Age of My House

[Anonymous]

Hi All,

I've recently (<2 months) bought a grade II listed cottage in Witchampton (nr Wimborne).
The cottage like many of the cottages in the village was owned by the Crichel Estate and as a result I'm finding it very difficult to find out anything about the cottage including when it was built.

The listing entry states that the cottage is probably C18 however there is a date plaque by the porch that says 1881. I realise the porch could have been added later but it's the only clue that I have.

I've tried contacting the estate and the estate agents but no one seems to know anything. I have a picture of the cottage from 1904 with Ivy covering most of it (not now I hasten to add) but I'm struggling to gather any more information.

I've checked the census for 1891 but the name of the cottages aren't listed so it's proving very difficult.

Anyone got any ideas of where I can go next ?

Paul.

 

[TheForge]

Hi Paul,

Your best bet would be to visit the Dorset Heritage Centre in Dorchester and search the archives for papers of the Marten family, the Crichel estate or Witchampton.

The tithe map of Witchampton from 1840 would be a good starting point and they will have a copy or microfiche version available in the DHC. There is also a copy at the National Records Office in Kew and the reference there is IR 30/10/260. If your house existed at this date it will be clearly shown on the map. If it is on there then you have a date it must have been built before and the task becomes more difficult as maps prior to this are hit and miss. However as it was part of an estate you may be lucky and have older estate maps available at DHC.

If the house isn't on the tithe map you will know it is newer than 1840 and you can start looking at early Ordance Survey maps to find it and narrow down the date of construction. I think the first OS maps of Dorset are from about 1870. Once you find a map with the house on you'll have a window when it must have been built - i.e between 1840-70 etc.

Census returns for Witchampton might help but you'll need to have some idea of the names of people who lived in the house to search efficiently, although as Witchampton is small you might be able to work it out. Again DHC will have copies of these on microfiche or even digitally. The first census was 1801 but there's little useful detail until 1811 or 1821 as the initial census was more about numbers.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi thanks for the information.... the Tithe Map apparently is available from the www.thegenealogist.co.uk however I don't really know what I'm looking for and there are lots of entries for Witchampton and it requires me to spend money to interrogate it. I might sign up for the free trial to see if I can get some information and then cancel my subscription but it seems a bit of a faff (not quite as much as driving to Dorchester I hasten to add as I have to work all week! )

The OS Map route shows a splodge where the cottage stands on the 1887 map and it's much clearer on the 1904 map but then I know it existed then because I have a photograph of it on this date.

No matter I will persevere thanks again.

Paul.

 

[Zebra]

Sympathies. I have the same issue. My house could be anything from 17th century to 18th. All I found was a listing on the census of 1851, and a blob on the tithe map of 1840, if I remember the dates correctly. Folks on here giving their opinions of the structure was the closest I came to a good guess.

 

[Anonymous]

Just in case some of you can tell just by looking at it roughly when my house was built here's a picture of it.... best guesses please !!

 

[Gareth Hughes]

c.1775-1800, perhaps earlier at heart but probably not by very much, 25 years perhaps, very unlikely to be as much as 25 years later than 1800. The porch is dead right for 1881, replacing a simple doorcase - that's also probably the date of the present chimney tops and the slate roofed leanto on the back.

 

[Anonymous]

ok so I managed to get a look at the 1838 tithe map and it shows a plot 10 on it and a blob which could be the house, that said the blob isn't really in the right place for the house but I don't know how accurate these maps are...
I also have some names listed as land owner and occupier Henry Charles Sturt being the land owner (of Crichel house) so that all seems to tie in and some other names listed only as occupiers Messers, Harvey, Parry, Kail, Welch and Etty (again that would indicate the presence of a dwelling I think....), not sure if I can do anything else before this and the map isn't really clear...

 

[parkview094]

Have you spoken to the local council? Off the back of your fireplace question, I was googling and came across the Witchampton conservation area pamphlet. "Linden Lea" is noted as being constructed in the 17th century, but looks very similar to your property (although having been remodelled in the late 1800's). I wonder if they have evidence to support their 17th century claim which may be relevant to your specific house?

 

[Kearn]

ok so I managed to get a look at the 1838 tithe map and it shows a plot 10 on it and a blob which could be the house, that said the blob isn't really in the right place for the house but I don't know how accurate these maps are...
I also have some names listed as land owner and occupier Henry Charles Sturt being the land owner (of Crichel house) so that all seems to tie in and some other names listed only as occupiers Messers, Harvey, Parry, Kail, Welch and Etty (again that would indicate the presence of a dwelling I think....), not sure if I can do anything else before this and the map isn't really clear...

Local records centre is a must really, assuming it's a good one - all records/sources in the same place plus advice from staff. I spent two days recently trying to get to the bottom of ours, got stumped (for now) at 1752, but the house is late 1500/early1600s so I have some to go...

Ours was also estate owned, as was the entire village - what this helped with was two things; 1. very well kept rental books by name/plot, so if you have names of tenants then you're halfway there and 2. very good maps, predating any OS by a good century or more.

My approach was:
- trace back maps, tithe/enclosure/other to ID the plot, which had different makings/names in different eras. This will help with description of building/plot usage also if you're lucky.
- using plot number(s) cross ref the rental records to find tenants, from estate documents
- from tenants' names I then worked back through the census records and other newspaper entries/wills/probate/marriage etc documents to ascertain who lived there (I was also keen to discover occupations).

My challenge was prior to the 1700s, I struggled to go back further on the property. There were many original deeds of potentially similar cottages, maybe even ours, but these need translating/transcribing and even then, the description is vague and relative to other references/locations in the village that may be long gone plus plot described in acreage, which I have no idea of the original size of when it was only one of 10 buildings in the 1600s!

I've had two very experienced people working with me in the house who have both helped date key elements of construction, materials, orientation etc. But there is also an organisation in the South East, who I haven't contacted, who survey and record historic buildings in their region - no cost, but experienced enthusiasts fully assessing buildings and creating records. Possibly a long shot, but there may be a similar group near you...
Good luck!