Chettle
A 2008 report indicated that the entire village was owned by the Bourke family and operated in the mode of "benevolent feudalism". A news item from 2015 confirmed the ownership and provided the following update about the community:
The tiny hamlet, with its hotel, manor house, 40 cottages, farms and lumber yard has belonged to the Bourke family for more than 400 years, in a benign throwback to feudal times.
Chettle House, the village manor, is a red brick Baroque mansion designed by Thomas Archer, a pupil of Vanbrugh, and built by the Bastard brothers of Blandford Forum during the reign of Queen Anne. Pevsner called it "the plum among Dorset houses of the early 18th century, and even nationally outstanding as a specimen of English Baroque". Two rounded ends were added to the house in 1912.
From the 1950s to 2015 the house was a series of flats. After 2015, extensive renovations were completed by new owners; the house and gardens were closed to the public.
A book about Chettle, "Enduring Village", was published in August, 2008.
Notes
- ^ "Parish Population Data". Dorset County Council. 20 January 2015. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
- ^ Chettle village website Archived October 1, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "It has no crime, full employment, cheap housing... and is owned by the lord of the manor. So is this the perfect English village?". Evening Standard. 6 August 2008. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
- ^ Gant, R., Dorset Villages, Hale, 1980, p40
- ^ "Chettle House". Archived from the original on 8 June 2007. Retrieved 26 July 2007.
- ^ "Country houses sold in 2015". Country Life. 30 December 2015. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
- ^ Jack O'Sullivan (8 August 1998). "Outdoors: The thrill of the Chase". independent.co.uk. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
- ^ Ross, David. "Chettle House: History, tourist information, and nearby accommodation". Britain Express.
- ^ "Dorset a bird's eye view Chettle House". Dorset Life. 3 March 2010. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
- ^ "Village That Became a Family Affair: Christopher Middleton on the Battles for Chettle". Daily Telegraph. 30 August 2008 – via PressReader.com.
External links
Media related to Chettle at Wikimedia Commons