Fiddleford Manor facts for kids
Fiddleford Manor is a really old house, also sometimes called Fiddleford Mill. It's a medieval manor house, which means it was a large country house owned by a lord or wealthy person long ago. You can find it near a town called Sturminster Newton in Dorset, England. Today, it's owned by English Heritage and is open for people to visit and explore its amazing history. However, part of the building is still a private home, so that part isn't open to visitors.
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Fiddleford Manor: A Glimpse into History
Fiddleford Manor is special because it has kept many of its original features, even after more than 600 years! People say it has one of the most amazing old house interiors in Dorset.
Who Built This Old House?
Experts believe Fiddleford Manor was first built around the year 1370. It was likely built for a man named William Latimer. He was an important person back then, serving as the sheriff for the areas of Somerset and Dorset. A sheriff was like a chief law enforcement officer for a county. William Latimer got the land for the manor in 1355, and then the house was built a few years later.
What Does Fiddleford Manor Look Like?
The house you see today is shaped a bit like the letter 'T'. It has two main parts:
- A two-storey solar: This was a special room, often a private living space for the owner and their family, usually on an upper floor.
- Half of the hall: The hall was the main large room where people would gather, eat, and entertain guests.
Both the solar and the hall have amazing open timber roofs, showing off the old wooden beams. Some parts of the original house, like the foundations of a western section and an extension of the hall, are now just bumps in the ground, showing where they once stood.
How Fiddleford Manor Changed Over Time
Over its long history, Fiddleford Manor has been changed and updated many times.
- In the 1500s, the solar wing was made longer. The main hall was also redesigned by an architect named Thomas White and his wife Anne. The White family owned the house for a long time, even during the reign of King Charles I.
- After the time of King Charles I, the house was bought by Sir Thomas Freke. His family, the Pitt-Rivers family, owned it for many years. They made the main hall shorter by about 2 meters (or 6.5 feet) and added a new fireplace and ceiling. The hall used to stretch almost to the River Stour nearby!
Saving a Piece of History
By the mid-1900s, parts of Fiddleford Manor were in bad shape. An 18th-century building attached to it had been taken down by 1956, and the oldest part of the house was falling apart. By 1962, only the northern wing was still livable. Because of its historical importance, the original section of the house became owned by the state. During the 1970s, the house was carefully restored by the Department for the Environment, which is now called the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). Thanks to this work, we can still visit and learn from this incredible medieval manor house today.
