Newton Manor

NEWTON MANOR

Originally a farmhouse, Newton Manor is a complex structure combining buildings of different periods. The main block, probably dating from the 18th century, had its facade refaced in the 19th century. To the north stands an old kitchen block of the 17th century, possibly the surviving part of an earlier house. South of the main block, a former outbuilding was converted to a drawing room and extended to the rear in the mid-19th century. At the rear west of the main block is a later 18th-century kitchen wing, with a 19th-century extension linking it to a large 17th-century barn, which was converted to a dining room in the 19th century. The entire house is built of Purbeck Stone with Purbeck Stone roofs.

For some centuries the house and estate belonged to the Cockram family. Around 1876 it was purchased by Sir John Charles Robinson, Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, who carried out considerable works.

The main block rises to three storeys and is faced with ashlar stone. It features a battlemented parapet and stone chimney stacks with oversailing courses. The ground floor has an open stone portico and two double-hung sash windows with diagonal glazing bars. The first and second floors each contain two double-hung sash windows with diagonal glazing bars and a central casement window. One dormer with a hipped roof and casement window projects from the attic. Above the outer doorway is the Coat of Arms of Sir Charles Robinson. The porch contains two Ionic columns, one surmounted by a stone dated 1673.

The north block has been refaced in ashlar to match the main block. It is two storeys high with a battlemented parapet. The ground floor has three windows, one originally mullioned, all now fitted with casements. The south block, formerly an outbuilding, is a single storey with attic space. The roof is lead-covered with a battlemented parapet. The ground floor now has a large mullioned window, and the attic features a half-dormer, also mullioned.

The rear kitchen wing is two storeys with a stone slate roof and contains a double-hung sash window. The former barn has a stone slate roof with a glazed timber lantern turret in the centre, and a large stone mullioned oriel window in the former cart entrance. West of the barn is a lower structure of similar construction, originally a cottage, considerably reconstructed.

Internally, the house contains numerous features introduced by Sir Charles Robinson. The oak carved fireplace surround in the drawing room dates to around 1600 and was apparently brought from a house in Dorchester; the room also contains re-used panelling of similar date. In the entrance hall are re-used carved oak doors, probably Portuguese, of 17th-century date. The double doors leading to the barn (now dining room) are Spanish, also 17th-century, depicting a Litany of the Virgin. Other 18th-century doors in the house came from Lady St Mary Church, Wareham. The main staircase is Flemish, dating to the 17th century, with carved balustrade and newels. The northern ground floor room of the main house features a carved fireplace surround, probably 17th-century in date. The chimney piece in the barn dining room is Italian, of 15th-century date. On the landing, one of the windows bears an inscription cut into the glass reading "John Cockram, April 4, 1799 - very cold easterly wind". The rear wing has an 18th-century fireplace in the first floor room. The ground floor of the 17th-century north block has rough chamfered ceiling beams and a large fireplace, now blocked.

Re-set in a modern garden wall are a stone lettered "Newton Manor House", probably late 18th-century and found in the stable block, and a 19th-century Coat of Arms of Princess Victoria, daughter of Queen Victoria. A 19th-century cast iron pump from London stands in the front garden.