Mottistone Manor The Dower House

Mottistone Manor and The Dower House

This large manor house, now subdivided into two dwellings, comprises L-shaped buildings constructed over three main periods. The south east wing contains the oldest part, dating to the early 15th or early 16th century, whilst the north west wing was added or remodelled by Thomas Cheke in 1567. The furthest part of the south east wing dates to the early 17th century. The whole building was remodelled by the architectural firm Seely and Paget in the 1920s.

The south east wing is built of stone rubble with ashlar dressings. The roof is partially tiled, with stone slates covering the lower part. Two square stone chimneystacks rise from the structure. The wing displays two storeys with eight windows, all of stone mullioned design with two or three lights and hood mouldings. A centred arched doorway with hood moulding provides the main entrance, and a gable end features kneelers.

The north west wing added by Thomas Cheke in 1567, whose initials appear in the porch, is of higher elevation and built of Isle of Wight ashlar. The roof is partially tiled with stone slates to the lower courses. This wing rises to two storeys with attics and has three windows. The attic features a gable with kneelers and two-light mullioned windows with hood mouldings. The first floor contains two four-light mullioned and transomed windows separated by a stone band. A two-storey porch occupies the angle of the L, with a nearly square-headed archway facing south west and an old door to the inner archway. The first floor originally held a window, now replaced by a square panel containing a cartouche of the Cheke family with the initials T.C. and the date 1567, flanked by terms. Two small square projections appear on the north east front, with one on the north west front containing a staircase.

Interior features are substantial. The entrance hall has a ceiling beam with a four-inch chamfer and triangular stop. A bolection-moulded marble fireplace, removed from Appuldurcombe by Seely in the 1920s, has been installed here. A stone arched doorcase provides formal transition.

The dining room in the south east wing contains two 17th-century two-inch chamfered axial beams with lambs tongue stops and a wide stone fireplace with iron bracket. A cupboard retains butterfly and L-hinges. Upstairs in the angle of the L are the remains of an arch-braced roof with collar truss and side purlins, with a stone fireplace featuring a wooden lintel. Some exposed 16th-century square framing survives below. The remainder of this wing has a butt purlin roof with queen posts.

From the entrance hall, the 1567 north west wing is reached. Originally comprising a buttery, central hall with servery, and parlour with bedrooms above, the rooms retain their original functions. The kitchen has four-inch chamfers with triangular stops. The central hall features a large four-centred arched stone fireplace and a late 16th-century carved wooden overmantel, now positioned on the wall adjoining the kitchen. The overmantel displays four female caryatids, thought to have come from Merston Manor. The parlour contains a large four-centred arched stone fireplace with high stops. An unusual 1567 staircase features a solid square chamfered stone centre with solid stone treads. The first floor has paired four-centred arched doorcases. Four cupboards, thought to have been designed for storing chamber pots, are present.

The corner bedroom above the kitchen has a late 16th-century four-centred arched stone fireplace with high stops and unusual deal panelling, possibly late 17th to early 18th century in date. The panelling includes a transom near the ceiling, long panels below, and three fielded panels above the fireplace decorated with central rectangular and end diamond-shaped carvings. The central bedroom above the hall has a four-centred stone fireplace with high stops. The bedroom above the parlour has a similar fireplace and retains remains of a black-letter text from the Thomas Matthews bible of 1537 with yellow and black cartouche. Although only one text survives, the other panels were imaginatively re-created by Seely. A first-floor cupboard in the centre of the stairwell retains butterfly hinges. The bathroom contains some 19th-century panelling from Fort Victoria.

Part of the roof of the 1567 wing has staggered purlins and queen posts. The other part comprises four bays with butt purlins.

Mottistone was one of the original Domesday manors. In 1706, a landslide buried the rear wall of the south east wing almost up to eaves level. For 150 years thereafter, it served as a farmhouse owned by the Leighs of North Court, Shorwell. In 1861, Charles Seely of Brook House purchased the estate. In the 1920s, his grandson John Seely, an architect, undertook a comprehensive restoration of the building.