Listed Building record MDO9169 - Wolfeton Riding House, Charminster

Riding House. Late C16. Ashlar stone walls on the east, south and west, squared and coursed rubble on the north. Later alterations are in coursed rubble of poor quality. Slate roof with gable ends.

Wolfeton Barn, a probable 16th century ashlar building divided into six bays by buttresses of two weathered stages. <2>

SY 67869225. Riding House, situated north of Wolfeton House was originally two storeyed; the lower storey very high and the upper, little more than an attic. The walls date probably from the last quarter of the 16th century and are of ashlar on the east, south and west, and squared and coursed rubble on the north. The south elevation has a plinth with chamfered footing course and is divided into seven bays by buttresses of two weathered stages. Traces of two subsidary ranges at right angles to the building suggest that an open-air manege lay formerly on the north side of the riding house. The whole building represents the earliest surviving riding house known in England and is of considerable architectural importance. Pevsner considered that the combination of string-courses and hoodmoulds suggested the 17th century rather than the 16th century for the building with a date of circa 1610 likely. <3-4>

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1903 (Map). SWX1540.

(SY 67869225) Wolfeton Barn [NAT]

<2> DOE (HRR), 1951, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest: Dorchester Rural District 1951, 23 (Scheduling record). SWX2329.

<3> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume III (Central) Part 1, 69 (Monograph). SDO146.

‘(5) RIDING HOUSE (67869225), 125 yds. N. of Wolfeton House, was originally two storied, the lower storey very high, the upper storey little more than an attic. The walls date probably from the last quarter of the 16th century and are of ashlar on the E., S. and W., and of squared and coursed rubble on the N.; later alterations are in coursed rubble of poorer quality. Traces of two subsidiary ranges at right angles to the building suggest that an open-air manège lay formerly on the N. of the riding house.
As the earliest surviving riding house known in England the building is of considerable architectural importance. Prince Henry's riding house at St. James's Palace, built c. 1604, was in many respects similar to the present building although larger; the riding houses at Welbeck Abbey and Bolsover Castle date from later in the 17th century. (fn. 2)
The S. elevation has a plinth with a chamfered footing course and an ogee moulded capping, and is divided into seven bays by buttresses of two weathered stages (Plate 125). The most easterly of the seven bays is nearly three times the normal width; the buttress between the two western bays has been removed to make way for a secondary external stone stair. At the centre of the wide E. bay is a round-headed doorway, now blocked, on each side of which the plinth mouldings are returned downwards. The opening has a moulded head, continuous jambs and an ogeemoulded label; the arch mouldings are concealed by the rubble blocking wall. Above the doorway is a small lion mask, in relief, with the locks of the mane arranged radially; a similar feature occurs at Lulworth Castle (see Dorset II, 148). The fourth and sixth bays from the E. have mullioned windows of three square-headed lights, now blocked, with weathered labels which continue laterally and stop against the buttresses. Remains of a similar label flanking a large secondary doorway in the second bay show that originally there was a third window in this position.
The W. wall has two weathered buttresses and moulded plinths, as before. To the S. is a round-headed doorway similar to that of the S. elevation; it has continuous ogee and hollow-chamfered mouldings ending at shaped stops. In the centre of the wall and at the same level as the windows of the S. elevation is a window of three square-headed lights with double-chamfered surrounds, under a label with returned stops; the opening is blocked with brickwork. Above, in the upper storey, is a similar window, still open. The gable has moulded kneelers and a finial with crossed gablets.
The E. wall has plinth, buttresses, upper window and gable approximately uniform with those on the W. Below the gable the wall is pierced by small round windows in two storeys, as shown on the drawing. Each window has a chamfered and rebated ashlar surround and three of the openings retain original iron cross-bars. A blocked secondary doorway in the lower storey may replace a sixth window.
In the N. elevation a weathered buttress uniform with those of the E. wall, but now without a plinth, stands near the N.E. corner. Near the middle of the elevation is another buttress, stouter than those described but otherwise similar. Some 3 ft. from the E. buttress is a blocked round window, uniform with and at the same level as the upper row of eastern round windows. Two blocked rectangular openings occur near the eaves, one adjacent to the central buttress, the other about 15 ft. from the N.W. corner; it is uncertain if these openings are original or secondary. All other openings in the N. elevation are clearly secondary; the large barn doorway, however, may well replace a narrower original doorway. Two subsidiary buildings formerly stood adjacent to the main building; large parts of the creasing courses of their roofs, undoubtedly original, are neatly bonded with the original coursed rubble masonry. These were probably stable ranges, perhaps flanking an open-air manège on the N. side of the riding house. Part of the W. wall of the western range may still exist, incorporated in the E. wall of an adjacent cottage.
Inside, the building now has a secondary floor, some two feet above the sill-level of the original S. windows. The original first floor has been removed, but most of the beams upon which it rested remain; they are chamfered and measure 12 ins. by 12 ins. in cross-section; in the upper part, on each side of each beam are the housings of former floor joists; below, on one side is a row of small mortices for the ends of smaller ceiling joists and on the other side is a groove to receive the ends of corresponding joists. Thus the beams evidently supported both a floor and an independent ceiling, the groove enabling the ceiling joists to be inserted after the beams were in position. To the N. the beams are housed in the wall; to the S. they rest on rounded stone corbels which project from the wall, directly above the level of timber lintels spanning the window recesses. The roof retains many original members, but they have been extensively strutted and repaired.’

<4> Newman, J, and Pevsner, N, 1972, The Buildings of England: Dorset, 147 (Monograph). SWX1290.

<5> Historic England, Historic England Archive, BF111542 (Index). SDO14738.

Wolfeton House, Charminster

<6> Bridge, M, 2005, Tree-Ring Analysis of Timbers from Wolfeton Riding House, Wolfeton House, Charminster, Dorset (Article in serial). SDO14875.

<7> Tapply, T, 2010, Wolfeton Manor Riding School, Wolfeton, Charminster, Dorset. Results of an archaeological evaluation (Unpublished document). SDO12463.

<8> Bridge, M and Tyers, C, 2020, Riding House, Wolfeton House, Charminster, Dorset. Tree-ring analysis of further oak timbers. (Article in serial). SDO16738.

<9> National Record of the Historic Environment, 453492 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Sep 9 2023 7:29AM