ASHMORE MANOR

Identity: confirmed — The Ashmore, Dorset registry record is corroborated by the National Archives record and by the 1590–1591 survey and 1786 survey/map leads. Dorset Heritage Explorer identifies Manor Farm as formerly the manor house of Ashmore, located in Ashmore parish, matching the registry manor rather than a same-named manor elsewhere.
Representative point: 50.959432, -2.128806
Basis: documented_manor_house — Manor Farmhouse, High Street, Ashmore, at OS National Grid Reference ST 91050 17786. The Dorset Historic Environment Record states that Manor Farm was formerly the manor house and that the manor house stood approximately 200 yards west of the church. Historic England lists the same building at this grid reference.
Point confidence: high
Boundary status: representative_point_only
Boundary period: Not established from accessible evidence; relevant surviving records include the 1590–1591 survey and 1786 survey/map.
Boundary confidence: none
Boundary basis: The archive catalogue confirms a 1786 map of Ashmore manor and farm with index, but the accessible evidence does not expose the map image or a sufficiently detailed transcription of its perimeter. The available sources also mention Ashmore's open fields and parish extent, but do not establish the historical manorial boundary. No modern parish or administrative boundary has been substituted.
Sources:
- Dorset Heritage Explorer: MDO27075 – Manor Farmhouse, Ashmore: https://heritage.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/Monument/MDO27075 — Identifies Manor Farm as formerly the manor house; gives location ST 9105 1778 and states that the manor house stood about 200 yards west of the church.
- Historic England: Manor Farmhouse, Ashmore, list entry 1110369: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1110369 — Confirms the documented building and its National Grid Reference ST 91050 17786.
- The National Archives: Ashmore Manor record F245809: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F245809 — Registry record for the Ashmore Manor record associated with Ashmore, Dorset.
- The National Archives: 1590–1591 survey, LR2/vol.191, ff.32-34: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/N14299131 — Contemporary manorial survey lead supplied for Ashmore Manor.
- The National Archives: 1786 survey, D/CRL/B/3/2/1-3/2/2: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/N14325749 — Later survey lead for Ashmore Manor held by Dorset History Centre.
- The National Archives: 1786 map with index, D.364/E 20-21: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/N14270550 — Catalogue lead for a map of Ashmore manor and farm; the accessible catalogue evidence does not provide a usable boundary polygon.
Warnings / uncertainty:
- The representative point is the documented historical manor-house site now represented by Manor Farmhouse, not the separate modern country-house property marketed as Ashmore Manor on Green Lane.
- A historical manorial polygon has not been returned because the accessible evidence does not establish the perimeter. The parish boundary, modern estate acreage and settlement boundary were deliberately not used as substitutes.