SPECIAL NOTE FROM ENID BLYTONThey all went up the little winding lane, where red poppy-heads jigged about in the breeze, and after a while they came in sight of the farm-house. It was a big one, three storey's high, with whitewashed walls, and the rather small windows belonging to the age in which it was built. Old-fashioned red and white roses rambled over the porch, and the old wooden door stood wide open.
MY readers may like to know that the Finniston Farm in this story is a real farm in Dorset, owned by my family—though I have, of course, changed its name in the book. The old chapel, now a storehouse for corn, is still there, with, as always, a cat and its kittens on the sacks! The great old door taken from the Norman castle is still at the farm, used as a magnificent kitchen-door. The old, old tiles on the barns still glow with their centuries-old growth of bright lichen, and the quaint old oven is still in the bedroom wall, complete with its iron tray and embers for the warming-pan! But (as yet!) I haven't found the secret entrance to the old dungeons or cellars of the long-ago burnt-down castle to which the chapel belonged. The Famous Five have been cleverer than I am!
Now read the story, knowing that Finniston Farm is real—-just as I have described it in this book.
THE STOURTON CAUNDLER 100TH ISSUE SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT
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The name of the Old Chapel (located at the rear of Manor Farm) was found
in the will of Sir Ivo Fitzwaryn (1343-1414), who was lord of the manor from 1361; it referring to the
“Chapel of St. Andrew, Caundell Haddon”
ALL ROUND THE FARM
The Five thoroughly enjoyed their ride over the big farm. It spread out in all directions over undulating hills, and the van swung up and down and continually lurched round corners. It stopped every now and again so that the children might see the magnificent views.
Bill told them the names of the great fields as they passed them. ‘That’s Oak-Tree Field - that’s Hangman’s Copse over there - that’s Tinker’s Wood Field - and that’s Faraway Field - the furthest from the farm-house.’
Looking on modern maps today we see similar,but slightly different names, Bilcombe Copse,New Leaze Wood,Knoll Copse & Deadman's Covert....
Before long the Five need a snack:
Wasn't there a chatty girl in the Peterswood dairy too??‘Ah - Anne has discovered what farming really means!’ said Dick. ‘I say, I’m most awfully hungry, but I really don’t like to go and ask for anything at the farm-house. Let’s go down to the village and get buns and milk at the dairy.’
‘Oh yes!’ said Anne and George, and Timmy gave a few sharp, short barks as if he thoroughly agreed. They set off down the lane that led to the village, and soon came to the little ice-cream shop, half baker’s half dairy. Janie, the small talkative girl, was there again. She smiled at them in delight.
‘You’re here again!’ she said, in pleasure. ‘Mum’s made some macaroons this morning. See - all gooey and fresh!’
‘Finniston Castle!’ exclaimed George, in surprise. ‘We went all over the farm this morning, and saw every field - but we didn’t see any ruined castle.’
‘Oh no, you wouldn’t see anything!’ said Janie. ‘I told you - it was burnt down. Right to the ground, ages ago. Finniston Farm belonged to it, you know. There’s some pictures of it in a shop down the road.
Was there ever a castle in Stourton Caundle?‘Is that why your name’s Finniston?’ asked Anne. ‘Tell us about the castle. We only heard about it for the first time today. But we don’t even know exactly whereabouts it stood. I didn’t see a single stone when we went round the farm this morning!’
‘No, no, you wouldn’t,’ said Mr Finniston. ‘It was burnt right down to the ground, you see - and through the centuries people have taken the old stones for building walls. Ah well - it was a long, long time ago!’
‘How long?’ asked George.
‘Let’s see now - it was burnt down in 1192 - the twelfth century,’ said Mr Finniston. ‘Norman times, you know. Ever heard of
Stourton Caundle is a village and parish in the Blackmore Vale of North Dorset, about 5 miles East of Sherborne. ‘Caundle’ may originally have been a Celtic name for the chain of hills in the vicinity, which look from Dorset toward Somerset, but its exact meaning remains obscure. The first name of the village post-Norman conquest was ‘Candel Malherbie’ – ‘malherbe’ being the French word for ‘weed’. It became known as ‘Candel Haddon’ after the Haddon family bought land here in 1202 and founded the manor. They fortified the manor like a castle. One of the more famous visitors was the legendary Dick Whittington, a Lord Mayor of London and the real-life inspiration for a famous English rags-to-riches folk tale. He married Alice, the daughter of the lord of the manor of Candel Haddon, Sir Ivo Fitzwaryn, by whose Will the castle’s chapel was founded in the 1440s. All that remains of the castle today is that chapel (now used as a farm building) and two fish-ponds.
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The hub of the Manor was the castle situated in a field called "Court Barton" on the northern side of the Caundle Brook, at the rear of Manor Farm, probably built by Lord John the third of the Haddon lords, at the end of the 13th century. On the opposite side of the brook was a small chapel, a mill, a fishpond, and a pigeon loft. There are no longer any traces of the castle, which fell into ruin at the end of the 16th century.
The small chapel still stands among the farm buildings on the southern side of the brook. There is said to be a small burial ground to the south of this chapel, one skeleton having been brought to the surface by floodwaters.
The most notorious resident of the castle was Charles, Lord Stourton who, on the 12th of January 1557, invited to the castle a man by the name of Hartgill accompanied by his son. Lord Charles had a long running disagreement with Hartgill, though they were at this time apparently reconciled. Lord Charles arranged for them to be knocked down with clubs by his servants who then cut their throats and buried them in the cellar in order to prevent their discovery. When these cruel murders came to light he was indicted and interned in the Tower of London. After his conviction for the murders he was taken from the Tower to Salisbury Market Square where he was hanged along with four of his servants.‘But Mr Finniston - if the castle was built of stone - how was it burnt to the ground?’ she said. ‘What happened?’
‘I can’t find out,’ said Mr Finniston sadly. ‘I’ve been into every old library in the county, and looked up every old book of that period - and I’ve delved into the old records in Finniston church.
As far as I can make out, the castle was stormed by enemies - and, as I said, a traitor inside set fire to it at the same time. The floors fell in, and the castle was left blazing from top to bottom. The great walls fell inwards and covered the base - and the Finniston family fled. Lord Finniston was killed - but his Lady took the children and hid them - it’s said she hid them in the old chapel, near the barns of the farm. Maybe she took them down a secret underground passage, leading from the dungeons to the old chapel itself.’
‘An old chapel - is it still there?’ asked Anne. ‘Or was it burnt too?’
‘No - it wasn’t burnt. It’s still standing,’ said Mr Finniston. ‘Old Great-Grand-dad will show you.’
After the demise of the castle a tithe barn was constructed on the northern boundary of the site, using stone from the ruined castle. Most of the public footpaths and bridle-ways radiate from here. As recently as 1821 regular Manorial Court Sessions were being held in the tithe barn at Court Barton.
‘No, the Lady of the castle wasn’t killed and it is said that she took her children to the little chapel near the farm-house - we really must go and see that, twins - and they stayed there in safety.
Mr Finniston told them that the Lady of the castle escaped with her children and took them in safety to the chapel, which wouldn’t be very far away. I should guess that the castle-site must be not further than a quarter of a mile from the chapel, so that narrows the search down a bit. By the way, we really must look at that chapel - it sounds interesting, even though it has been used as a store-house for years!’
http://stourtoncaundle.org.uk/history.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;‘We haven’t seen this chapel yet, either!’
So they followed the two men, and soon came to a tall, quaint old building with small and beautiful arched windows set high up in the walls. They went in at the door, a few paces behind the two men, and stared in wonder.
‘Yes - you can see it was once a chapel!’ said Julian, speaking instinctively in a low voice. ‘Those lovely old windows - that arch there...’
‘And the feel of it!’ said Anne. ‘I know now what old Mr Finniston down at that little shop meant, when he said that though it was now a store-house, it was still full of prayer! You can feel that people have been here to pray, can’t you? What a lovely little chapel. Oh, I do wish it wasn’t used as a store-house!’
‘I was told by an old fellow down in the village antique shop that a Lady Phillippa, who was once the Lady of the castle, brought each of her fifteen children here to learn their prayers,’ said Mr Durleston, surprisingly. ‘Hmm, hmm - nice old story. Probably true. Chapels were often built near to castles.
But I guess what you really want to know is if there is any real life treasure to be found at Stourton Caundle??
Possibly,but more likely to be Roman in nature!
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