Little Fort The Fort

Little Fort, St Michael's Hill

A house, now divided, with a complex building history spanning the late 16th century, 17th century, and early 19th century refashioning. The building is constructed of red sandstone random rubble with quoins, coped verges, and decorative ridge tiles; 20th-century brick stacks have been added.

The main structure follows a U-plan with a central range, gabled outer wings at right angles, and gabled two-and-a-half storey turrets positioned in the angles. A gabled central porch projects from both principal and rear elevations. The western section comprises an attached two-storey range running on a west-east alignment, with a single-storey lean-to at its western end.

The main building stands two storeys with attics and has seven bays. The cruciform windows of varying sizes date to the early 19th century, probably replacing late 17th-century windows when the house underwent refashioning around 1835; however, several 17th-century windows survive. Some hood moulds are also 19th-century replacements. The angle turrets contain windows set at different levels from the rest of the building, suggesting they originally functioned as stair towers. The central porch features a four-centred arch opening with moulded jambs and hood mould. A diamond-shaped tablet set in the gable of this bay bears a rose, commemorating the property's passing to William Rose in 1680.

The western range, considered earlier in date than the remainder, has been extensively refenestrated, though a late 16th-century timber window survives in its rear elevation. This rear elevation displays a vertical joint with quoins indicating the range may have been built against an earlier structure. The roof is currently slate-covered, but its pitch and relationship with a window in the 17th-century cross wing suggest it was originally thatched.

Interior

The interior underwent extensive renovation in the early 19th century. The main house originally comprised a central hall with service end, cross wings, stair turrets, and a rear corridor with porch. The present early 19th-century stairway was inserted into an existing 17th-century room at the rear. The left-hand principal room retains a 17th-century fireplace and displays 19th-century panelling. The attic contains two four-centred arch doorways and a section of internal lead guttering. Both cross wings feature plaster barrel vaults, and the roof structure consists of a collared A-frame with trenched purlins of 17th-century date.

The western range contains deep chamfered beams in its left-hand room and a stone fireplace. At the north-west corner stands a former stair tower. One first-floor room features a late 16th-century four-centred arch fireplace with roll mouldings; set within the wall above are three cartouches of decorative plasterwork. A plaster ceiling has been inserted below the A-frame collared truss roof.

History

The name of the property is said to derive from a mid-13th-century owner, William de la Forters. Around 1560 the house was inherited by the Lancaster family from Basingstoke, and it passed by marriage to William Rose in 1680.

Documentary research and fabric investigation suggest a complex development: the western range (now part of Little Fort) was probably built in the late 16th century as part of a larger, relatively high-status two-storey house on a west-east alignment. During the 17th century, the eastern end of this building appears to have been demolished and replaced with a substantial new structure of U-shaped plan. The surviving two or three bays of the earlier building were subsequently incorporated into this new house, possibly serving as the service range. Stonework in the rear elevation of the western range may however provide evidence for an even earlier building on the site. The building probably served as the manor house of Milverton and represents a good example of a multi-phase house with surviving features from all principal periods, enriched by its early 19th-century refashioning.