Crichel House

[3][4] Humphrey Sturt, of Horton, acquired the estate in 1765 on his marriage with Diana, the aunt and heir of Sir Gerard Napier, the 6th and last baronet, and with the collaboration of the Bastard family extensively remodelled the house in 1771-73, extending it and adding an Ionic portico on the south front.

The facades were returned to a more Georgian appearance, including the restoration of glazing bars in the plate glass windows, and Harold Peto designed an Italian garden.

[4] On the death of the 3rd Baron during active service in the Second World War, his daughter Mary Anna inherited at the age of 11; following her marriage to Toby Marten, in the Crichel Down Affair, the couple took on the Government and in 1954 won the right to buy back land bought by compulsory purchase.

[4] Mary Anna Marten ended the lease with Cranborne Chase School in 1961 in order to make Crichel House her residence.

The school relocated to New Wardour Castle, near Tisbury in Wiltshire; the house was restored under architect E.F. Tew of Bath, with demolition of the Victorian north wings, the family accommodations were placed on the top floor, and almost all the main rooms were redecorated under the supervision of the firm of Mallets.

[4] The landscaping of the parkland for Humphrey Sturt involved moving the village of Moor Crichel a mile to the south to create the lake.