Stepleton House is a 17th-century country house in the parish of
Iwerne Stepleton Iwerne Stepleton (anciently Ewern Stapleton, etc.) is a small civil parish and former manorialism, manor in the county of Dorset, England.
The parish comprises about 800 acres of land and lies on the eastern side of the River Iwerne. The soil is ch ...
in Dorset, situated about north of
Blandford Forum
Blandford Forum ( ), commonly Blandford, is a market town in Dorset, England, sited by the River Stour, Dorset, River Stour about northwest of Poole. It was the administrative headquarters of North Dorset District until April 2019, when this ...
, Dorset, England. It is a
Grade I listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
.
Originally built around a courtyard, the house is now a six- by five-bay block with flanking pavilions. It is constructed of ashlar in two storeys plus basement and attics with a hipped stone slate roof. The main house dates from the 17th century and the pavilions from the 18th century. The six-bay frontage has a two-bay pedimented centrepiece. The house stands in a park through which runs the River Iwerne.
The grounds and the stable block are separately Grade II listed.
History
Stepleford House was built for Thomas Fownes in 1634 on land he had bought from
George Pitt of Stratfield Saye, Hampshire. It was sold by his descendant, also Thomas Fownes, in 1745 for £12,500 to
Julines Beckford
Julines Beckford (c. 1717 - 1764), was the member of the Parliament of Great Britain for Salisbury
Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne ...
, son of a rich Jamaican plantation owner. Beckford remodelled the house and developed the grounds, creating a lake by damming the River Iwerne. He was MP for Salisbury for 10 years and Sheriff of Dorset for 1749–50. On his death in 1764 the property passed to his only son
Peter Beckford Peter Beckford may refer to:
* Peter Beckford (colonial administrator) (1643–1710), acting governor of Jamaica in 1702
* Peter Beckford (junior) (1672/3–1735), his son, politician, slave owner and businessman in colonial Jamaica
* Sir Peter Beck ...
, MP.
[ ]
Peter's grandson,
George Pitt-Rivers, 4th Baron Rivers
George Pitt-Rivers, 4th Baron Rivers (16 July 1810 – 28 April 1866), known as George Beckford until 1828, was a British peer and politician. He held a place as a Lord-in-waiting in several governments, migrating from the Tory to the Liberal Part ...
, let the house to
Sir John Hadley D'Oyly
Sir John Hadley D'Oyly, 6th Baronet (January 1754, Ipswich – 5 January 1818, Kolkata) was a politician in Great Britain. He primarily inherited debt when his father died when he was ten, but through family connections had a successful care ...
, and Lord Rivers' last surviving daughter eventually sold the house in 1917 to Sir Randolph Baker. Since then it has passed through several ownerships and still remains in private hands.
References
External links
*{{ cite web , title=Iwerne Stepleton , url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/dorset/vol3/pp132-135 , publisher=British History Online
Country houses in Dorset
Grade I listed buildings in Dorset