The medieval mansion house

 

There was a house on this site, in medieval times, which was divided into two in the 16th century. The earliest record of it is in 1423.

It was known as The Free Suite. It was the only property in Sydling that did not belong to Milton Abbey

By 1767, this map shows the two halves as Hardy’s freehold and Kiddles freehold

The Sun

 

In 1778, Christmas Hardy was the owner of “the premises known by the name of Hardy’s part of the Free Suite”.

The premises were described as:

 the Hall, the Great Parlour, the hall chamber, the parlour chamber, the staircase leading from the hall to the hall chamber, the gatehouse, the gatehouse chamber, all which premises are now one entire dwelling house known by the name of The Sun; the stable, the south pigs pound, that part of the garden bounded to the south by the church path.

He sold it to William Devenish in 1785

 

East House seems to have been built on the site of the north part of the mansion house

A plaque on East House reads “D W E 1787”, which may stand for Devenish, William and Eleanor, who had the new house built here in 1787. Possibly incorporating the original building. The lower floor looks much older than the Georgian house. Is the lower floor of East House the great hall and parlour of The Sun?

William Devenish’s will

In his will of 1800 he bequeaths the house to his wife Eleanor and their daughter Anne.

He describes it as “the house in which we lived, which I bought from Christmas Hardy”

Which implies that some of the original house still exists, and that he did not demolish it and build from scratch.

 

The Devenish Family

There have been Devenishes in Sydling since records began (14C)

In the 16-17th Century some were agricultural labourers still

One branch of the family had become wealthy, farmers and brewers

Devenish Brewery Weymouth

William lived at Huish Farm, his brother Matthew elsewhere in Sydling.

William built the house where he and his wife lived, and bequeathed it to his wife and daughter in his will

His daughter, Anne, had no children, so on her death in 1855 the house passed to her nephew, another William, who had lived at Huish

William Devenish emigrated to New Zealand on the Timandra in 1842, with his sister and her husband Josiah Flight, (of Huish) and they took a flock of Southdown Dorset bred sheep, ten ewes and two rams. He married Mary Hirst. He settled on a farm in Mangorei and was appointed the first chairman of the New Plymouth Town Board in 1863.

 

In 1856 William Devenish of New Plymouth, New Zealand, yeoman, sold the property to William Dunning of Friar Waddon

 

The Dunning Family

They were farmers in and around Sydling.

They lived in the house until 1898, when Thomas and Elizabeth Dunning had died, leaving the house to the eldest surviving of his 7 sons or his son.

The first son was written out of the will, (he farmed at Up Sydling).  The next son died, the 3rd son, Thomas inherited, but he lived in California.

Thomas owned the house until 1922, (We don’t know who lived in East House during his ownership)when he died in California, leaving no son.

His nephew James inherited. He lived in Malvern, and sold the Sydling house.

 

Ethel Ashburnham

 

Ethel Ashburnham bought the house in 1923.

She was the widow of army officer who died in 1919. He was born in India, where his father served in the army. He in turn served in East Africa

She seems to have been an impressive woman. She organized the Sydling Pageant, then went on to organize the Dorset Pageant, a very large affair.

In 1936 she bought and renovated the cottages next door, which she called East House Cottages. Ethel died in Died 1947

 

The attached Word document contains much more detail of the early history of the house, and of its inhabitants.