Listed Building record MDO37806 - Melplash Court, Melplash, Netherbury

MELPLASH COURT: The property came to the "PAULET family in the 16thc., ..and the house was rebuilt early in the 17thc… Late in the 17thc a low wing was added on the N.E., and a porch on the N. of the hall. The former W. wing was destroyed at some uncertain period and replaced in 1922 by the existing wing, which has..since..been extended to the S.

PIGEON HOUSE: This is a circular stone structure wih a conical roof and a square headed doorway. It was probably built in the 17th C. <3>

[Similar information]. <1>

I believe that part of the house is 16th cent. It is still known as MELPLASH COURT <4.1>. A large well preserved house which retains little external evidence of antiquity. Since OS 6" 1903 a large wing has been added to the North West and another but smaller one to the South West while the long narrow North East wing has been largely removed. The house now fronts to the North East. The oldest portion adjoins the so called chapel (for which see Dorset 30 SW 5) and in the East face there is a mullioned window with dripstone. The pigeon house at A is of stone with a stone tiled roof and it is well preserved. It has walls 0.9m thick and has an internal diameter of 3.8m. <4>

<1> Shipp, W, and Hodson, J W (eds), 1863, The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset. 3rd edition. Volume 2, 115-6 (Monograph). SWX1269.

<2> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1903 (Map). SWX1540.

[SY 48339843] MELPLASH COURT [GT]

<3> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments England, 1952, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume I (West), 173 (Monograph). SDO97.

‘(3) MELPLASH COURT, house and pigeon-house, 1 m. S.E. of the church. The House is of two storeys with attics; the walls are of rubble ashlar-faced and the roofs are covered with stone slates. The property came into the possession of the Paulet family in the 16th century and the house was rebuilt early in the 17th century; two fireplaces now removed to Mapperton bear the arms of James I and Paulet. Late in the 17th century a low wing was added on the N.E. and a porch on the N. of the hall. The former W. wing was largely destroyed at some uncertain period but was replaced in 1922 by the existing W. wing which has, more recently, been extended to the S. The N. Front of the old building is of three gabled bays with a small gabled wing, perhaps the original staircase-wing, projecting from the E. bay. This wing has a doorway with moulded jambs and four-centred arch in a square head with trefoiled spandrels and a label; the N. face has three three-light windows with labels and on the E. side is a blocked window of two elliptical headed lights. The windows of the middle bay of the front are modern. The W. bay projects and is partly of late 17th-century date and partly modern. The doorway to the porch has a square head and moulded architrave and the ground-floor window has a moulded label; on the E. return are two single-light square-headed windows. The E. end of the house has restored three-light windows. The S. front has a modern bay-window and further W. is an original window of five lights with a label and two similar windows above of two and three lights respectively. Inside the building, the middle part of the main block formed the Hall on the ground floor with the screens-passage at the W. end. The oak screen (Plate 51) appears to be of the 16th century presumably reset; it is divided into five bays by octagonal posts with moulded heads, bands and bases all continued across the side bays of the screen; the panelling of the bays is of the 17th century and the central doorway is of c. 1700. The restored fireplace in the former Hall retains its original moulded jambs; the partition on the E. side of the room is of c. 1700 and has bolection-moulded panelling. The fireplace in the E. room has chamfered jambs and four-centred head. The staircase, of c. 1700, has turned balusters, and close strings and has been considerably repaired. On the first floor is some 17th-century panelling and in the N.E. wing is some reset 16th-century linen-fold panelling.
The Pigeon-house (Plate 55), W. of the house, is a circular stone structure with a conical roof. It was built probably in the 17th century and has a square-headed doorway.’

<4> Rigg, J, Field Investigators Comments JR, F1 JR 10-MAY-55 (Unpublished document). SWX1255.

<5> Newman, J, and Pevsner, N, 1972, The Buildings of England: Dorset, 282-3 (Monograph). SWX1290.

<5.1> Tiarks, Mrs P, Oral: Mrs P Tiarks (owner's wife), Melplash Court, Netherbury (Verbal communication). SDO19026.

<6> Department of the Environment, 1984, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest: District of West Dorset (Parishes of Burstock, Broadwindsor, Mapperton, Netherbury, North Poorton, Pilsdon, Powerstock and Stoke Abbott), 52 (Scheduling record). SDO16351.

<7> National Record of the Historic Environment, 449877 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Dec 14 2022 2:24PM