Details
ST 83 SW MERE WOODLANDS ROAD
(west side)
2/89 Woodlands Manor
6.1.66
I
Manor house. Chapel mid C14, hall block c.1370-1380 for Thomas Doddington, east
range mid C15; much internal modification in C16 and C18; purchased by Matthew
Andrews 1705, passed to Meyrick family late C18 and remained in this family
until mid C20; major restoration by Revd F Meyrick-Jones from 1922. Limestone
rubble, large flush greensand quoins, ashlar stacks, plain tile roof, replacing
stone slate removed in 1888. Main east-west hall range with 2-storey porch;
service wing at right angles to right, and chapel range set back, left, parallel
with hall. A very complete late medieval small scale manor house brought back
to its C17 state in the C20. South front has full-height 2-light cusped square
hooded window and similar smaller 2-light without transom to right small gable
stack, left, with finial; then moulded arched doorway under 2-light hollow
chamfer to stopped hood in coped gable with cross-saddle to porch; small single
light set high on porch return to left. Right is gabled end of service range in
2 storeys with 3-light casement to stopped hood at each level; coped gable to
cross-saddle. Right return facing east, in 2 storeys with various 2 and 4-light
casements, including small, 2-light at eaves level above moulded arched doorway
centrally; to left is external eaves stack to short ashlar top and large gable
stack to right; this north gable plain, but roof swept down to addition on
right, facing chapel. Left of main hall range is, swept down roof and plank
entry to single storey unit. Chapel block is 2-storey with coped gables and at
west end a double ashlar stack with cylindrical terminals. East front has
3-light Perpendicular window over 2-light hollow chamfer mullion C16 window with
transom and stopped hoodmould; above this a flush arch with voussoirs and key-
stone possibly head to an earlier opening. North front complex; at ground floor
a fine plank and stud square-headed door brought in, in C20; 2-light and 3-light
4-centred headed casements with hoods, a small 2-storey buttress between
these. At upper floor a 3-light C14 reticulated window with square head and
moulded hood to deep drops and a 2-light C15 cusped casement with transom and
hood; between these a moulded pointed door opening with C17 door to stone slab
balcony and wooden balustrade; this was originally the chapel access, by means
of an external staircase. Diagonal buttresses with 3 offsets at north east and
north west corners. Return gable plain except for external stack. Windows with
beading, mostly of C20. Interior: from porch entry to staircase hall with
Jacobean wooden stair with C17 panelling below solid string with square turned
balusters, newel and heavy handrail; right is room with partition in panel and
muntin and 4-centred head to door. Left of entry is heavy panel and muntin
screen with rail, plank and nail-head door with decorative strap hinges in
4-centred opening gives to: Hall with 6-bay arch-braced collar roof and 3 tiers
of cusped wind bracing to 3 chamfered and stopped purlins; alternate trusses
have paired curved braces from collar to principals, and including the two wall
trusses; over screen is projecting gallery with front of linen-fold panelling to
front, carried on large moulded and stopped beam; under gallery and above screen
an internal 4-light window. At west end a very wide stone moulded cambered arch
fireplace, and, to its right, a square-headed wide plank and nail-head door to a
wood lintel. North side of hall has 2-light window to right, corresponding to
that on south side; far left is triple-mould pointed arched opening to base of
stone stair, opposite a plank and batten door to 4-centred head in moulded
square stone doorcase, giving to lower chapel, or Book Room which has a splendid
stone Elizabethan fireplace with Ionic columns and richly modelled surround and
entablature, carrying a coat of arms as overmantel, flanked by Corinthian
columns, rising to grape and vine-leaf frieze to geometrical embellished
plaster ceiling. Stone flag floor. Above is the former Chapel with plastered
barrel roof in 3 bays, including one brattished and embellished tie-beam;
large Elizabethan/Jacobean stone fireplace with fluted columns to unusual
decorated Doric caps, and podia, carrying frieze with triglyphs, ox-heads
and rosettes under cornice with fluting, and two pairs of scrolls; rich internal
architrave surround. The upper room to Porch has arch-braced roof, on one
wall, beside a small single light, a linear horse's head on plaster in red
paint. Kitchen has very heavy bressummer fire opening. Floors are stone
flagged to hall, entrance, kitchen and some adjoining rooms; chapel room
has small area of medieval tiles. The building was in decayed state in the
late C19, and owes its present state mainly to the substantial work of the
early C20; before this the architect C E Ponting and the Wiltshire Archaeo-
logical Society had been instrumental, in the late 1880's, in preventing
loss of much of the building through demolition. In assessing the rich interior
detail it is important to see the Revd F Meyrick-Jones' articles in Country
Life, explaining the extent of his restoration from 1922 onwards.
(Country Life, Vol CL: 1924 - May 10 and flay 17: also Margaret Wood, The
English Medieval House, 1965; passim).
Listing NGR: ST8150431174
