Shute Barton

Summary

Shute Barton is a fragment of a large house of several periods between 1440 and 1680

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Description

Shute Barton is a fragment of a large house of several periods between c.1440 and c.1680 for the Bonville family whose descendants owned it until 1559 and for the Pole family who acquired it in 1560 and continued to own it until 1926. What survives is the late medieval service range. This comprises a block that originally stood at right angles to the (demolished) hall, and a kitchen with chambers over it that projects in a wing beyond this and retains a comtemporary, arch-braced roof. The kitchen wing survives intact; other accommodation has been extensively remodelled internally at several dates, but retains some good decorative woodwork of the mid-seventeeth century. The greater part of the house was demolished in the late 18th century when a new house was built for the family half a mile to the south east and the fragment of the old building that remained came then or subsequently to serve as a farm house. This was repaired and refurbished in the 1950's. There is a detached gatehouse of c1565 with flanking gazebos, built when the approaches to the house were reorganised by the first Pole owner. Some farm buildings also exist to the west of the house (not NT), partly fragmentary, of which parts may incorporate remains of detached service buildings (stabling etc.) of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries which formerly stood around a base court. The pricipal evidence for the building history of Shute Barton comes from examination of the surviving remains and a detailed survey of 1559 which inter alia identifies the builders of those principal parts of the medieval house which were then standing. (Nicholas Cooper 1997) A report by N Cooper includes a transcription of the 1559 survey with suggested layout and copies of an 18th century plan and 18th century drawing of the elevation of the south front.
GSB Prospection Survey 26/2/02 Conclusions - The survey has identified a number of anomalies that could indicate the presence of structural/building remains. These are mainly concentrated at the southeastern end of the survey area. The resistance survey has identified a rectangular area of high resistance extending from the southeast corner of the existing house. The orientation of the response suggests that it could be associated with the remains of the C15th mansion. GPR survey across this area produced strong reflections that are consistent with the presence of building debris with a tentative suggestion of walls and possible intact surfaces. One of the potential walls correlates with the anomaly in the resistance data and, as such, strengthens the interpretation.
Whilst some evidence of possible structural deposits have been noted at the northwestern end of the survey, the responses are less clear, and therefore their interpretation is cautious.
Both the gradiometer and resistance surveys have produced linear anomalies that are likely to be due to the presence of drains or culverts. It is not possible to date geophysical anomalies and whilst these drains or culverts could be related to the original house, it is more likely that they are later features.
The overall impression, particularly from the resistance survey, is that whilst some potential structural elements appear to exist at the southeastern end of the survey blocks, the remainder of the area appears to be relatively devoid of significant anomalies. It may be that when the house was demolished, the site was extensively cleared and only a few remnants of the original building survived. (GSB 2002)

2008 Report: Shute Barton represents a fragment of a large house of several periods between c.1450 and c.1680. It was built for the Bonville family, who owned it until 1559, followed by the Pole family. The surviving section represents the late medieval service range. The greater part of the house was demolished in the late 18th century when the new Shute House was built some half a mile to the south. The remaining part of the house came then or subsequently to serve as a farm house (N. Cooper, NT SMR 100398).
Shute is documented from the 13th century. Nothing is known of the earlier house, although it probably lay on the site of the later buildings.
Sources
NT SMR No. 100398.
DCC SMR SY29NE/21; PRN 11229.

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