Owen Simons, Collections Archivist, writes: Dorset History Centre (DHC) would like to thank FNL for providing a full grant to purchase this manuscript survey by G(eorge)? Ingham of the Dorset held Estates of Henry Lord Arundell, 8th Baron Arundell of Wardour. Although a Wiltshire-based family, the Lords Arundell owned substantial lands in the adjacent county of Dorset.
Henry Arundell was an avid collector of art, and he accumulated enormous debts due to his ambitious building plans for New Wardour Castle, Wiltshire, and his unrestrained purchases of art to fill it. Following his death on 4 December 1808, aged 68, his trustees were forced to sell off a portion of the family’s estates to cover the debts. They chose to dispose of the lands in Dorset south of Shaftesbury around the villages of Melbury Abbas and Fontmell Magna as covered by this survey.
The lands initially went up for sale at auction but found no bidders. The Fontmell Magna estate was eventually purchased two years later by Sir Richard Carr Glyn, a very successful banker and former Lord Mayor of London and MP for St Ives, for £20,750. The remainder of the estates went to other families, but the Melbury Abbas estate came up for sale again in 1829 following the death of the previous landowner and was acquired by Sir Richard.
The Glyn Estate archive resides at Dorset History Centre (DHC ref. D-GLY) and contains many related items from the time of Lord Arundell’s ownership. The manuscript survey had been sold off privately when previous records were deposited in the 1980s, but now once again sits alongside it and complements it perfectly. It is particularly satisfying to have been able to return this item to DHC and to public ownership after an absence of over 30 years.
The survey provides details on tenants and the values, rents and acreage of the various farms, lands, and tenements, as well as the names of individual fields which made up the manors. It is particularly useful when used in conjunction with several detailed maps of the manors to which it refers, also by George Ingham, that are already at the History Centre within the Glyn archive. The volume has been scribed in an exceptionally neat hand and comes with a fine calligraphic title page. There are pencilled alterations throughout detailing future transfers of lands, all making for a great resource for researchers, local historians and genealogists.
Dorset History Centre is committed to dedicated to preserving, sharing and celebrating the rich heritage of the county of Dorset. The purchase of this survey allows the document to be made available to the public for learning and research and ensures that it is preserved for use by future generations.
