a class-U plan with extensive single-storeyed stable ranges on the S. The symmetrical W. front, of three bays, has a central doorway in a tetrastyle Doric portico flanked by three-light sashed windows; the upper storey has plain sashed windows. The low-pitched roof has wide soffited eaves with shaped brackets, continuous on all sides of the house. The N. elevation is of six bays, but in the upper storeys the terminal bays have no windows. The E. elevation is similar to that on the W., but with a smaller porch. The S. elevation is irregular and the lower storey is masked by a single-storeyed service wing flanking the stable court. Inside, the principal rooms retain some original plasterwork and marble chimneypieces.

(50) House, now demolished, latterly of two storeys, but originally single-storeyed with attics, had brick walls and a tiled roof. It was of 17th-century origin and had an approximately symmetrical N. front of three bays. A plat-band marked the level of the first floor. The heightening of the walls to provide the second storey was indicated by brickwork of lighter colour than the original; this was done in the 18th century. Inside, the original plan was of class I, but it had been modified in the 19th century when the house was divided into two tenements.

(51) Allen House, Poor-Law Institution, now demolished, was of two storeys with brick walls and tiled roofs; it was built c. 1760. N. and S. wings were added on the E. of the original range in 1838, together with a chapel and a school-room. The original building had an approximately symmetrical W. front of eleven bays with a round-headed central doorway and with plain sashed windows in both storeys.

(52) House, of two storeys with brick walls and a tiled roof, is of the early 19th century. The rendered E. front is symmetrical and of three bays, with a central doorway with reeded pilasters supporting a curved hood, and with sashed windows in both storeys, those of the lower storey being of three lights. The roof is partly masked by a parapet. The plan is of class T.

(53) Cottages, pair, of two storeys with brick walls and slate-covered roofs, are of the mid 19th century. The rendered E. front has casement windows and doorways of 'Tudor' form, with four-centred heads and labels. The parapet is crenellated.

(54) Cottages, two adjacent, of two storeys with attics, have brick walls and tiled roofs with stone-slate verges; they were built in the 18th century.

(55) Cottages, pair, have characteristics as in (54). One tenement contains a reused chamfered beam with shaped stops.

(56) House, of two storeys with rendered walls and tiled roofs, is of the early 19th century. The rusticated lower storey of the E. front has a sashed bow window and a doorway with Ionic three-quarter columns supporting an open-pediment hood; the upper storey has three plain sashed windows. Inside, the rooms have moulded cornices with reeded decoration.

(57) Cottages, range of three, of one storey with attics, with brick walls and thatched roofs, are of the second half of the 18th century.

West Borough

(58) House, on the E. side of the street at the corner of The Square, is of two storeys with attics and has brick walls and a tiled roof; it dates from the second half of the 18th century, but the ground floor has been extensively changed in recent times to fit it as a bank. The S. elevation retains a Venetian window in the upper storey; the three-bay W. front has two plain sashed windows in each storey and, on the S., a false Venetian window in the upper storey. Inside, the stairs from the first floor to the attic have cut strings with scroll-shaped spandrels, vase-and-column balusters, square newel-posts, stout moulded handrails, and dados with fielded panelling. The main first floor room has a stone chimneypiece with an eared architrave and scrolled cheek-pieces; it is flanked by ogee-headed niches with panelled reveals. The adjacent room has a dado with fielded panelling.

(59) House, adjacent to the foregoing and now incorporated with it, is of two storeys with brick walls and a tiled roof; it is of the first half of the 18th century. The W. front, originally symmetrical and of three bays, is constructed with header bricks and has a stucco plat-band and stucco quoins; the central doorway has a rusticated surround. Inside, the first-floor rooms retain dados with fielded panelling.

(60) House, now incorporated with (58) and (59), is probably of the first half of the 19th century.

(61) House, on the W. of the street and facing the foregoing, is of two storeys with attics and has brick walls and tiled roofs; it is of the middle of the 18th century. The asymmetrical fourbay E. front is faced with brick headers. The doorway has a flat timber hood on shaped brackets and the square-headed first-floor windows have stucco key-blocks.

(62) House, on the E. of the street, of two storeys with attics, has brick walls and a tiled roof with a stone-slate verge; it is of the late 18th century. In the two-bay W. front the lower storey has been obliterated by a modern shop; the first floor has plain sashed windows.

(63) The Conservative Club, adjacent to the foregoing, is of three storeys with attics and has brick walls with ashlar dressings, and slate-covered roofs; it dates from early in the 19th century. The W. façade is symmetrical and of five bays, with a round-headed central doorway flanked by fluted Roman-Doric three-quarter columns which support Doric entablatures and a low-pitched open-pediment hood; the other bays of the lower storey have round-headed sashed windows set in shallow recesses with gauged brick heads and moulded ashlar imposts. The corresponding windows in the upper storeys are square-headed. A continuous moulded string-course forms the sills of the first-floor windows. The façade is crowned by a moulded cornice, inclined upwards to form a pediment over the three central bays, with a round-headed attic window in the tympanum.

Inside, the plan is of class U. The principal rooms have moulded and enriched plaster cornices. The stone staircase has a moulded wood handrail supported by a wrought-iron balustrade with panels recalling mediaeval window tracery.

(64) House, of two storeys with attics, with brick walls, partly rendered, and with a tiled roof, dates from the last quarter of the 18th century. The W. front is symmetrical and of three bays, with a central doorway with a segmental hood on shaped brackets, and with sashed windows with key-blocks. A plat-band marks the level of the first floor. Inside, several rooms have panelled dados.

(65) House, adjacent to the foregoing, has brick walls, partly rendered, and a tiled roof; it is of the late 18th century. In the three-bay W. front, the ground-floor bay on the N. of the doorway has an early 19th-century shop-window, bowed on plan.

(66) House, on the W. side of the street, is of two storeys with attics and has brick walls and a tiled roof; it is of the late 18th or early 19th century. The E. front is approximately symmetrical and of three bays, with a square-headed doorway with a pilastered surround, and with plain sashed windows.

(67) House, now part of a theatre, is two-storeyed, with brick walls with ashlar dressings and with tiled roofs. It dates from the second half of the 18th century and although much altered was originally a town house of some importance. In the E. front the lower storey has been obliterated; the upper storey, symmetrical and of five bays, retains original square-headed sashed windows, the central opening having a moulded ashlar surround with scrolled cheek-pieces. Rusticated ashlar quoins define the corners of the building and the façade is crowned by a moulded stone cornice with a brick parapet. Inside, the ground floor has gone, but the first-floor plan is of class U.

(68) Houses, pair, on the E. side of the street, are of three storeys with brick walls and slate-covered roofs and are of the early 19th century. Each house has a three-bay E. front; on the ground floor they are separated by a service passage leading through to the rear; in the upper storeys the S. house extends over the passage, a fourth window causing the combined elevation to be of seven bays, symmetrically arranged. The doorways and ground-floor windows are round-headed with traceried fanlights and sashes; the upper storeys have plain sashes. Inside, each house has a class-U plan.

(69) House and Shop, adjacent to the foregoing, of two storeys with brick walls and a tiled roof, is of late 18th-century origin. The shop was added early in the 19th century.

(70) House, of two storeys with an attic, with brick walls and tiled roofs, is of late 18th-century origin; the rear wing is probably of the early 19th century. The W. front is symmetrical and of three bays. The plan is of class T.

(71) Cottages, two adjacent, on the W. side of the street, are single-storeyed with attics and have brick walls and thatched roofs; they are of 18th-century origin.

(72) House, of two storeys with brick walls and tiled and slated roofs, is of the mid 18th century. The E. front is approximately symmetrical and of three bays, with a central doorway under a plain hood on shaped brackets and with square-headed sashed windows. The plan is of class T.

(73) House, adjacent to the foregoing on the N. and with similar characteristics, is of c. 1800. The doorway has an openpediment hood and the windows are segmental-headed.

(74) House, now divided into two tenements, of two storeys with rendered brick walls and a thatched roof, is of the first half of the 18th century. A wood-framed three-light casement window with leaded glazing is preserved in the E. front. The original plan appears to have been of class T.

(75) Cottage, adjacent to the foregoing on the N., is single-storeyed with an attic and has rendered brick walls and a thatched roof; it is of c. 1800.

(76) House, at the intersection of West Borough and Blind Lane, is of two storeys with brick walls and tiled roofs. The nucleus of the building is an early 18th-century cottage with a three-bay E. front; it retains wood-framed two-light casement windows with leaded glazing. A wing on the W. of the original range was added c. 1800; extensions on the N. and S., together with two sashed bow windows, are probably of slightly later date. Inside, the plan appears originally to have been of class T. The stairs have turned balusters and cut strings with scroll-shaped step spandrels.

(77) Cottage, of two storeys with brick walls and a thatched roof, is of the second half of the 18th century. The symmetrical three-bay W. front is of blue and red bricks regularly alternating in Flemish bond. Inside, one room of the class-T plan has two stop-chamfered beams.

(78) House, of two storeys with brick walls and a tiled roof, is of the late 18th century. The W. front (Plate 72) is symmetrical and of three bays, with a central doorway in an elaborate wooden door-case, perhaps brought from elsewhere, with enriched jambs and brackets and an open-pediment hood. The large sashed windows have shallow segmental heads. The plan is of class T, with later extensions at the rear, into which the stairs have been removed.

(79) Cottages, three adjoining, of two storeys with brick walls and thatched roofs, are mainly of the 18th century, but the middle tenement, with some timber framework, is of 17th-century origin. Inside, the middle and S. cottages have rooms lined with fielded panelling in two heights; the middle cottage also has a heavily chamfered ceiling beam.

(80) Walford Mill, of three storeys with brick walls and tiled roofs, is of c. 1800. Originally a water-powered corn mill, the former water-wheel has been replaced by modern machinery.

(81) Cottage, of one storey with an attic, has brick walls and a thatched roof. Perhaps of 17th-century origin, it was refronted c. 1800; the original structure retains some timber framework.

Mediaeval and Later Earthworks

(82) Settlement Remains (007998), on The Leaze, 200 yds. S.W. of the Minster Church, include a hollow-way representing a former street, some 270 yds. long, extending N.—S. and bounded by low banks interrupted by many gaps. Parallel with the hollow-way and 50 yds. to the W., a bank with an external ditch is probably the boundary of the closes which lay on that side of the street. The two most northerly closes are better preserved than the others and one of them contains low mounds and rectangular platforms. A shallow ditch, some 30 yds. E. of the hollow-way and parallel with it, is perhaps the boundary of the closes on the opposite side of the street. A broad hollow-way further E. is almost certainly a later track. For a plan of the N. part of the site, see p. 78.

Ridge-and-furrow up to 7 yds. wide extends over 12 acres on the W. of the site. Narrow-rig covers the S. part of the settlement and probably accounts for the obliteration of the more southerly closes.

Limited excavations at the N. end of the hollow-way and immediately E. of it have revealed post-holes, pits and ditches, and have yielded pottery indicating 12th and 13th-century occupation. Wall foundations have also been claimed, but their authenticity is doubtful (Med. Arch., 6–7 (1962–3), 328; 8 (1964), 263–4).

Moat, at Old Manor Farm, see (9).

Undated

(83) Mound (00649952), S.W. of the town, on The Leaze, lies on the alluvial flood plain of the R. Stour, within 30 yds. of the left bank. It is 100 ft. in diameter and 6 ft. high, with a flat top 30 ft. across. There is no trace of an encircling ditch. The mound stands within and close to the S. side of a nearly circular enclosure, much damaged by ploughing, some 270 ft. in diameter and bounded by a low, spread bank 20 ft. across and 1½ ft. high, with traces of an external ditch. No certain original entrance can be detected. Proof is lacking, but it is possible that the remains represent a motte and bailey, rather than a barrow as has been suggested (Dorset Barrows, 143; also O.S. maps).