Place Farm, Tisbury

Place Farm
"One of the finest surviving groups of monastic grange buildings in England"
Type	Farm
Location	Tisbury, Wiltshire
Coordinates	51°04′04″N2°04′16″W / 51.0678°N 2.0712°W / 51.0678; -2.0712
Built	14th century and after
Governing body	Fonthill Estate
Listed Building – Grade I
Official name	Place Farmhouse
Designated	6 January 1966
Reference no.	1184177
Listed Building – Grade I
Official name	Inner gatehouse at Place Farm
Designated	6 January 1966
Reference no.	1146019
Listed Building – Grade I
Official name	Outer gatehouse at Place Farm
Designated	6 January 1966
Reference no.	1300237
Listed Building – Grade I
Official name	Tithe barn at Place Farm
Designated	6 January 1966
Reference no.	1318824
Listed Building – Grade II
Official name	Farm buildings at Place Farm
Designated	6 January 1966
Reference no.	1146020
Location of Place Farm in Wiltshire

Place Farm is a complex of medieval buildings in the village of Tisbury, Wiltshire, England. They originally formed a grange of Shaftesbury Abbey. The farmhouse, the inner and outer gatehouses and the barn, reputedly the largest in England, are all Grade I listed buildings.

History and description

Shaftesbury Abbey was founded by Alfred the Great in 888. The first religious foundation established for women in England, Alfred's daughter, Æthelgifu was installed as abbess. ^[1] By the Middle Ages, the abbey had become a very wealthy institution, and it established the grange at Place Farm as the administrative centre of its Wiltshire estates. ^{[lower-alpha 1] [2]} Nikolaus Pevsner, in his Wiltshire Pevsner, dates the buildings at Place Farm to the 14th and 15th centuries. ^[3] Anthony Quiney describes the "magnificent scale" of the complex. ^[4] The Victoria County History notes that the ancillary features included two chapels, two larder houses, stables, houses for oxen, hay, and charcoal, and a number of fishponds. ^[5] Margaret Wood, in her history, The Medieval English House, wrote that although the gatehouses are not properly defensive in a military sense, they would provide protection "against bands of marauders or discontented peasantry". ^[6] At the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536 Place Farm passed into private ownership. In the 19th century, the farm became part of the Fonthill estate of the Morrison family, who continue in ownership. ^[7] The tithe barn is let to Messum's, the art dealers, ^[8] while other farm buildings are occupied by the charity, International Cat Care. ^[9]

The farm house at Place Farm is a Grade I listed building. Dating mainly from the 15th century, it was renovated in the 19th. It is constructed of rubble stone, with a tiled roof. A room in the house has a frieze which carries the initials AM, that probably reference the collector Alfred Morrison who owned the estate in the 19th century. ^[10] The estate buildings which form three sides of a courtyard are listed Grade II. ^[11] The tithe barn, which at 200ft long is reputed to be the largest barn in England, ^{[3] [12]} has a Grade I listing. ^[13] The barn was originally tiled, but now has a thatched roof, ^{[lower-alpha 2]} which was renewed in 1971. ^[3] The barn is thirteen bays long, with a cruck truss roof structure. ^[13] The inner and outer gatehouses are also listed at Grade I. ^{[14] [15]} Historic England considers the complex at Place Farm, "one of the finest surviving groups of monastic grange buildings in England". ^[13]

Gallery

• 
  Outer gatehouse
• 
  Inner gatehouse, to the left, and farmhouse
• 
  Tithe barn
• 
  Tithe barn (long view)

Footnotes

1. A popular contemporary saying suggested that Shaftesbury's wealth, and that of the neighboring abbey of Glastonbury, was such that, "If the abbot of Glastonbury could marry the abbess of Shaftesbury their heir would hold more land than the king of England". ^[2]
2. Alec Clifton-Taylor, the architectural historian, calculated the roof required 1,450 square yards of thatch. ^[3] John Julius Norwich noted the "heroical" scale of the effort required to undertake the thatching. ^[12]

References

1. "The Abbey Church of St Mary and St Edward, King and Martyr: History". Shaftesbury Abbey Museum & Gardens. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
2. "House of Benedictine nuns: The abbey of Shaftesbury". www.british-history.ac.uk. British History Online. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
3. Pevsner & Cherry 2002, p. 523.
4. Quiney 1990, p. 162.
5. Freeman, Jane; Stevenson, Janet (1987). Crowley, D.A. (ed.). "Victoria County History – Wiltshire – Vol 13 pp195-248: Tisbury". British History Online. University of London. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
6. Wood 1994, p. 156.
7. "History". The Fonthill Estate. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
8. "Messums Wiltshire - Gallery and Arts Centre". Messums Wiltshire. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
9. "International Cat Care". icatcare.org. ICC. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
10. Historic England. "Place Farmhouse (Grade I) (1184177)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 30 August 2020.
11. Historic England. "Farm buildings at Place Farm (Grade II) (1146020)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
12. Norwich 1985, p. 682.
13. Historic England. "Tithe barn at Place Farm (Grade I) (1318824)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
14. Historic England. "Inner gatehouse at Place Farm (Grade I) (1146019)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
15. Historic England. "Outer gatehouse at Place Farm (Grade I) (1300237)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 30 August 2020.

Sources

• Norwich, John Julius (1985). The Architecture of Southern England. London: Macmillan. ISBN   978-0-333-22037-5. OCLC   642298108.
• Pevsner, Nikolaus; Cherry, Bridget (2002). Wiltshire. The Buildings Of England. New Haven, US and London: Yale University Press. ISBN   978-0-300-09659-0. OCLC   49298090.
• Quiney, Anthony (1990). The Traditional Buildings of England. London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN   978-0-500-34110-0. OCLC   802622322.
• Wood, Margaret (1994) [1965]. The English Medieval House. London: Studio Editions. ISBN   978-1-858-91167-0. OCLC   246597155.