Listed Building record MDO10372 - Muston Manor, Piddlehinton

A late 17th Century house with a brick (English bond) façade and banded flint and rubble end walls; the tiled roof is gable-ended. Inside the house is a 17th-century chimney piece from Waterston Manor. To the south is a brick wall terminating in a small dovecote with a pitched slate roof, below this is a mounting block. The building may incorporate an earlier core.

The Manor of Muston was allegedly held by Cerne abbey at the time of the conquest but it does not occur in Domesday as a possession of that house. The manorial history is obscure until after the Dissolution when in 37 Hen VIII the manor was one of a number granted to John Bartlet. The Bartlets had licence to
alienate Muston to John Churchill, and it was conveyed in 6 James I (1609). The Churchills had a seat here until they moved to Colliton, Dorchester, comparatively recently. <1>

Muston Farmhouse, a 17th century brick building of two storeys and attic may have an earlier core. The present house is called Muston Manor and not Muston Farm. It was almost certainly in existence in 1609 when the Churchills bought the manor. <4>

Muston Manor (SY 72309600) is a two storeyed house with dormer-windowed attics. The south front is of brick with ashlar dressings but the other walls are of banded rubble and flint. The building is of 17th century origin but with modern additions to the east and north. <6>

Muston Manor, SY 72319602, (name confirmed) remains as described above, in excellent preservation, (see ground photograph). <7>

<1> Shipp, W, and Hodson, J W (eds), 1863, The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset. 3rd edition. Volume 2, 803-4 (Monograph). SWX1269.

<2> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1930 (Map). SWX1540.

(SY 72319601) Muston Farm formerly (NAT) Manor House (NR)

<3> DOE (HRR), 1951, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest: Dorchester Rural District 1951, 42 (Scheduling record). SWX2329.

<4> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, F1 NVQ 22-NOV-54 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

<4.1> Churchill, Cmdr K B, Oral information, correspondence (not archived) or staff comments: Cmdr K B Churchill (owner, occupier), Muston Manor (Verbal communication). SDO18506.

<5> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1963 (Map). SWX1540.

(SY 72319601) Muston Manor (NR)

<6> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume III (Central) Part 2, 209 (Monograph). SDO136.

‘(3) MUSTON MANOR (72309600), house, 1,500 yds. S.E. of the church, is two-storied with dormerwindowed attics; the S. front is of brickwork with ashlar dressings, the other walls are of banded rubble and flint; the roof is covered with modern tiles. The house is of 17th-century origin but the interior has been much altered and there are modern additions to E. and N.

The S. front is approximately symmetrical and of five bays, the middle bay being set forward as a gabled two-storied porch. The outer porch arch is of stone with an elliptical ogee-moulded head, continuous jambs and chamfered run-out stops; above the arch is a recessed stone panel. To the W. of the porch the ground floor has two stone windows each of four square-headed lights with chamfered and hollow-chamfered surrounds; above them on the first floor are two similar three-light windows. To the E. of the porch the ground floor has only one four-light window but the first floor has two, of three lights, as before. The window in the gabled upper storey of the porch is similar and of three lights.

The W. front is divided into two parts by a vertical ashlar offset; the S. part is of banded flint and rubble, the N. part is of banded flint and brick; all openings are modern and the upper parts of the walls have been rebuilt. On the N. front the gabled W. bay is of brick, with 17th-century stone-mullioned three-light windows on the ground and first floors; the first-floor opening has a brick label; the rest of the N. front and the entire E. part of the house are modern. Inside, the S.E. room has a 17th-century stone fireplace surround, recently brought from Waterston Manor, Puddletown. It has a moulded square head with rounded shoulders and continuous jambs; the moulded stone cornice is modern. The N.W. room has a large ceiling beam, chamfered for part of its length and unwrought for the rest. In the hall is a painting of the four seasons by Thornhill; it was formerly a ceiling panel at Colliton House, Dorchester. To the E. of the house is an 18th-century Granary on staddlestones; the walls are of brick and the roof is tiled.’

<7> Barton, J G, Various, Field Investigators Comments JGB, F2 JGB 18-NOV-80 (Unpublished document). SDO11900.

<8> National Record of the Historic Environment, 454762 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Sep 13 2022 4:56PM