XXXVI. 



house, was duly inspected, and the following notes read by Rev. W. M. 

 BARNES : 



Hutchins writes thus of Poxwell : " The Manor and farm, consisting only of 

 the ancient seat of the Hennings and a few cottages, is situated in a vale about a 

 mile and a-half S.W. from Warmwell. The ancient vill stood a little N.E. from 

 the church. It seems to have received its adjunct to its name from the well or 

 spring which rises in the middle of the village." According to Domesday it 

 belonged originally to the Abbey of Cerne. The family of Pokeswell probably 

 held it of the Abbot of Cerne. The pedigree of the Hennings of Pokeswell, who 

 were its later possessors, is given in Hutchins. The house and property now 

 belongs to the Cambridges. The house was built by one member of the Henning 

 family, and it was new when Coker wrote his Survey of Dorset, for he writes 

 thus of it " No we it is the dwelling of the Hennings whose faire newe house 

 much commends it." When was it built ? The only edition I have yet met with 

 of Coker's Survey of Dorset was printed in 1732. If this is the first edition it 

 must have been published long after Coker's death, for from internal evidence it 

 appears that Coker was contemporary with Sir John Williams, of Heningston, 

 and with his grandson, John, who succeeded him. Sir John Williams was born 

 in 1545 and died in 1617, when John Williams succeeded him. John died in 

 1632. If we put the writing of Coker's book a little later than this we shall 

 arrive at about the date which is cut over the porter's lodge, 1634, to which date 

 the architecture answers. Externally the house (but for the wood-framed 

 windows in the gable) is a good and well-preserved specimen of Jacobean or 

 Caroline domestic architecture, for the difference in style between the two is not 

 marked, and if it was furnished with lawns and flower beds after the fashion of 

 the time, and the old stone windows were replaced in the gable, it would not 

 present a very different appearance to what it did when old Coker wrote about it, 

 except that age has toned down the crudeness of its freshly cut stone and lent 

 that charm to it which antiquity alone can give. Of course the old house has its 

 ghost an old woman who sits knitting in the porter's lodge, but as she has not 

 been seen for many years, it is believed that the ghost has been laid, so she is no 

 longer a terror to superstitious servant-maids. As to the things to be noticed, I 

 would call your attention to the very picturesque porter's lodge. The wall on 

 each side of the lodge has been lowered, but the characteristic coping has been 

 replaced, and for two or three feet on each side of the lodge the wall is untouched. 

 Three ancient tiles found in pulling down the old wall will be seen built in over 

 the doorway between this lawn and the garden. You will pass through the 

 porch with its niches recessed in the walls, and which are characteristic of the 

 date, into the ancient passage with a stone arch opening into the hall on the 

 right, with the buttery hatch opposite. Some of the old wainscoting still 

 remains in the hall, together with the very interesting hall table, which seems to 

 be of the same age as the house. The pedestals which support the massive board 

 are original. These are of oak. Is the top of elm ? or of what wood is it ': A 

 few of the original balusters remain at the top of the staircase, and the original 



