Lodge Park in the 16th century

The richness of the spacious rooms used by 'Crump' Dutton and his friends contrasts with the subterranean domain of his servants. But the way food and drink could be taken to three levels of the building is easily seen. Some of the windows are 'blind' for the sake of the architecture, notably two on the first floor: though they had glass, it had to be introduced from outside, which led to the horizontal fixing bars being external. The balcony windows originally had removable shutters so that the building could be secured when not in use.

Lodge Park in the 1720s

Sir John Dutton's account book for 1723-33 reveals the thoroughness of his stylish remodelling and refurnishing. It included new stone floors in the Porch, Hall, Staircase and Dining Room. The leading stuccoist Isaac Mansfield supplied new ceiling plaster-work in the Dining Room.

The famous ornamental plasterer Frances Vassali was also paid eight guineas, possibly for stucco busts. Building work was coming to an end in October 1728, when Sir John settled with William Kent 'for his trouble making Plans for me at my Lodge and House'. Kent probably designed the new interiors as well as some of the furniture delivered in I730.

Lodge Park in the early 19th century

Lodge Park was drastically reduced to make a small and comfortable house. The staircase and the Great Room chimneypiece were both removed, the latter to be incorporated in the rebuilding of Sherborne House by the architect Lewis Wvatt, a pioneer of what is now called architectural salvage.

The stability of the upper part of the building was compromised by the removal of the original flat roof structure which acted as bracing to the walls. A conventional pitched roof was installed in an unconventional position, which trapped snow. But the front of the old stair tower, with its Jacobean doorcase, was carefully preserved.

Lodge Park in the mid-19th century

The whole building beneath the new, roof was gutted and converted to a row of cottages. The stability of the walls was further threatened by the removal of the original 17th-century first-floor framing. The ground-floor level was lowered and the new tie-beams notched for doorways to accommodate three floors of accommodation. The unconventional lighting of the middle-floor rooms the windows were at floor level may have been the chief reason the cottages were unoccupied by the time Augustus Hare visited Lodge Park in 1876.

Lodge Park after 1898

Mr. M. King of Seymour Place, London, transformed the lodge into a dower-house for Emily, - wife of the 4th Lord Sherborne, in 1898-1902. The rear wing was rebuilt in a new form, and the drawing shows the front bedroom, latterly Lord Sherborne's, reduced in size for an en suite bathroom.

The new floor structure was at a slightly different level to the original and did not have the restraining qualities needed to anchor the walls. Beyond the ground-floor Dining Room was a Lounge Hall with a grand staircase in one corner to a first-floor Drawing Room. This spacious arrangement was changed to something more conventional in 1938 when the house was tenanted.

Latterly, there was a small, central entrance hall with staircase beyond, drawing-room to the left, and dining-room on the right. This house was further simplified when the Sherbornes took up residence 40 years ago. When the Trust inherited the house, the external walls were moving, the chinineystacks collapsing and water pouring through the parapet gutters whenever it snowed or rained hard.

Lodge Park as it stands today