C  r  e  e  c  h    F  o  l  l  y
( G r a n g e  A r c h ) 





Creech Grange was originally built by a Sir Oliver Lawrence, who happened to be the brother-in-law, of the Lord Chancellor to King Henry VIII. This was a fortunate position to be in during the early 1500's, as considerable areas of land once owned by the church, were lying around just waiting for new ownership after the King had abolished all the monasteries.
In this instance the land being formally owned by the Bindon Abbey at Wool near Wareham [ now a small ruin ]. Sir Oliver was also an ancestor of the American President George Washington, incidentally.
Creech Grange as the house became called was then bought by a Nathaniel Bond in 1691. Not much of the original house is left now however, after a big rebuild in the mid 1800's and also after it suffered being attacked in the earlier Civil War.

Creech folly or 'eyecatcher', as that is what it actually is, was built sometime around 1745 by Mr Denis Bond, the then owner of Creech Grange, which the arch looks down onto, from its hilltop position.
( Another member of the family, Thomas Bond, was responsible for building Bond Street in London ).

It seems that its sole reason for being constructed, like so many of these things, was to provide something to view from the house. If you stand in the central arch and look down you can just make out the roof amongst the trees that have now grown up.
The three arches are a sturdy structure of Purbeck stone, which have withstood the elements well considering their very exposed position.



Visiting:-
To view, you park in the car park on top of West Creech hill (Co-ords:- 390404 81668) and walk half a mile eastward on a sign posted bridle way. The view inland on a clear day, situated as the arch is at 192 metres above sea level, is one of the best in Dorset.


    Further Photograph, Looking Down To House      


Additional Photographs
These are full size and take longer to load.

Co-Ords: 391261 081778 / SY 912817  

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