Vicar's House
Vicar's House was a 13th/14th century ecclesiastical building, believed to have been built as an oratory or small chapel, and later used as a parsonage. Located in the hamlet of Wakeham, the building had the distinction of being one of the finest on Portland. It was destroyed and left as a ruin during the 17th century Civil War, while all surviving traces were removed in the early 20th century.
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 of the building exist before the 16th century. While its origins remain unclear, it is generally believed that the building was built as an oratory or small chapel for use by the Lords of the Manor. Such oratories/chapels were known to have been established during the 13th century, and used for private worship.
In a 1916 report by the Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club, it was suggested that the chapel was likely to have been later converted into a parsonage, which is where its local name 'Vicar's House' originated. From then, it was the official residence for the rector or resident curate of the nearby St Andrew's Church, which was Portland's first parish church. Although the time of a such a conversion is uncertain, it's believed it may have been before or during 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 (parsonage) sette in the high streat is the best building in the isle". Later, 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".
The Vicar's House had an adjacent Tithe Barn for the storing of the rector's tithes. Although the barn's construction is of an unknown date, it was recorded in 1626 that the Vicar's House had two tithe barns belonging to it. Such barns had been 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, in 1643, the Parliamentarians took control of the island and Portland Castle. At the time, the Rector of Portland and Wyke Regis was Dr. Humphrey Henchman, and due to his allegiance to the Royalists, the Parliamentarians expelled him from his benefice. The Vicar's House had been Humphrey's residence and the Parliamentarians decided to destroy the building. After the war, it remained a ruin, largely of gable ends and walls, and was never rebuilt. As a result, the official residence for future rectors became 219 Wakeham, which is now known as Avice's Cottage and forms part of Portland Museum.
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 still survived. It later saw brief use as a Sunday School in 1848, but was then demolished soon after.
After becoming a ruin, large portions of the Vicar's House were removed and used as building material elsewhere. It is believed that some of the ruins were used in the building of a number of local buildings, including Weymouth's Union Workhouse, which was built in 1836. In 1859, the ruins were 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". In the Portland Year Book of 1905, it was recorded that "it is greatly to be regretted that no attempt was made to preserve this interesting ruin".
Despite the removal of surviving 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 the time of the report, the only major surviving part of the building was part of the south wall. This wall 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 of the site, while some had been 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 held a general meeting in Dorchester, during which calls were made for the protection of the ruins against nearby quarrying activity at Wakeham Quarries. It was revealed at the meeting that Mr. Sansom had been approached by the club and had agreed to "give the matter his personal attention". Despite this, the final remains would be destroyed by quarrying activity in 1917, resulting in outcry from local residents.
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 main road. In a 1955 field investigation report, it was recorded that no features of the building survived. The land was later developed with the constructed 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 Easton & Church Hope Railway line.
References
The following is an A-Z list of references for this page. The primary sources are in italics.
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) Pastscape - Monument No. 451719 - website page
5) Portland: An Illustrated History - Stuart Morris - Dovecote Press - 2016 - ISBN: 978-0995546202 - page 18 - book
6) The Antiquities of England and Wales - Francis Grose - Hooper & Wigstead - 1784 - page 82 - book
7) The Book of Portland: Gibraltar of Wessex - Rodney Legg - Halsgrove - 2006 - ISBN: 978-1841144979 - page 32 - book
8) The British Newspaper Archive - various contemporary newspaper articles - website page
9) 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
10) The Island and Royal Manor of Portland 1750-1851 - J. H Bettey - University of Bristol - 1970 - ISBN: 978-0901047052 - pages 16-18 - book
11) 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 of the building exist before the 16th century. While its origins remain unclear, it is generally believed that the building was built as an oratory or small chapel for use by the Lords of the Manor. Such oratories/chapels were known to have been established during the 13th century, and used for private worship.
In a 1916 report by the Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club, it was suggested that the chapel was likely to have been later converted into a parsonage, which is where its local name 'Vicar's House' originated. From then, it was the official residence for the rector or resident curate of the nearby St Andrew's Church, which was Portland's first parish church. Although the time of a such a conversion is uncertain, it's believed it may have been before or during 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 (parsonage) sette in the high streat is the best building in the isle". Later, 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".
The Vicar's House had an adjacent Tithe Barn for the storing of the rector's tithes. Although the barn's construction is of an unknown date, it was recorded in 1626 that the Vicar's House had two tithe barns belonging to it. Such barns had been 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, in 1643, the Parliamentarians took control of the island and Portland Castle. At the time, the Rector of Portland and Wyke Regis was Dr. Humphrey Henchman, and due to his allegiance to the Royalists, the Parliamentarians expelled him from his benefice. The Vicar's House had been Humphrey's residence and the Parliamentarians decided to destroy the building. After the war, it remained a ruin, largely of gable ends and walls, and was never rebuilt. As a result, the official residence for future rectors became 219 Wakeham, which is now known as Avice's Cottage and forms part of Portland Museum.
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 still survived. It later saw brief use as a Sunday School in 1848, but was then demolished soon after.
After becoming a ruin, large portions of the Vicar's House were removed and used as building material elsewhere. It is believed that some of the ruins were used in the building of a number of local buildings, including Weymouth's Union Workhouse, which was built in 1836. In 1859, the ruins were 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". In the Portland Year Book of 1905, it was recorded that "it is greatly to be regretted that no attempt was made to preserve this interesting ruin".
Despite the removal of surviving 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 the time of the report, the only major surviving part of the building was part of the south wall. This wall 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 of the site, while some had been 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 held a general meeting in Dorchester, during which calls were made for the protection of the ruins against nearby quarrying activity at Wakeham Quarries. It was revealed at the meeting that Mr. Sansom had been approached by the club and had agreed to "give the matter his personal attention". Despite this, the final remains would be destroyed by quarrying activity in 1917, resulting in outcry from local residents.
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 main road. In a 1955 field investigation report, it was recorded that no features of the building survived. The land was later developed with the constructed 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 Easton & Church Hope Railway line.
References
The following is an A-Z list of references for this page. The primary sources are in italics.
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) Pastscape - Monument No. 451719 - website page
5) Portland: An Illustrated History - Stuart Morris - Dovecote Press - 2016 - ISBN: 978-0995546202 - page 18 - book
6) The Antiquities of England and Wales - Francis Grose - Hooper & Wigstead - 1784 - page 82 - book
7) The Book of Portland: Gibraltar of Wessex - Rodney Legg - Halsgrove - 2006 - ISBN: 978-1841144979 - page 32 - book
8) The British Newspaper Archive - various contemporary newspaper articles - website page
9) 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
10) The Island and Royal Manor of Portland 1750-1851 - J. H Bettey - University of Bristol - 1970 - ISBN: 978-0901047052 - pages 16-18 - book
11) Wikipedia - Tithe barn - website page
Gallery
This image can be enlarged by clicking on it. To view the information attached to the photograph, you can either enlarge the image, or hover the mouse over the thumbnail.
