Plestor House

Plestor House is a house in the centre of Selborne, Hampshire, England. The house is named for its location — adjacent to the village's plestor. Architecturally, the house has grown over the centuries. The oldest section, that facing the village green (known as The Plestor — from the Saxon words "pleg stow", meaning "play space"), dates from the third quarter of the 17th century. The roof incorporates fire-blackened timbers which have been dated by dendrochronology to the early 14th century, and it is thought that they come from the house which previously stood on the site. A recent excavation of the cellar unearthed Tudor bricks, which were also fire-damaged and may therefore point to the fate of the house's predecessor.

The second section of the house dates from 1783, according to a stone set into the upper storey. The mortar lines between the local malmstones of this section are studded with pieces of iron, a local characteristic known as "galletting". The most recent addition came at the turn of the 19th to 20th centuries. It effectively filled in the square formed by the L-shape of the two older wings.

Attached to the house is an ancient building which was the first site of the village school. The school was originally endowed in 1728, under the will of the grandfather of Gilbert White, the early naturalist.

The north-east corner of the house appears in one of the plates in the first edition of Gilbert White's famous book, "The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne" (1789).

The house is now listed Grade II as being of architectural significance.

External links

* [http://www.hants.org/hampshiretreasures/vol06/page288.html Extract on Selborne from "Hampshire Treasures"]
* [http://www.astoft.co.uk/selbornewakes.htm Shows photographs of galletting] ----There is also "a plestor" and Plestor House in the village of Liss, Hampshire, only a few miles from Selborne. The following is quoted from a local company's website ( [http://www.shilling.co.uk/?menuId=155 About Plestor House] )

"Plestor relates to the small village green in front of the house where there is an ancient oak tree. During the Middle Ages the green was used as a regular meeting place and for dispensing justice. The remnants of the old stocks are still embedded in the ancient oak.

It was an important location for villagers to communicate and exchanges ideas with each other. It is located close to the old village centre and is not far from the 12th century parish church. Ostensibly, Plestor House is a building typical of the end of the 1600s or early 1700s with its symmetrical brick façade and sash windows. Plestor House remains the same as in the old days, with its period doorway and its many windows outside and inside the building.

Over the years the building has been used as a haberdashers, a general store and towards the end of the 1880s it was a bakery. The old bread ovens are still in position under the balcony at the rear of the building. More recently the building was renovated into offices and a design studio was created. Since moving to Plestor House in July 2001 we have made a number of changes to the internal layout of the building and are continuing to make improvements while maintaining the traditional style of the house and complying with its Listed Building status."