Old Stourton House (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Stourton Castle

In the civil parish of Stourton With Gasper.
In the historic county of Wiltshire.
Modern Authority of Wiltshire.
1974 county of Wiltshire.
Medieval County of Wiltshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: ST77883440
Latitude 51.10763° Longitude -2.31747°

Old Stourton House has been described as a certain Fortified Manor House.

There are earthwork remains.

Description

Site of a fortified manor house built mid C15 and comprising two courts, one with open hall, kitchen and gatehouse. The house was besieged in 1644 and following the sale of the estate was demolished circa 1720 to be replaced by the present Stourhead slightly to the north west. The site is marked by a series of turf covered banks and platforms approached by a hollow way. A park associated with the manor house was licensed circa 1428. (PastScape)

Old Stourton House stood upon a site immediately in front of the present mansion of Stourhead, between that house and the public road leading to Maiden Bradley. The site is still to be recognized by an inequality of ground, a few old Spanish chestnut trees, and some subterranean vaults. A relic of the building is, or lately was, preserved in a house at Shaftesbury formerly the "King's Arms ;" a carved chimney piece, bearing the shield of Stourton between those of Chidiock and Berkeley. (See a plate, in Gent. Mag. 1826, p. 497.) The house covered a great deal of ground, and retained all the internal arrangement of old baronial days. There was a large open-roofed hall, and an open-roofed kitchen of extraordinary size. In the buttery was kept a huge bone, attributed by tradition to one of the Anakim of the house of Stourton, but which was no doubt a geological relic of some different species of animal of much greater antiquity. There was a chapel, paved with tiles bearing the Stourton shield, and the rebus, "W.S.," a tower and a tun. In the civil wars the house was garrisoned for the King. In Sept. 1644 Ludlow marched thither one night, and summoned it to surrender. His summons not being attended to, his men piled faggots against one of the gates and set it on fire. The inmates escaped by a back way into the park; upon which the General entered, and having rendered it untenable passed on to Witham. The Stourton family was of great eminence and antiquity in Wiltshire. It is said that at a house of their's here, William the Conqueror received the submission of the English in the West. When the estate was purchased by Henry Hoare, Esq., of London, in 1720 (or 1727, for Sir R. C. H. has both dates, Mere, p. 56 and 63), the house of which we give the view was taken down. (Jackson 1854)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 202561.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) ST73SE450.

Books
- Emery, Anthony, 2006, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales Vol. 3 Southern England (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) p. 643-5
  Salter, Mike, 2002, Index and Amendments to Mike Salter's English Castles Books (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 11
  Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of Wessex (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 100
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 502 (possible)
  Charles, Lord Mowbray, Segrave, and Stourton, 1899, The History of the Noble House of Stourton online copy
  Mackenzie, J.D., 1896, Castles of England; their story and structure (New York: Macmillan) Vol. 1 p. 233 online copy
  John Aubrey (corrected and enlarged by John Edward Jackson), 1862, Wiltshire, the topographical collections of John Aubrey, F R S, 1659-70 p. 389 online copy
  Hoare, Richard Colt, 1822, The History of Modern Wiltshire Vol. 1 Part 1 p. 42
Periodical Articles
- 1936, Proceedings of the Somersetshire Archaeological and Natural History Society Vol. 81 p. 49
  Jackson, J.E., 1854, 'Leland's Journey through Wiltshire' Wiltshire Archaeological Magazine Vol. 1 p. 193-5 online copy
  C.B., 1826, Gentlemans' Magazine Vol. 96 p. 497 online copy
Guidebooks
- Dodd, D., 1981, Stourhead (National Trust)
Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
- Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p. 502, 504
  Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (London: Bell and Sons) Vol. 5 p. 106 online copy

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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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