Charborough House - The Estate Wall

The Estate Wall

Charborough Park is surrounded by one of the longest brick walls in England, comprising more than 2 million bricks and built between 1841 and 1842 by the then owner of the park John Samuel Wanley Sawbridge-Erle-Drax. He had successfully had the new Wimborne/Dorchester turnpike moved further away from his house, a detour of over half a mile, but unfortunately for Sawbridge-Erle-Drax - who was also its chief promoter - the turnpike lost money, mainly because the railway between Wimborne and Dorchester opened shortly afterwards. The wall runs alongside the A31 and is punctuated by "The Stag Gate" (notorious for appearing to have five legs) at the northern extremity and the "Lion Lodge" at the eastern most entrance, decorations created by Eleanor Coade's 'Artificial Stone Manufactory' in Lithodipyra (Coade stone).

In 1686, a group of conspirators met at Charborough House to plan the overthrow of "the tyrant race of Stuarts", this was hosted by Thomas Erle, MP for Wareham since 1678, and Deputy Lieutenant for Dorset since 1685. This meeting was effectively the start of the build up to the Invitation to William, signed by the Immortal Seven, which resulted in the Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, and the overthrow of James II of England in 1688 by a union of Parliamentarians and the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau, (William of Orange).

The church of St Mary at Charlborough was built by Thomas Erle Drax in 1775 and transformed in 1837 by John Sawbridge Erle Drax who had married Sarah Frances Erle-Drax, the heiress of Charborough, in 1826 and assumed her surname. It is now used only as the burial-place of the Drax family. Above the door of a small arched building nearby is an inscription, dated 1686, commemorating the meeting of the patriotic individuals, who concerted the plan of the Revolution in 1688.

Charborough House and its folly tower at 50°46′38.75″N 2°6′7.09″W / 50.7774306°N 2.1019694°W / 50.7774306; -2.1019694 is the model for Welland House in the novel Two on a Tower by Thomas Hardy.

Charborough Park, the private grounds of Charborough House, are only open to the public once or twice a year, when the local villagers sell tea and cakes.

The Drax estate is thought to consist of nearly 7,000 acres (28 km2). Although the stag on top of 'Stag Gate' appears to have five legs, the 'fifth leg' is actually a 'tree stump' originally incorporated into the sculpture to add strength. There are quite a few comments on-line and in publications that the stag has five legs so that it appears to have four when viewed from any angle, which is clearly imaginative but incorrect.