Monument record MDO4618 - Barton Manor, Barton Hill, Shaftesbury

The presumed site of Barton Manor House, was excavated in 1951, but no building remains were found. Instead, two possibly deliberately laid yard surfaces were found together with associated drains. These features were thought to be of 18th-century date.

Berton, now called Bartonhill is mentioned in the court leat rolls of 1462 and 1472. The manor was a parcel of Shaftesbury Abbey, and granted to Sir Thomas Arundel in 1546 and later to the Earl of Pembroke. <2>

The Manor House of the manor of Barton and Cann, stood in the fields at Barton Hill, where the pond now is, but there are no visible remains or pictorial record of the house. (The OS <3> siting falls approx. on the pond, which is shown on Upjohn's map <1>).

ST 867231 In 1950-51 excavations were made at the site by E Jervoise, for Shaftesbury & District Historical Society, but failed to reveal the site of Barton Manor, the field having been acquired for a car park and market place.

In 1950 a 15ft trench dug through a probably old hedge bank uncovered some medieval sherds and two pieces of Romano-British ware.

In 1951, three trenches, each 70ft x 2ft and 40ft apart were dug across the site, with other trenches at right angles to the main ones. 18th century ware was found in an upper layer, and beneath a depression which may have been Upjohn's pond a lower layer of debris was found. This layer was to the south and sloped upwards towards the field level, further south were some ambiguous footings. <4-7>

The excavations by E Jervoise in 1951 revealed the floors of two apparently 18th century yards. They were about 2-6ins thick, and consisted of a mixture of pottery, roof-tiles, glass, oyster shells and plaster rubble. Remains of a stone-lined drain thought to have served the yard or yards were also found. 12th-13th century pottery, floor tiles and glazed ridge tiles indicated medieval occupation in the vicinity. No traces of foundations were found and excavations prove that this area was not the site of the Manor House, but might have been yards belonging to it. <6>

No visible trace remains of the Manor house. A new market place is being constructed over the site but no foundations have been exposed. <8>

Barton Manor House appears to have been the centre of a medieval estate which extended north and north west; in the 16th century
the estate had gardens, paddocks, a house, a barn, an ox shed and a pinfold in all covering 2 acres. (According to RCHM, the site of Barton Manor House at ST 86752316, was excavated in 1951, although the report which they quote (see Authy 7) does not support this). <9>

<1> Hutchins, J R, 1803, The History and Antiquities of The County of Dorset Volume 2. 2nd edition, opposite page 391 (Monograph). SDO18013.

Upjohn's plan of Shaftsbury 1799 scale approx 20" to 1 mile

<2> Shipp, W (ed), 1868, The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset. 3rd edition. Volume 3, 49, 80 (Monograph). SWX3207.

<3> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1938 (Map). SWX1540.

(ST 86752316) Manor House (NR) (Site of)

<4> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1951, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1950, 76 (Serial). SDO50.

<5> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1951, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1950, 94-5 (Serial). SDO50.

Preliminary excavation at Barton Manor, Shaftesbury (Holy Trinity); nat. grid ST(31)/867231.
The Shaftesbury and District Historical Society was unable to begin work on the traditional site of Barotn Manor in Cockrams's Field, acquired for a municipal car partk and market place, but a 15 ft. trench was dug thought a neighbouring bank (probably an old hedge bank) on the N. side of the fiel, principally in order to test the depth of the top-soil. Traces of fire were found at one point and near this were about a dozen pieces of rough pottery, mostly medieval but including two pieces of Romano-British ware.

<6> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1952, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1951, 112 (Serial). SDO51.

A test excavation at Cockram's Field by E. Jervoise, F.S.A., for the Shaftesbury and District History Society failed to reveal the site of Barton Manor although medieval pottery and tiles and later remains were found. Three trenches, each 70 ft. by 2 ft. and 40 ft. apart, with others at right angles, were dug. Two layers of debris, perhaps intentionally laid, were found. One of them, including 18th cent. Were, was benath a depression in the field which may be the remains of a pond existing, according to Hutchins, on the site of the manor and marked on Upjohn's map (Hutchins, Ed. 2) of 1799. The second, which was partly stratified below the first, lay to the s. and sloped upwards towards the field level. Further S. were some ambiguous footings.

<7> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1956, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1954, 67-73 (Serial). SDO54.

<8> Edwards, D W, Field Investigator's Comments DE, F1 DE 27-JAN-56 (Unpublished document). SDO18341.

<9> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1972, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume IV (North) (Monograph). SDO99.

'(141) BARTON MANOR HOUSE (86752316), site, was excavated in 1951 (Dorset Procs., 76 (1954), 67). The floors of two yards with associated drains were revealed ; they were of 18th-century date, but 12th and 13th-century pottery, floor-tiles and glazed ridge-tiles indicated medieval occupation. The manor house appears to have been the centre of a medieval estate which extended N. and N.W. In the 16th century the estate had gardens, paddocks, a house, a barn, an ox shed and a pinfold, in all covering 2 acres (Survey of Lands of William, Earl of Pembroke, ed. C. R. Stratton, Roxburghe Club, 1909, II, 502).'

<9.1> Straton, C R, 1909, Survey of the lands of William first Earl of Pembroke. Transcribed from vellum rolls in the posession of the Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery (Monograph). SDO18626.

<10> Groundworks Archaeology, 2020, Archaeological Evaluation Report, Shaftebury Cattle Market, Christ's Lane, Shaftesbury (Unpublished document). SDO18106.

<11> National Record of the Historic Environment, 206406 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Oct 3 2022 10:09AM