powys in dorset

...well, it is a new month and, even though I am opening it with another local manor house, I expect the next four weeks to be a mixed bag that will, hopefully, feature more and more landscapes and wildlife images as the season blooms from winter to spring.

The Manor House (now Grange Farm) at Chaldon Herring has connections to several of the properties that I have already blipped - Lulworth Castle, Came House and Winterborne Herringston and a few that I have not, such as Langton Herring. The manor itself is recorded in the Domesday Book as Calvedone or Chalvedone, with the useful information that it had 500 sheep. The name Herring was a later addition from the name of the Hareng family that owned the land from at least 1166 until at least 1372. Their coat of arm includes three herrings. The house that we see today, has its origin in the 16th century and includes a square turret with a stone spiral staircase. Unfortunately, I am unable to photograph it from a better vantage point than this shot taken over the churchyard wall, so the turret is hidden behind the roof. The roof itself is of interest because the lower courses are of stone slate, while the upper courses are tiled. Internally, there is a large baronial hall and a fine kitchen. Much of the house was remodelled in 1728 - hence the Georgian windows. The Weld family, of Lulworth Castle, purchased it in 1790 and owned it for nearly 200 years.

Of particular interest is the village itself, which has an amazing list of literary and art connections for such a tiny village: Theodore Powys, Llewelyn Powys, Sylvia Townsend Warner, David Garnett, Valentine Ackland, Gamel Wolsey, Elizabeth Muntz and Stephen Tomlin. Llewelyn Powys lived in Chydyok Cottage at Chydyok Farm (now Chideock Farm and not to be confused with a village of the same name in West Dorset)

No plans yet for the weekend...

Late edit: I should have mentioned that this shot is not possible in summer because of the rather splendid grape vines that are trained along supports just beyond the wall to the church. You can see evidence of the vines encroaching into the top and lefthand sides of my image.