Charborough House, Dorset, England

Image Geograph © Copyright Chris Downer and licensed for reuse under Creative Commons Licence.

Charborough House, also known as Charborough Park, is a Grade I listed building[1] and rural estate between the villages of Sturminster Marshall and Bere Regis in Dorset, England. The grounds, which include a deer park and gardens, adjoin the villages of Winterborne Zelston, Newton Peveril and Lytchett Matravers: they are Grade II* listed in the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens,[2] and have been called the most splendid parkland in Dorset.[3]

The estate has been owned by the same family since Elizabethan times and is first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, commissioned by William I of England.[4] The quadruple-barrelled surname of the owners is now Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax, the Earles/Erles having arrived in Dorset from east Devon circa 1500, and continued via several female lines. The present occupant is Richard Drax, the Conservative Member of Parliament for South Dorset since 2010.[5] The current house is in the centre of the park and incorporates parts of the original house built by Sir Walter Erle (1586–1665), the governor of Dorchester and parliamentarian commander, whose forces besieged Corfe Castle in 1646; stone and timber were taken from Corfe and used in the house's construction.

In 1686, a group of conspirators met at Charborough House to plan the overthrow of "the tyrant race of Stuarts", hosted by Thomas Erle, Member of Parliament for Wareham since 1678 and a Deputy Lieutenant for Dorset since 1685. The meeting was effectively the start of the build-up to the Invitation to William, signed by the Immortal Seven, which resulted in the Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, and the overthrow of James II of England in 1688 by a union of Parliamentarians and the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau (Prince William of Orange).

Church of St Mary

St Mary's Church next to Charborough House is in the Gothic Revival style and is Grade II* listed by Historic England; the listing being specifically for its furnishings.[6] It was built by Thomas Erle Drax in 1775 and transformed in 1837 by John Sawbridge Erle-Drax who had married Sarah Frances Erle-Drax,[7] heiress to Charborough, in 1826 and assumed her surname and arms; it is now used only as the burial place of the Drax family. Above the door of a small arched building nearby is an inscription, dated 1686, commemorating the meeting of the "patriotic individuals who concerted the plan of the Revolution in 1688".

Tower

Charborough Tower is a Grade II* listed octagonal folly tower dating from 1790, extended in 1839 into a five-storey building. It is situated on a hill southeast of the house,[8] with the vista of a triumphal way running between them.[3]

Charborough with its tower is the model for "Welland House" in the novel Two on a Tower by Thomas Hardy.[9]

Estate wall and entrances

Charborough Park is surrounded by one of the longest brick walls in England,[10] comprising more than 2 million bricks and built between 1841 and 1842 by the then owner of the park John Samuel Wanley Sawbridge-Erle-Drax. He succeeded in having the new Wimborne/Dorchester turnpike moved further away from his house, a detour of over half a mile, but unfortunately for Sawbridge-Erle-Drax — who was also its chief promoter and investor — the turnpike lost money, mainly because the railway between Wimborne and Dorchester opened shortly afterwards.

The park wall runs alongside the A31 and is punctuated by Stag Gate at the northern extremity and Lion Lodge at the easternmost entrance, with heraldic symbols in Lithodipyra (Coade stone) created by Eleanor Coade's Artificial Stone Manufactory.[11] These gateways are Grade II listed, as is a third one, East Almer Lodge,[2] further to the west. A fourth gateway, Peacock Lodge, which is inside the current bounds of the estate,[3] is Grade II* listed.[2] The stag on top of 'Stag Gate' appears to have five legs, though one of these is instead an integral 'tree stump' that enhances the strength of the sculpture.[12]

The Drax estate is thought to consist of nearly 7,000 acres (28 km2),[13] and the private grounds are open to the public once or twice a year, when local villagers sell tea and cakes.[14]

Thomas Erle

Thomas Erle c 1650-1720, served as MP for Wareham and a DL for Dorset. In 1686 he hosted a group of conspirators who met at Charborough House to plan the overthrow of "the tyrant race of Stuarts", which resulted in the overthrow of James II of England in 1688 by a union of Parliamentarians and the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau (Prince William of Orange).
He also served as Lord Justice of Ireland; MP for Cork in the Irish Parliament; Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance in Spain and France; and Governor of Portsmouth.

Parliamentary representation

Family members who served as Members of Parliament for Wareham include:

• 1679-1698, 1701–1718, Thomas Erle (born circa 1650, died 23 July 1720)
• 1701, 1704, 1710, 1722 Sir Edward Ernle (born circa 1673, died 31 Jan 1729)
• 1718, 1734, 1751, Henry Drax (born circa 1693, died 24 May 1755)
• 1747, 1754, 1761, Thomas Erle Drax (born circa 1721, died December 1789)
• 1755, Edward Drax (born circa 1726, died April 1791)
• 1841, 1859, 1868, John Samuel Wanley Sawbridge Erle-Drax (born 6 October 1800, died 7 January 1887);[15]
• the current owner, Richard Drax (born 1958), has served as Member of Parliament for South Dorset since 2010.[16]

References

Jump up ^ Historic England. "Charborough Park (1323286)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 6 July 2014. ^ Jump up to: a b c Historic England. "Charborough Park (1000713)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 6 July 2014. ^ Jump up to: a b c Newman, John; Pevsner, Nikolaus (1997). The Buildings of England: Dorset. London: Penguin. pp. 139–141. ISBN 0-14-071044-2. Jump up ^ Charborough House - Domesday Book Jump up ^ Biography from Great British Life Jump up ^ Historic England. "Parish Church of Saint Mary, Charborough (1120553)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 6 July 2014. Jump up ^ www.historyofparliamentonline.org Jump up ^ Historic England. "Charborough Tower (1120555)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 6 July 2014. Jump up ^ Letter from Hardy to Bertram Windle, transcribed by Birgit Plietzsch, from CL, vol 2, pp 131-133 Jump up ^ www.waymarking.com Jump up ^ www.british-history.ac.uk Jump up ^ Drakesfamily website Jump up ^ Daily Mail article Jump up ^ www.parksandgardens.org Jump up ^ Burke's History of the Landed Gentry or Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland, 1838 Jump up ^ www.parliament.uk

Notes

Burke's Peerage & Baronetage John Newman and Nikolaus Pevsner, The buildings of England: Dorset. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1972, p. 140. Letter from Hardy to Bertram Windle, transcribed by Birgit Plietzsch, from CL, vol 2, pp 131-133 General Thomas Erle at www.janus.lib.cam.ac.uk

External links

• Wikimedia Commons has media related to Charborough House.
• Lion Gate picture from Geograph British Isles
• Stag Gate pictures
• Stag Gate picture from Geograph British Isles
• Charborough Park picture from Geograph British Isles
• Charborough House and Tower images from Geograph British Isles
• The Dorset Page