Merley House, Wimborne

Merley House in Ashington, Wimborne, Dorset, England, is a building of historical significance and is Grade I listed on the English Heritage Register.

Ralph Willett (1719–1795) bought the Merley Estate in 1751, and a year later started building the house, which was completed in 1760.

[2] He had inherited a large fortune at the age of 21, when his father died in 1740, and from then on he was able to gratify his taste for books and pictures.

Over several summers he invited the botanical artist Georg Ehret to visit him at Merley house.

[5] However, she died shortly after the marriage, and in 1786 he married Charlotte, daughter of Mr. Locke of Clerkenwell and widow of Samuel Strutt, who was aged 40.

[7] In 1780 he married Catherine Brouncker, who was the daughter of Henry Brounckner of St Kitts and Boveridge in Dorset.

The sale was held over 17 days (catalogue is shown here) and raised a large sum of money, enabling him to pay his creditors.

In 1819 a sale notice appeared in the newspapers for "120,000 bricks, mathematical tiles, a large quantity of Portland stone, cornices pediments and plinths", which were "part of the mansion house at Merley lately taken down".

His visit was widely publicised in the newspapers,[11] and the mayor of Poole made special arrangements to celebrate the occasion.

In 1856 he married Elizabeth Marian Ross, and after he inherited Merley House in the following year, they went to live there.

The most notable tenant was William Charles Wentworth, the famous Australian explorer, author, barrister and landowner, who died there 1872.

It contains a handsome suite of reception rooms fitted with costly and elegant chimney pieces, ceilings and embellishments.

There is good stabling for eighteen horses with coach houses and servants’ rooms, also extensive lawns and pleasure grounds and large walled gardens.

The property commands from various points a most extensive and delightful landscape including views of sea over Poole and its harbour and Bournemouth and a considerable amount of the coast westward.

It was the residence of two unmarried sisters, Mary and Ellen, with other family members coming to stay.

In 1914 Lord Wimborne died, and Lady Cornelia Wiborne took over his estates, including Merley House.