58 TUDOR HOUSES IN DORSET. 



swept them away. Most of the ground plans will be noticed 

 to be shaped like the letters H or H; but that has no 

 reference to King Henry or Queen Elizabeth, the fancied 

 resemblance being due to the central hall and extended wings. 

 The disposition of the smaller manor houses is well illustrated 

 by the plans of Melbury and Winterborne Anderson. 



MATERIALS. 



Our ancestors wisely used the nearest suitable material for 

 their homes, whether of timber, stone, chalk, flint or brick, 

 resulting in that toning and harmonising with their surroundings 

 which is so noticeable a feature. 



Here in Dorset the great stone beds of oolite and lias, more 

 especially at Portland and Purbeck, with outcrops in the 

 north, provided all that was needed. Ham Hill stone from 

 Somerset, with its delightful warm tints, was also within easy 

 reach. Caen stone from across the Channel was mostly 

 reserved by the monks for interior church work. Carefully 

 selected chalk was also serviceable for the same purpose. 

 Flints from our downs provided a pleasing change, and when 

 properly laid, by the skilled descendants of neolithic workers, 

 were imperishable, and by their glistening surface afforded a 

 pleasing contrast, arranged in alternate layers or squares with 

 stones. The monastic barn at Liscombe is built of flint, stone 

 and large blocks of rock chalk. (D.F.C., XXVI, 5). The great 

 barn at Cerne Abbas is supposed to have had 125,000 flints, 

 each shaped by hand, used in its construction (Ibid, XXXIV, 

 p. xl). The roofs were covered with heavy split slabs of stone; 

 and as lichens and other plants covered them they became very 

 picturesque looking. The stones were carefully graded, the 

 smaller ones at the top and the larger below. 



The squire was often his own clerk of the works, picked out 

 his timber and used the best materials. Mr. Moore built a 

 handsome house at Loseley, in Surrey, in 1561-69; and his 

 accounts, most minutely kept, have been preserved. Timber 

 was bought or given by neighbours and cut up in his saw pit. 



