Historic Towns Survey:

Part 3: Town Context

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Dorset Historic Towns Survey: Stalbridge

(Figure 3). This ridge forms part of the north 3.1 The Setting of the Town western flank of the wide Blackmore Vale which extends for 18km SW of Stalbridge and No town exists in isolation. All towns are a further 9km to the north. The vale slopes shaped and influenced by their surrounding gradually down from Stalbridge to the upper landscape. Topography and geology have a reaches of the River Stour two miles to the profound influence on the way a town devel- east. The medieval core of the town sits at ap- ops; constraining development, shaping com- proximately 85mabove Ordnance Datum, 35m munication routes, and providing raw materials above the River Stour. There are no significant for building and other economic activity, rivers or streams within the urban area of Stal- amongst other things. In order to understand bridge. the character of a town, its surrounding land- scape and natural context need to be under- The topography has had a major influence on stood. This section of the report briefly sets out the town layout. Pre-urban tracks run parallel the wider context of the town and the land- with and perpendicular to the line of the ridge. scape character of its hinterland. The late Saxon settlement of Stalbridge was founded upon one of these, possibly slightly west of the modern A357 road. These align- 3.2 Topography ments have been recorded fossilised in field Stalbridge lies on the east-facing slope at the and parish boundaries and roads over exten- southern tip of a NNW-SSE aligned ridge sive parts of Horethorne Hundred just over the

Figure 3: Stalbridge’s topographic setting

15 Dorset Historic Towns Survey: Stalbridge

Figure 4: Geology of the Stalbridge Area. parish and county boundary to the north in hardness dipping gently towards the NNE. This Somerset and in the area where results in a series of scarp slopes facing to the their origins have been attributed to the late SSW. Stalbridge lies at the junction of the Iron Age (Davey 2005; 2008). Although the Cornbrash and Oxford Clay beds, with the Bar- modern A30 between and Mil- row Hill recreation ground extending west onto borne Port runs through , 2.5km to Forest Marble. The town was founded upon a the north of Stalbridge, in the past there are small ridge comprising a finger of the harder likely to have been a number of alternative par- Cornbrash and Forest Marble, transverse allel courses for this route. One of these proba- faulted so as to project southwards into the bly formed a central cross roads crossing the softer Oxford Clay vale (Figure 4). At Stal- A357 at Stalbridge’s 15 th century market cross bridge the Cornbrash can be subdivided into and continuing west up Gold Street. Another an Upper and Lower division. The Upper Corn- may have run immediately south of the medie- brash comprises sandy marl and limestone val core along the modern Station Road and beds whilst the Lower Cornbrash comprises Barrow Hill. marly rubble and limestone beds. The Forest Marble is a hard flaggy limestone (Chatwin 1960, 17-20). Forest Marble provides the vast 3.3 Geology majority of building and roofing stone for the In general terms the geology of the north Dor- town of Stalbridge, although occasional blocks set region comprises a series of superimposed of Cornbrash limestone are incorporated into Jurassic and Cretaceous strata of varying walls. Small quarries have been identified to

16 Dorset Historic Towns Survey: Stalbridge

Figure 5: Stalbridge in its landscape character setting (NDCC Landscape Characterisation). the west of the town on Barrow Lea ● A complex mosaic of mixed farming: (Butterworth 1995) and a major stone industry undulating, lush, clay vales fringed by was established north of the town during the Upper Greensand hills and scarps. th th 18 and 19 centuries. The historic core of ● Small, rectilinear pasture fields with Stalbridge did not extend east on to the Oxford hedgerow oak trees and many scat- Clay beds. It is only since the construction of tered small broadleaved woodlands. th the railway station in the mid 19 century that ● Many streams and waterside trees. development spread in this direction. ● Broken, low, limestone ridges with shallow valleys crossing the clayey 3.4 Landscape Character Blackmore Vale and steeper valleys around the margins of the area. Several landscape character assessments help ● Small villages and hamlets form nucleii place the town into its wider landscape context. within a patchwork of fields, hedges, In the national assessment of countryside char- woods and trees. acter, Stalbridge lies at the western edge of ● Many villages at scarp foot, river cross- National Character Area 133; Blackmore Vale ing points and strategic sites. and the Vale of Wardour (Countryside Agency ● A wide variety of local building materi- 1999). als, including local stone and half tim- The key characteristics of National Character bering. Area 133 are listed as:

17 Stalbridge sits across two Landscape Charac- lard Deer Park (an SNCI) are both key locally ter areas in the District Land- important features. scape Character Assessment; the western part of the town lies within the North Dorset Lime- The draft Historic Landscape Character map- stone Ridges Landscape Character Area and ping shows Stalbridge sitting within an area of the eastern Part lies within the Blackmore Vale largely piecemeal enclosed fields and planned Landscape Character Area (NDDC 2008). This enclosed fields, together with smaller areas of document provides a detailed record of the enclosed strip fields and other regular enclosed features and landscape elements present fields. There are only isolated patches of mixed (Figure 5). woodland, coppice and plantations. To the east, alongside the River Stour, valley floor The key characteristics of the North Dorset landscapes dominate. Limestone Ridges character area are: • Elevated open plateau areas of undu- lating farmland landscape with distinc- 3.5 The Present Town tive sloping edges in places. The modern built-up area of Stalbridge lies en- • Thick dense hedgerows and frequent tirely within the parish of Stalbridge and covers small copses and plantations. an area of about 81.5 ha. It lies on the A357 • Open views from higher areas across road from to . It the Vale to the chalk escarpment. has no rail links; the nearest station is at Tem- plecombe, approximately 5.5 km away to the • Many scattered villages and farm- north. The population has risen significantly steads and a distinctive settlement pat- recently; by 13.2% from 2,280 in 1991 to 2,580 tern along the ridges or on the side in 2001. The latest population figure (2005 mid slopes to the ridges. year estimate) is 2,680.The 2001 Census re- • The traditional use of locally available cords 987 dwellings in Stalbridge, and the town and distinctive limestone in the villages has one school; Stalbridge C of E Primary and in other buildings and structures. School. Numerous twisting hedge lined lanes, • The retail sector comprises sixteen shops, straighter ridge top roads and many mainly local shops, and two trading estates, public Rights of Way. although only one, Stalbridge Trading Estate (7.1ha), lies within the urban area. 35% of the Stalbridge Park is a key local feature of in- economically active population are employed terest. Twinwood Coppice is a key local within the service sector, 30% in manufactur- feature of interest. ing, 20% in public administration, education and health, 9% in banking and 8% in construc- The key characteristics of the Blackmore Vale tion. Major employers are all relatively small character area are: but include Stalbridge Timber, Dorset County • A broad expansive clay Vale which is Council, Fudges-Dorset Village Bakery and tranquil and unified. William Hughes Ltd (Dorset County Council, • A unique mosaic of woods, straight 2007, 80-81). hedgerows and grassland fields ‘dotted’ with distinctive mature hedge- row Oaks. • Open views across the undulating to flat pastoral landscape to the chalk escarpment backdrop. • Dense network of twisting lanes often with grass verges and sharp double 90 o bends. • Small hump backed bridges with low stone or brick parapets • Many very small villages and hamlets built with locally distinctive materials. • A network of ditches, streams and brooks which drain into the tributaries of the Stour. Common (an SSSI) and Stock Gay- Dorset Historic Towns Survey: Stalbridge

Part 4: Sources

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Dorset Historic Towns Survey: Stalbridge

exposed during the extension of the buttery at 4.1 Previous research Devonshire House during 1918 (Saunders et al . 1920, 47). A possible Romano-British occu- The antiquarian John Leland visited Stalbridge pation site was recorded during the construc- c 1530 and recorded important information tion of houses on Grove Lane Close prior to concerning the layout of the late medieval 1965 (Farrar 1965, 119). Structures thought to town. Hutchins discussed the town in the late th th th represent part of a pre 14 century church on 18 and 19 centuries and the third edition of the site of St Mary’s parish church were re- his History and Antiquities of the County of th corded during the removal of the Vestry floor in Dorset included an engraving of the 17 cen- 1978 (Keen 1978, 117). tury manor house to the north west of the church which now survives only as earthworks Following the introduction of PPG 16 in 1991, (Hutchins 1774: 1815; 1867, opp. p670). W S three further investigations have been under- Swayne, a young curate in Stalbridge in the taken: an archaeological evaluation at Barrow late 19 th century, also wrote a History and An- Lea during 1995 in advance of construction of tiquities of Stalbridge (Swayne 1889). Pond Walk (Butterworth 1995); an archaeologi- cal watching brief during the construction of A small number of local histories have been th houses at the rear of Dorset House, Ring published during the later 20 century concern- Street in 1998 (Brading 1998); and a desk ing specific aspects of Stalbridge’s past. These based assessment of the Old Market Mews include a biography of Robert Boyle, scientist development site also during 1998 (Hawkes and erstwhile lord of Stalbridge Manor (Jones and Chandler 1998). These have produced 1989), a collection of childhood memoirs some interesting detailed results but are limited (Townsend 2007) and the Stalbridge Estate in the amount of information they can contrib- (Jones 1993). ute to an overall understanding of the town. A table of all archaeological investigations is pre- 4.2 Historic Maps sented in Appendix 3 . The earliest detailed map of the town is the estate survey of 1781-2 (King and Perks). The 4.5 Historic Buildings tithe map dates from 1839. The characterisa- Stalbridge is particularly notable for its survival tion was largely based on the 1:2500 scale of historic buildings, well over 200 structures in Ordnance Survey maps dating from 1887 on- the urban area date from the late 19 th century wards. or earlier, 49 of which are listed. The buildings make a vital contribution to the historic urban character and are characterised themselves by 4.3 Documentary Evidence their modest scale, use of local grey limestone Primary documentary sources used in this re- for walling and stone slate roofs, and survival port include two Late Saxon charters recording of historic fabric. In particular this fabric in- the gift of 20 hides at Stalbridge by Aethelbehrt cludes windows and roofs from the seven- in 860-66 (Finberg, 1964 no.571) and 5 or 8 teenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, hides at Stalbridge Weston by Aethelstan in with some fine examples of wrought iron case- 933 (O’Donovan 1988) both to the church at ments with leaded lights, cast iron casements Sherborne. Other primary documents con- and traditional timber casements and vertical sulted include the Domesday Survey of 1086 sliding sashes. (Thorn & Thorn 1983); taxation records includ- th ing the Lay Subsidy (Rumble 1980) and Hearth The 15 century market cross on the High Tax Returns; as well as the 17 th century Prot- Street, opposite the junction with Gold Street, estation Returns (Higgins 2009).These docu- occupies a prominent position at the heart of ments have been used to gain an insight into the medieval town. It is a scheduled monument the size, wealth and economy of Stalbridge in and considered to be one of the finest of its comparison with neighbouring towns from the type. 10 th to 17 th centuries. The market cross and St Mary’s parish church are both grade II* listed. St Mary’s dates from the 14 th century, although it was extensively 4.4 Archaeological Evidence rebuilt during the 19 th century. Evidence for an Archaeological investigation in Stalbridge has earlier church on the same site was revealed been on a limited scale and initially comprised during the removal of the vestry floor in 1978 chance discoveries, poorly recorded by mod- (Keen 1978, 117). The site of the medieval ern standards. A Romano-British burial was manor, to the south of the church is now occu-

21 Dorset Historic Towns Survey: Stalbridge pied by the grade II listed 18 th century Church Hill House and April Cottage. Gold Street and High Street both contain significant numbers of 17 th -19 th century buildings, close knit and in a range of traditional styles and materials. The southern end of the historic town is domi- nated by The Ring, the probable site of a 17 th century market place and/or medieval fairs. Closely packed 17 th -19 th century buildings at the north end of Ring Street give way to more open historic suburban villas at the southern end. Anglesey Cottages are grade II listed and the 18 th century Ringtree House may have formed part of the old workhouse. The green adjacent to Ringtree House contains a mid 19 th century cast iron water pump.

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