Cattle shelter at Norris Castle

Summary

Cattle shelter, early C19, for Lord Henry Seymour.

Reasons for Designation

The cattle shelter at Norris Castle, built for Lord Henry Seymour in the early C19, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Historic interest: as a cattle shelter forming part of a progressive estate within the context of early C19 agricultural improvement, and a landscaped park laid out according to picturesque principles;
* Materials: the cattle shelter is well constructed of coursed rubble and squared stone;
* Group value; as one of a pair of cattle shelters that form part of a marine villa estate of outstanding architectural and historic interest, including a Grade I listed house and model farm, Grade II listed lodges, Bathing House and attached sea wall, Pump House and four stone-lined watering ponds, within a Grade I registered landscape, adjacent to a Grade II* registered park and Grade I listed house at Osborne.

History

The cattle shelter is one of a pair situated along the west boundary wall of the Norris Castle estate. In 1795 Lord Henry Seymour (1746-1830) purchased a small farm called ‘Norris’ and subsequently constructed a marine villa estate. It included Norris Castle, a Gothic Revival house built in the form of a castle, and a castellated model farm (Norris Castle Farm) constructed to the designs of the architect James Wyatt (1746-1813) from c1799 (both Grade I listed). A landscaped park with an oval loop of carriage drive was created from former fields covering 124 acres and is shown on the 1810 OS map (Grade I registered). The inclusion of a watercolour view of Norris by the landscape designer Humphry Repton (1752-1818) in the 1805 edition of Peacock's Polite Repository suggests his likely involvement in the design (Carter et al 1982). Lord Seymour held an interest in agricultural improvement, which was integrated into the new estate. The extensive model farm housed cattle and horses with manure being utilised on an attached kitchen garden. Engravings indicate that the park served as pasture for cattle, sheep, and a muster of peacocks.

The cattle shelter is one of two that were built in the early C19. It is not shown on the small scale (one inch to one mile) 1810 OS map but is likely to have been erected at the same time as the west boundary wall to the estate. The cattle shelter appears to be one of the ‘sheds’ mentioned in a set of 1830 sales particulars, by which time the boundary wall was also built: ‘One hundred and twenty-four acres, nearly encompassed by lofty and substantial walls…Grounds, paddocks, with sheds, grass land, well supplied with water, and plantations’. The cattle shelters are shown on the 1845 Tithe map and appear on the 1864 and 1898 OS maps.

Details

Cattle shelter, early C19, for Lord Henry Seymour.

MATERIALS: constructed of coursed rubble with a slate roof.

DESCRIPTION: a rectangular single-storey building with a hipped slate roof and red ridge tiles, built into the west boundary wall of the estate. The main façade faces east, towards the park, and has a wide square-headed opening with a timber lintel, replacing two earlier round-headed arched doorways and their dividing wall. The stone voussoirs that formed the outer jambs and outer arches of the doorways remain in place. In the south elevation is a small square-headed two-light window, which no longer contains the casements or fixed panes. A four-panelled door at the south end of the west wall leads through to the adjoining property. The north elevation is now blind but contains possible traces of a blocked opening. Internally, the cattle shelter has a clasped purlin roof with struts and dragon ties.

Sources

Books and journals
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, (1967), 743-744
Carter et al, G, Humphry Repton Landscape Gardener 1752-1818, (1982), 155

Other
OS Map, One inch to one mile (Old Series, 1810)
OS map 1:2500 (1864 edn, surveyed 1863-4)
OS map 1:2500 (1898 edn)
Ettwein Bridges Architects, Norris Castle Heritage Assessment (2016)
Phibbs, J, Lord Henry Seymour’s marine villa (2016)

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