Site of the medieval manor house and associated buildings of Kingston Lacy

Heritage listing

Details PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS The monument includes the slight earthworks and buried remains of the medieval manor house and associated ancillary buildings of the inner court at Kingston Lacy. The site is situated within gently undulating parkland, in an area known historically as Court Close, to the north and north-west of the present Kingston Lacy House. DESCRIPTION A number of earthworks, including a low platform that is roughly square on plan, slight terraces and several smaller platforms, are visible in the area to the north of the current Kingston Lacy House. These correspond broadly with the location of the high resistance features recorded during the geophysical survey undertaken in 1996. This confirmed the location of the house which was found to have approximate dimensions of 40m north-south and 25m west-east. It also identified further buried features which have been interpreted as the remains of other possible buildings within the inner court and the boundary walls of this enclosure. A small excavation in 1997 on the site of the manor house itself uncovered a length of walling, some 1.3m wide, that was faced with Heathstone ashlar and had a flint rubble core. Building debris such as dressed stone, roofing tiles, mortar and fragments of painted plaster and a series of floor surfaces were also uncovered. Artefacts found during the excavation included medieval and post-medieval pottery sherds, glazed floor tiles, animal and fish bones and shells. EXTENT OF SCHEDULING The area of protection aims to include the earthworks and buried archaeological remains relating to the buildings of the inner court of the medieval house at Kingston Lacy. The scheduled area therefore forms a roughly-triangular shaped parcel with maximum dimensions of 200m from north-west to south-ea

From the Historic England List Entry under OGL v3.