Wolveton Gatehouse

A gatehouse dating back to the reign of Henry VIII

The Gatehouse once framed the approach to a grand forecourt and the great of many kinds have passed through it. Born nearby, Sir Walter Raleigh is thought to have visited, passing through the gates of Wolveton Gatehouse, and in 1610 the Trenchard of the day built a riding school in the grounds for the practice of an elite form of horsemanship, now a very rare survival. Today the Gatehouse reminds us of the noble existence once led here. Thomas Hardy came to tea at Wolveton in 1900 and the tragic tale of Lady Penelope D'Arcy, the second wife of George Trenchard, appears in his book of short stories, 'A Group of Noble Dames'.

Dorset families did well under the Tudors and many passed their good fortune on to us in the houses they built. The Trenchards of Wolveton, in the water-meadows west of Dorchester, put up one of the finest. John Trenchard inherited Wolveton through his mother, Christian Mohun, in 1480 and began work on the house. Sir Thomas Trenchard completed the Gatehouse in the reign of Henry VIII. Most of Sir Thomas’s house was demolished in the 1820s, leaving just the lavish Elizabethan wing erected by Sir George Trenchard. This wing is exceptional: windows with the delicate decoration of the Tudor Renaissance, an Elizabethan display of glass and much moulded oak and plaster.

Dorset Countryside

The gatehouse sits at the entrance to Wolveton House, a beautiful Elizabethan house, surrounded by stunning Dorset countryside. From here visit Lulworth Cove, Minterne Gardens or Lyme Regis. The accommodation is mainly on the first floor, reached by a wide and ancient spiral staircase made of oak. The corner turrets are called into service for kitchen and bathrooms. The two main rooms have Jacobean fireplaces, and turret rooms leading off them. A garret above and the guardroom below provide extra bedrooms. In winter, you can stoke up the fire, just as the Dorset nobility did hundreds of years ago.

Sir Thomas Trenchard inherited Wolveton at his father's death in 1495 when he was a boy of sixteen. There had almost certainly been a fortified house belonging to the Jourdains on the site and indeed the Gatehouse towers appear to be earlier. The shields on its west elevation bear the letters 'T' and 'E', which probably refer to Thomas and his third wife, Edith Hyndford or Hymerford. Sir Thomas Trenchard died in 1550 aged 71 and was succeeded in 1557 by his great grandson, George, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth. Along with a magnificent stone staircase, he built a grand south range with fine windows and plasterwork ceilings. His third son, George, married Lady Penelope D'Arcy, the subject of one of Thomas Hardy's 'Group of Noble Dames'.

In the 18th century, the Trenchards lived mainly at their other house, Lytchett Matravers, and Wolveton began to be overlooked. Its magnificent collection of armorial stained glass was removed to Lytchett, most of it being broken on the way. Many of the rooms were subdivided and let as lodgings. In a secret transaction, William Trenchard sold Wolveton in 1807, to his cousin and solicitor, Robert Henning. Most of Sir Thomas's house was soon demolished, leaving Sir George's wing and the Gatehouse.

Wolveton was bought in 1862 by Mr Weston who, whilst saving the house from ruin, made some rather heavy-handed additions. In 1874 he sold it to Mr Bankes, a younger son of the Kingston Lacy family. Mrs Bankes died at Wolveton in 1947 and it was taken over by her granddaughter, the Countess Zamoyska, who divided up the house. When it became too unmanageable, the Thimblebys stepped in. They have restored Wolveton and its Gatehouse to their former appearance, and since 1994 the Landmark Trust has arranged the letting of the Gatehouse for holidays on their behalf.

After a fire in the guardroom, later wall coverings were removed revealing the original fireplace and much original plaster and stonework. The shutters have been made from elms on the estate which fell down in the great gale of 1987. The Captain has provided most of the furniture and pictures in the Gatehouse, which are truly in the spirit of the Landmark Trust.

The room currently used as a Chapel is near the site of the ancient one. In the 18th century this had fallen down and present chapel was then in use as a schoolroom and chapel. Later in the mid 1800's it became a bakery; the flour being brought through an opening high up in the wall, down a shute, into the adjacent tower room. Fragments of the bread oven remain at the back of the Chapel fireplace, made of Broadmayne bricks. The Thimblebys have created a private chapel here once again.

The Gatehouse is happily in use for guests as it was intended, the Chapel is in use also. The Stables again house the family hunters and the House itself been returned to a single home once more. Whilst Dorchester is doing its best to encroach, in this small sanctuary there are badgers, foxes and roe deer. After many years other most welcome species have returned to Wolveton: trout, salmon, water rats, kingfishers and swans.