Vicar's House
Vicar's House was an ecclesiastical building of 13th or 14th century origin, which is believed to have been built as an oratory or small chapel and later used as a parsonage. It was located in Wakeham and had the distinction of being one of the finest buildings on Portland. It was destroyed and left as a ruin during the 17th century Civil War, with all surviving traces later removed in 1917.
History
Based on surviving paintings and drawings, Vicar's House is believed to have dated back to the 13th or 14th century, although no references to the building have been found before the 16th century. While its origins remain unclear, it has been suggested the building served as an oratory or small chapel for use by the Lords of the Manor. Such buildings were established for private worship during the 13th century.
The local name of 'Vicar's House' originates from the building's later use as a parsonage, when it became the official residence for the rector or resident curate of Portland's parish church, St Andrew's. Although the time of its conversion is uncertain, it may have been before or during King Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries (1536-1541). The English poet and antiquarian John Leland, who visited Portland in circa 1540 as part of his travels across the country, described the building as a parsonage. He wrote: "The personage sette in the high streat is the best building in the isle". Reverend John Hutchins, a county historian of Dorset in the 18th century, noted that the then-surviving ruins suggested it had once been a "large, ancient and stately pile of building".
Although their construction date is also unknown, it was recorded in 1626 that the Vicar's House had two tithe barns belonging to it. Such barns were built across Northern Europe since the Middle Ages to store tithes (tithe is Old English for 'tenth'). Rectors across England were entitled to receive one tenth of produce from local farmers, which was given as a contribution towards the Church and support of the rector.
Vicar's House was destroyed and left as a ruin during the Civil War of 1642-1646. Although Portland largely remained in the hands of Royalists, the Parliamentarians took control of the island and Portland Castle in 1643. At the time, the Rector of Portland and Wyke Regis was Dr. Humphrey Henchman and his allegiance to the Royalists resulted in the Parliamentarians expelling him from his benefice. The Parliamentarians ordered that the Vicar's House, which was Humphrey's residence, be destroyed. After the war, it remained a ruin, largely of gable ends and walls, and was never rebuilt.
The English antiquarian Francis Grose, in his book The Antiquities of England and Wales (1773-87), named the building 'Vicar's Chapel'. He commented: "It is pretended to have been the Parsonage House; and although the living is a rectory, is vulgarly called the Vicarage House. The inhabitants know little about it, but have a tradition that it was a fine place, demolished in the last civil wars. From the form of what remains of this edifice, it is more than probable, it was an oratory or small chapel, and as such might be a particular object of the rage of the Puritans." Later in 1784, it was recorded that only one of the tithe barns survived and this was demolished in the mid-19th century.
After becoming a ruin, portions of the Vicar's House were removed and used as building material elsewhere. In 1859, the ruin was recorded as being made up of "bare and ruined walls; its floor is matted with verdure, and its roof is the blue vault of heaven". As the structure continued to decline without preservation, the Portland Year Book of 1905 recorded that "it is greatly to be regretted that no attempt was made to preserve this interesting ruin".
Despite the removal of stonework and the toll of time, the last remains of Vicar's House survived into the 20th century. Between May 1915 and May 1916, the Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club visited the site and described the remains as "now the mere fragment of a ruin". By this time, the only major surviving part of the building was part of the south wall. It was described as measuring 24 feet long and 15 feet high, and "containing the lower portion of a window of two lights (partly blocked up) and small fragments of another to the east of it". A small part of the adjoining south-west wall also survived, measuring 11 feet long and 15 feet high, and "containing the lower portion of a small window, also roughly blocked up". A surviving buttress was recorded at the south-west angle of the these two walls, while some fragments of carved stone were also recorded. Some of these fragments were found scattered around on the ground and some built into the modern adjoining walls on the site.
In 1916, Mr. Henry Sansom purchased the ruins and surrounding land at an auction associated with Pennsylvania Castle. Later that year, the Dorset Field Club in Dorchester called for the protection of the ruins against nearby quarrying activity at Wakeham Quarries. The club approached Mr. Sansom, who agreed to "give the matter his personal attention". Despite this, the final remains would be destroyed by quarrying activity in 1917.
By the mid-20th century, the site of the building had become open space enclosed within a drystone wall, with the adjacent land to the south-west in use as allotments. The two areas were accessed by a rough track leading from Wakeham's road. In a 1955 field investigation report, it was recorded that no features of the building survived. The land was later developed with the construction of a terrace of houses in the 1990s. Today the approximate site of the Vicar's House is positioned on the northern edge of the terrace, a short distance south of the former line of the Easton and Church Hope Railway.
References
The following is an A-Z list of references for this page.
1) Ancestry.com - Genealogy - Portland Year Book 1905 - Castles & Old Buildings etc. - Paul Benyon - website page
2) Google Books - Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club - Volume 37 - 1916 - website page
3) Heritage Gateway - Possible site of medieval Chapel and Tithe Barn on Portland - website page
4) Methodism in Portland and a Page of Church History - Robert Pearce - Charles H. Kelly (publisher) - 1898 - book
5) Pastscape - Monument No. 451719 - website page
6) Portland: An Illustrated History - Stuart Morris - Dovecote Press - 2016 - ISBN: 978-0995546202 - page 18 - book
7) The Antiquities of England and Wales - Francis Grose - Hooper & Wigstead - 1784 - page 82 - book
8) The Book of Portland: Gibraltar of Wessex - Rodney Legg - Halsgrove - 2006 - ISBN: 978-1841144979 - page 32 - book
9) The British Newspaper Archive - various contemporary newspaper articles - website page
10) The Island and Royal Manor of Portland - Notes on its History, Laws and Customs - J. W. Warren - Order of the Court Leet and Court of the Manor - 1939 - pages 70-71 - book
11) The Island and Royal Manor of Portland 1750-1851 - J. H Bettey - University of Bristol - 1970 - ISBN: 978-0901047052 - pages 16-18 - book
12) Wikipedia - Tithe barn - website page
History
Based on surviving paintings and drawings, Vicar's House is believed to have dated back to the 13th or 14th century, although no references to the building have been found before the 16th century. While its origins remain unclear, it has been suggested the building served as an oratory or small chapel for use by the Lords of the Manor. Such buildings were established for private worship during the 13th century.
The local name of 'Vicar's House' originates from the building's later use as a parsonage, when it became the official residence for the rector or resident curate of Portland's parish church, St Andrew's. Although the time of its conversion is uncertain, it may have been before or during King Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries (1536-1541). The English poet and antiquarian John Leland, who visited Portland in circa 1540 as part of his travels across the country, described the building as a parsonage. He wrote: "The personage sette in the high streat is the best building in the isle". Reverend John Hutchins, a county historian of Dorset in the 18th century, noted that the then-surviving ruins suggested it had once been a "large, ancient and stately pile of building".
Although their construction date is also unknown, it was recorded in 1626 that the Vicar's House had two tithe barns belonging to it. Such barns were built across Northern Europe since the Middle Ages to store tithes (tithe is Old English for 'tenth'). Rectors across England were entitled to receive one tenth of produce from local farmers, which was given as a contribution towards the Church and support of the rector.
Vicar's House was destroyed and left as a ruin during the Civil War of 1642-1646. Although Portland largely remained in the hands of Royalists, the Parliamentarians took control of the island and Portland Castle in 1643. At the time, the Rector of Portland and Wyke Regis was Dr. Humphrey Henchman and his allegiance to the Royalists resulted in the Parliamentarians expelling him from his benefice. The Parliamentarians ordered that the Vicar's House, which was Humphrey's residence, be destroyed. After the war, it remained a ruin, largely of gable ends and walls, and was never rebuilt.
The English antiquarian Francis Grose, in his book The Antiquities of England and Wales (1773-87), named the building 'Vicar's Chapel'. He commented: "It is pretended to have been the Parsonage House; and although the living is a rectory, is vulgarly called the Vicarage House. The inhabitants know little about it, but have a tradition that it was a fine place, demolished in the last civil wars. From the form of what remains of this edifice, it is more than probable, it was an oratory or small chapel, and as such might be a particular object of the rage of the Puritans." Later in 1784, it was recorded that only one of the tithe barns survived and this was demolished in the mid-19th century.
After becoming a ruin, portions of the Vicar's House were removed and used as building material elsewhere. In 1859, the ruin was recorded as being made up of "bare and ruined walls; its floor is matted with verdure, and its roof is the blue vault of heaven". As the structure continued to decline without preservation, the Portland Year Book of 1905 recorded that "it is greatly to be regretted that no attempt was made to preserve this interesting ruin".
Despite the removal of stonework and the toll of time, the last remains of Vicar's House survived into the 20th century. Between May 1915 and May 1916, the Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club visited the site and described the remains as "now the mere fragment of a ruin". By this time, the only major surviving part of the building was part of the south wall. It was described as measuring 24 feet long and 15 feet high, and "containing the lower portion of a window of two lights (partly blocked up) and small fragments of another to the east of it". A small part of the adjoining south-west wall also survived, measuring 11 feet long and 15 feet high, and "containing the lower portion of a small window, also roughly blocked up". A surviving buttress was recorded at the south-west angle of the these two walls, while some fragments of carved stone were also recorded. Some of these fragments were found scattered around on the ground and some built into the modern adjoining walls on the site.
In 1916, Mr. Henry Sansom purchased the ruins and surrounding land at an auction associated with Pennsylvania Castle. Later that year, the Dorset Field Club in Dorchester called for the protection of the ruins against nearby quarrying activity at Wakeham Quarries. The club approached Mr. Sansom, who agreed to "give the matter his personal attention". Despite this, the final remains would be destroyed by quarrying activity in 1917.
By the mid-20th century, the site of the building had become open space enclosed within a drystone wall, with the adjacent land to the south-west in use as allotments. The two areas were accessed by a rough track leading from Wakeham's road. In a 1955 field investigation report, it was recorded that no features of the building survived. The land was later developed with the construction of a terrace of houses in the 1990s. Today the approximate site of the Vicar's House is positioned on the northern edge of the terrace, a short distance south of the former line of the Easton and Church Hope Railway.
References
The following is an A-Z list of references for this page.
1) Ancestry.com - Genealogy - Portland Year Book 1905 - Castles & Old Buildings etc. - Paul Benyon - website page
2) Google Books - Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club - Volume 37 - 1916 - website page
3) Heritage Gateway - Possible site of medieval Chapel and Tithe Barn on Portland - website page
4) Methodism in Portland and a Page of Church History - Robert Pearce - Charles H. Kelly (publisher) - 1898 - book
5) Pastscape - Monument No. 451719 - website page
6) Portland: An Illustrated History - Stuart Morris - Dovecote Press - 2016 - ISBN: 978-0995546202 - page 18 - book
7) The Antiquities of England and Wales - Francis Grose - Hooper & Wigstead - 1784 - page 82 - book
8) The Book of Portland: Gibraltar of Wessex - Rodney Legg - Halsgrove - 2006 - ISBN: 978-1841144979 - page 32 - book
9) The British Newspaper Archive - various contemporary newspaper articles - website page
10) The Island and Royal Manor of Portland - Notes on its History, Laws and Customs - J. W. Warren - Order of the Court Leet and Court of the Manor - 1939 - pages 70-71 - book
11) The Island and Royal Manor of Portland 1750-1851 - J. H Bettey - University of Bristol - 1970 - ISBN: 978-0901047052 - pages 16-18 - book
12) Wikipedia - Tithe barn - website page
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