on the house, using the local Ham stone. It has been described as "one of the most spectacular of the group of contemporary houses in the district, which included Barrington, Melbury, and Montacute." The Horsey family fortunes entered a period of slow decline, and in 1786 much of the house was dismantled and sold – one main front of the building being transferred to Montacute House and the early 17th century lodge was removed in 1800 to Hinton St George. After decline in the 18th century the buildings became a working farm, but were then restored in the late 19th – early 20th century. The house itself was reconditioned in 1906-7 with additions on the north and east sides. The present house is thought to have been the east wing of the original building, of which the main block extended to the west from the middle of the existing wing. The south front of the present house is original and was formerly of two storeys with attics (as was the front transferred to Montacute). The door in the modern porch incorporates some late 16th-century woodwork. The west front may have been redesigned after the 1786 demolitions, but the central gable has a reset oriel window with Tudor roses and horses' heads (for Horsey). An early 16th-century detached building to the southeast has also been remodelled: it originally extended further northwards. No depiction of the original building is known. The house was the country home of the art historian Professor Michael Jaffé. There is archaeological evidence of the pre-1650 landscape in the grounds of Clifton Maybank House. Clifton Maybank House is Grade I listed and the gardens are also of note, although they are not listed on the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England. Notes References Lewis, Samuel, 1811, A topographical dictionary of England Mowl, Timothy, 2003, Historic Gardens of Dorset (Stroud: Tempus) 41, 50, 107 Oswald, A., 1935, Country Houses of Dorset, page 75 Pugh, R.B (ed), 1968, A History of the County of Dorset Volume 3, OUP Royal Commission on Historical Monuments, England, 1952, Dorset Vol 1: West (London:HMSO) External links Photographs of Clifton Maybank on Geograph Clifton Maybank on Images of England Detached building at Clifton Maybank, now the library, on Images of England Summerhouse at Clifton Maybank on Images of England Gate piers, entrance to Clifton Maybank on Images of