I start the second part of my Talk with an imaginary walk from  Wanehouse Farm, the home of Simeon and Elizabeth Bullen  to her brother, John Fitzherbert living in Chideock in 1790. From my large collection of old postcards, paintings and prints with the addition of colour,  there follows a trip back in time, before the dawn of motoring.

Simen and Elizabeth and their dog are at the side of the road looking down on to the village of Morcombelake and their farm.

A horse and cart travelling along the road linking Morcombelake with Chideock, with the coast in the distance.

A picturesque scene Looking down on to Chideock

Simeon and Elizabeth Bullen strolling though the village with St. Giles Church in the distance.

The Warren on the left and the Barn from Manor Farm on the right.

A Blacksmith busy at work in the Old Forge near the site of where the village Hall stands today.

North Lane and St. Giles Church

The Old Chideock Castle Inn

Another view of the Old Castle Inn

The Old Castle Inn – before it was destroyed and rebuilt after a devastating fire.

Bridge Cottage is seen here on the left.

A view looking down the Street towards the Church.

The George Inn is seen here on the right

The Beehive which had once been called the New Inn is seen here on the left.

The old house known as “Chimneys”.

Top of the Street

View from Doghouse Farm looking across the fields to the village in the distance.

North Chideock

The Bullens name still survives in the village in a Lane named after them, seen here on the right of Brooks Cottage, leading to Clap`s Mead, which is now the village recreation ground.

Simeon Bullen made a success of Wanehouse Farm and, in 1787, leased a much larger 200-acre holding at Laverstock, near Beaminster. Soon after he was able to purchase the neighbouring Combe  and Venn Farm with an additional 56 acres of land.  
In due course, he bought neighbouring farms, eventually extending his estate to over 500 acres. This painting imagines how he and Elizabeth may have appeared in front of Laverstock Farm, which still stands, with their three sons, William, John and Simeon in 1790.

This newspaper article  concerning a dispute over the rent ,provides  useful information relating to Simeon Bullen` s lease of Laverstock Farm in Stoke Abbott from Salisbury Corporation in 1787. He had to pay a premium of £200 and then annual rents of £105 a year. After his death in 1822, the rent had dramatically increased to £350 a year.

When the Old Manor House in Charmouth came up for sale in 1803 on the death of Mr. Davies, it was Simeon Bullen who had the funds to purchase it. By then his eldest son, William had taken over his farms and his youngest, John was making his name as an Attorney in London. The other son, Simeon the younger was still to make his way in life. The slide shows the original advert for the Manor and on the right are details of the Auction held in 1807 for Lord Damer`s 4,000 acre Estate. Simeon was successful in securing Beffersland Farm at Whitchurch Canonicorum with 144 acres of land.

 Again, I have attempted to reveal what Simeon and Elizabeth would have seen as they walked from their home at Chideock to their new one in Charmouth in1803. This would have been their view looking down on to Charmouth.

A view of the beach looking towards Golden Cap.

There was then still a footpath along the cliffs linking Charmouth with Lyme Regis.

The Old Mill is seen here with its Mill Race and stream.

The Old Mill and the Millers Cottage are depicted here.

Here we see the Miller with his assistants.

Simeon and Elizabeth Bullen would have passed over this ancient Bridge across Charmouth`s main highway - The Street.

The Abbot`s House, then known as the Queens Armes, where Simeon Bullen`s ancestor Bullen Reymes assisted King Charles II in his  unsuccessful attempt to flee to France in 1651.

The ancient George Inn is seen here on the right, with the Queens Armes on the left of this view.

A view looking down the Street to the Bridge, with the Queens Armes on the right.

The building on the left was known as “Streets” and in 1803 was occupied by the Reverend Brian Coombes, the village`s Curate.

A  close up of the junction of Barrs Lane and the Street. This fine thatched building was to be later burnt to the ground in a devastating fire.

A view looking down on to the Street from Stonebarrow Farmhouse. The large field in the centre was known as Pear Close.

The building on the left was for centuries known as Yandover. In 1803 it was owned by Jacob Ridley Kitt who ran a  thriving Sail cloth making business from it and the adjoining buildings. They are now known as Little Lodge and Charmouth Lodge.

Simeon and Elizabeth Bullen at the gate of their new home, The Manor House. Opposite is the Coach and Horses Inn.

As they carry on up the Street, they would have seen almost opposite their house, the ancient St. Matthew`s Church dating back to the 14th century, to be replaced in 1836 with St. Andrews. 

Next to the entrance of the church was the Coach and Horses, a popular Coaching Inn.

This view looking across from the Inn reveals Luttrell House in the distance.

The houses now known as Albury House, Lutrell House and Peria can be seen here on the right.

A view looking down the Street. Langley House and the The Elms dating back to the 16th century are seen in front of the Church.

The old house on the right had earlier been a butchers and was later to become an Inn known today as the Royal Oak linking it with King Charles II brief stay in Charmouth in 1651.

In 1803 there was an Almshouse for six aged poor people founded by Anthony Tutchen in 1661 in the gabled building in the centre of this picture.

The white building in the centre now known as the Monks Rest  was originally built by Simeon Bullen soon after he moved to the village, and was to be where his granddaughter, Eliza Symes would live with her children for many years.

This group of houses, Omega, Grasmere and Dolphin,  set back from the road were built by John Ridges, who owned a number of houses in the village which he rented out.

This animated view looking down the Street reveals a general store in the building known as Portland House. Opposite was the Fountain Inn, now known as Charmouth House.

The large thatched building on the right would have been the ancient Fountain Inn when Simeon Bullen lived in the village.

A view looking down the Street towards the Fountain Inn in the distance.

The Building in the centre with the bow window used to be the Toll house for the Turnpike Trust road that passed through the village. Above it was the Farmhouse for Foxley Farm, whose fields stretched behind it to the coast.

These smartly dressed gentlemen are standing in front of the former New Inn

At the top of the street with its junction with the Axminster Road used to be an ancient Thatched cottage.

A view of the Axminster Road in former times.

A view looking down on to the village from the Old Lyme Hill

Here we see Simeon and Elizabeth Bullen proudly standing in the gateway of their new home, Charmouth Manor in 1803. Simeon would have been aged 56 and his wife, Elizabeth, 64 years of age. The next chapter of the Bullen family history is centered on Charmouth Manor where subsequent members would live until their  move to Catherston Manor in 1887.

Simeon Bullen appears to have subdivided the Manor House between his purchase in 1803 and his death in 1822. The Land Tax lists and his Will show it in 2 parts, east and west. The maps shown here from 1841 to date reveals it having the same boundaries today with additional outbuildings.

Soon after buying the Old Manor House in Charmouth, Simeon Bullen purchased a piece of land at the top of the Street and was to build the house now known as Monks Rest. In 1811 he purchased Lower Cookney Farm with 15 acres. Four years later when the Damer Estate was auctioned, he succeeded in buying Beffersland with 144 acres and Long Harris with 30 acres of land. The accompanying map pinpoints his total land holding of over 500 acres at the time of his death in 1822.

When Simeon Bullen wrote his Will shortly before his death in 1822, it made for sad reading. It would seem that his eldest son, William, who was running his farms had shortly died before him, as it refers to his wife, expecting their child. He goes on to write that he is offering £5000 to his son, Simeon, if he should return from abroad. This would leave his youngest son, John Bullen and his 17 year old  granddaughter, Eliza Fitzherbert Bullen as the main beneficiaries. Simeon the younger, had emigrated to Canada in 1817, without his father knowing. He never returned to claim his inheritance, which would have been worth the equivalent to over a million pounds today.

Simeon`s wife, Elizabeth was to die in 1819, aged 82 and he in 1822, aged 75. His youngest son, John, was to inherit most of his substantial Estate, and financed two impressive memorials to his parents in both Charmouth and Chideock Churches. Both memorials highlight that Elizabeth was the daughter of William Fitzherbert of Chideock and incorporate their family coat of arms at the top. 

William Fitzherbert was born on 8 October 1776 in Chideock, Dorset, to Elizabeth and Simeon Bullen. In 1803 he married Mary Ann Tatchell at St. Marys Church, Kingston in Somerset. In the same year his father, Simeon was to move to Charmouth and he took over his farms at Laverstock and Chideock. His daughter, Eliza was born in Laverstock the following year. They were to have four surviving children, John, Eliza, Charles and William, before his tragic death in 1822, aged just 42, shortly before that of his father, Simeon. This picture depicts his family outside Laverstock Manor, near Beaminster in Dorset.

This memorial to be found today in St. Mary`s Church in Stoke Sub Hamden, near Yeovil in Somerset provides an important record of William Fitzherbert Bullen. His widow, Mary was to live a longer life, dying in 1854, aged 70. It was her wealthy uncle, Rev. Christopher Tatchell, who left a fortune to her son on his changing his surname to Tatchell, who is also  mentioned on the memorial as John Tatchell Tatchell Esq. He would later add Bullen to his name on the death on the wishes of his unmarried uncle, John Bullen in 1852.

Simeon Bullen junior was born on 25 March 1778, the son of Elizabeth and Simeon. In 1817, aged 49, he emigrated  to Delaware, Ontario in Canada. He later married Eliza Tiffany on 24 December 1834. They had six children in 16 years. He died on 30 April 1855 having lived a long life of 77 years there, never returning to England. Judging from his father Simeon`s Will, they must have fallen out, as at the time of his death in 1822, he was unaware where his son was and whether he was still alive.

We turn to Simeon`s most successful son, John Bullen who became a wealthy London Lawyer based at no. 3 New Inn, London. In 1816 he bought the Manor of Marshwood, with 1,400 acres from John, Earl  Poulett whose family had owned it since 1585. To He took out a large loan to finance  the purchase. It was to remain in the family for over 100 years until it was sold in 1917 by Colonel John Bullen.

The original Particulars for the sale of Marshwood Manor by Lord Poulett in 1816.

This Map shows the extent of Marshwood Manor with 1,400 acres of land that was owned by the Bullens for over a 100 years.

Here we see John Bullen outside his parent`s former house, where he was to live until his death in 1852,aged 72.

The Western Gazette reported that “On the 5th February 1840 a large mass was observed by the coastguard floating towards the Charmouth Beach. They thought it was originally the hull of a wreck, but in grounding it was perceived to be a large fish. The preventive men got a rope round it and after an hour it died. It soon attracted a crowd of inhabitants. As there was a danger of it being carried off by the next tide, the Lord Paramount of the Manor, John Bullen, to whom as a drift from the sea it belonged, directed that it be cut into five parts. This was achieved by a large hand saw with great labour. After three days it was removed into the village and exhibited as a curiosity to visitors from all parts of the country for a week. The money raised, of between twenty and thirty pounds, was given to the preventative men and others who assisted. The extreme length was forty-four feet and the girth at the widest twenty-one feet. After being exhibited it was bought by a villager. He took the lean off for manure and the fat converted into oil. The bones were then buried in lime and cleaned. The owner then fixed the skeleton and placed it under a long shed for exhibition to the curious”.

A whalebone gateway was formed by two of the huge lower jawbones forming an arch at the approach to Chideock Manor, still to be seen today. Locally the gateway is known as “the wishbones”. the Manor’s own garden directions say to turn right at “the wishbones” to enter Chideock Manor Gardens.  This painting provides a view of how it may once have  looked.

In the Gallery of St. Andrews Church is an organ that was installed by cutting away the Minstrel's Gallery (parts of which remain), which was presented by JOHN BULLEN in 1846.

John Bullen hit the headlines in 1852 when he took two Charmouth men to court relating to a theft from him. Thomas Potter, a young clerk employed by him, began stealing and sharing the proceeds with Benjamin Wild, an occasional hostler at the Coach and Horses. After Potter was dismissed on 15 August 1851 for stealing Bullen’s purse, forged cheques bearing Bullen’s name began circulating.Potter, Wild and another man, Collins, were arrested in London. Potter was convicted, while Wild was initially released after giving a convincing account of himself. Potter later implicated Wild, claiming that Wild had encouraged him to forge a £10 cheque so that they could visit the Great Exhibition of 1851. Further forged cheques for £19 16s. 6d. and £20 10s. followed.Wild was arrested again, tried, found guilty of aiding the forgery, and on 20 March 1852 was reported as having been sentenced to ten years’ transportation. Sadly John Bullen was to die soon after, no doubt from the stress caused by this affair.

As John Bullen never married or had any children, it was his  late brother William`s children who were the main beneficiaries of his Will. He left the Manor of Marshwood to his nephew John Tatchell provided he changed his name to Bullen. Charles Bullen  would have the Manor House and Eliza have his other house in Charmouth, which is now the “Monks Rest”. Extracts from his comprehensive Will can be seen on this Slide.

There is an impressive marble memorial in St. Giles Church, Chideock to John Bullen which records that his remains were deposited in an enclosed vault on the south side of the church near his parents, Simeon and Elizabeth Bullen. His  fine Table Tomb can now be found in the village Cemetery opposite the Village Hall. Even though John lived in Charmouth, it was to his birthplace in Chideock that he chose to be buried, near his parents.

It was Charles and Mary Bullen who were to be the new owners of  the eastern part of the Manor House in Charmouth. They were to live there until his death in 1884. He married Mary Ann Baker in 1848 and were to have no children.  John Bullen left the western end to his great nephew John Bullen Symes in 1852 , who added Bullen to his name and later became known as Colonel Bullen.

St. Andrews Church opposite the Manor House, has a number of memorials to Charles and Mary Bullen, who lie buried in an impressive marble and stone tomb at the rear of the church. They gave the church its carved Pulpit. On the bottom of which is a brass plaque commemorating their lives in the village. It records that he was a Captain in the Royal Navy and Justice of the Peace and lived at the Manor House for many years, living to a ripe old age.

John Bullen was to leave the bulk of his estate to his eldest nephew, John Tatchell Tatchell, son of William and Mary Bullen. As a result of this he was take the name and Arms of the Bullen family. He was living at Syndling House, near Lyme Regis at the time. He was later to move to Marshwood where he built himself a fine Manor House, which still stands. On the right is the sale of Cattle and Stock soon after the death of John Bullen. He made a number of bequests in his Will for various local charities.

John Tatchell Bullen was the son of William and Mary Bullen. He was born in 1804 at Laverstock Manor, near Beaminster. He was to tragically die in a shooting accident in 1864. He is seen here with his wife, Ann who he married in 1843 and their two children, John and Ann outside their home, Marshwood Manor.  It was his daughter Ann who in 1866 married the wealthy Joseph Gundry of Bridport. Her brother John was to marry Annette Langworthy in 1870. they were to have 2 daughters Ann and Gertrude. On his death in 1910, his Marshwood Estate containing 1,400 acres of land was to pass to his cousin, Colonel John Bullen of Catherston.

Ann, daughter of John Tatchell Bullen was born in 1846 and married the wealthy businessman, Joseph Gundry in 1866. They were to live in the Hyde, just outside Bridport shown here in this painting. It is a Tudor revival country house with similarities to Catherston Manor.

William Fitzherbert Bullen junior emigrated to Delaware in Canada in 1832. He followed his uncle Simeon Bullen, the younger who had left for that country in 1817 and made a success of his life there. William was to marry Anne Norah Mullen in 1833 and never return to England. The photograph at the bottom shows him in old age.

Eliza Fitzherbert Bullen was born in 1805 to William and Mary Bullen. She married Jonathan Wyatt Symes in 1838, when she was 33 and he 45 years of age. They had met in Martock in Somerset where he had a Tobacconist shop. Eliza was living with her widowed mother, Mary in the village at that time. Their son, John was born in 1847.  The Census for 1851 has them living at no. 1 Vane Street in Bath, shown here behind them. He had opened the Albion Brewery in the City. It wasn’t a success and was declared bankrupt. Soon after he left her with two children and emigrated to Sonora, California in the United States, to join the Gold Rush. Soon after Eliza sold the house and contents and returned to Charmouth with her two children.

A number of records of Eliza Fitzherbert's life are shown here. They include her marriage certificate and the baptism of her first child, John Bullen Symes in 1839, who died soon after. They were to have another son in 1847, who would eventually have his name changed to Bullen. The advert at the bottom is the sale of no. 1 Vane Street in 1852, soon after her husband had left her.

Eliza Fitzherbert Bullen is seen with her daughter, Anna outside The house now known as Monks Rest, which was originally built by her grandfather, Simeon Bullen and left to her with part of the Manor house in his Will of 1822. This was to be her home for the rest of her life. Her brother, Charles lived nearby with his wife, Mary at the Manor House. The 1861 Census has her living in the village with her daughter, Mary Ann. Her son, Jonathan is shown in the same year as a pupil at Kings School, Sherborne.

Eliza Fitzherbert was to spend the rest of her days in Charmouth and never remarried. Her grave can be found today at the rear of St. Andrew`s Church. Her epitaph reads : In Memory of Eliza Fitzherbert Symes Wife of  J. Wyatt Symes Esq.Who fell asleep January 20th 1881, Aged 76 years. Her husband who had left her 30 years before was to die in the same year at Senora in California. Both their Wills are very similar , leaving their estates to their children, John Fitzherbert Bullen and Mary Ann Nicholls, who had married Samuel Nicholls a Captain in the 53rd Regiment in 1862 and was living in Newcastle upon Tyne.

the bustling mining town of Sonora in 1852, as Jonathan Wyatt Symes would have known it when he emigrated there.

I will now cover the life of Colonel John Bullen who would live for almost 90 years after an eventful life culminating in his buying the Manor of Catherston and creating the Manor House we see today.

It began in 1847 with his birth in Bath to Jonathan and Eliza Symes. His father was operating the Albion Brewery there on the Bristol Road. Unfortunately, it was to be a disaster and by 1848 he was bankrupt, as a result he left his wife and children and joined the Gold Rush in California to seek his fortune. John would never see his father again and was to be bought up with his sister, Mary Ann, by his mother Eliza in Charmouth.  He entered Sherborne School in 1858 at the age of 11. He was to leave his mark there, when he carved his name on a door, still to be seen today.

I contacted the School and their archivist downloaded a superb photograph of him in the centre of the back row in their Cricket Pavilion when he returned later as an old boy, which is shown here. He was there for 4 years from 1858 and afterwards continued his education under a private tutor in Belgium.

In 1866 he was commissioned Cornet in the Calvary. He served initially in the 16th Queens Lancers. Two years later he assumed the surname of Bullen in accordance with his great uncle John Bullen`s Will. He thereafter became John Bullen Symes Bullen or JBSB as he often signed himself. He would never have known his father and this change of his surname must have met with the approval of his mother.

In 1869 he was promoted to Lieutenant in the 16th Lancers and embarked with his regiment to India. He flourished there and was later promoted to Captain. In 1876 he transferred to the 15th Kings Hussars and four years later served with them in South Africa in the first Boer War as a Major.

It was in 1881 that both his parents died. His father in Sonora in  California and his mother in Charmouth.

John`s life was to dramatically change in 1884, when he married the heiress, Blanche Mary Townend Hall, daughter of  late William Hall of Syndale House near Faversham in Kent.  Two years later she was to give birth to a son, John Fitzherbert Hall Bullen and died soon after, leaving John a widower. Tragically their infant son, was to die the following year. They were all buried at the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul at Ospringe, Faversham in Kent. Blanche was to leave her considerable Estate, valued at £66,000 to her husband, John Bullen.

With the fortune that his late wife had left him, John was able to buy the village of Catherston , which adjoined Charmouth on its eastern boundary. He would have paid up to £10,000 for it and was about to spend a similar amount in the reconstruction of its Manor House. It seems remarkable that, at the age of only forty and after a lifetime devoted to an army career, he should embark upon the creation of such an ambitious country house. The accompanying picture imagines him standing before the Tudor frontage of the old Catherston Manor shortly before the rebuilding began in 1887.

Catherston Manor is grade 2 listed and on the detailed English heritage website it refers to the architect as unknown , which I found strange. I decided to find out who he was as the building is quite spectacular. I combed through old issues of the Bridport News and came across a number of adverts shown here relating to the house by Frederick Cooper, as the Architect. They show him advertising over the year for builders to tender for work on it and its outbuildings. Each one refers to the owner, who in 1887 is  Major Bullen and in 1894 as Lieutenant Colonel Bullen and 1904 as Colonel J.B.S. Bullen.

Frederick Cooper was a very prolific architect and the Dorset record office has a number of plans of buildings that he designed. The first is in 1886 for the new Cemetery in Charmouth. Others include West Bay Promenade and the Electric Theatre in 1926 in Bridport. His outstanding work in Charmouth was “Devonedge” which he designed in 1895 after a devastating fire destroyed the earlier thatched structure. From his obituary it seems that he was also Borough Surveyor for Bridport for 42 years. He was only 35 year of age, with no previous experience when he designed Catherston Manor for John Bullen in 1887. Unfortunately, his original drawings have not survived.

I have always found it a mystery why the original Tudor Porch can still be seen, rebuilt on the end of the building. During the modifications it was removed and rebuilt there by Colonel Bullen as a reminder of the original Tudor House. This slide has 4 plans based on the 1841 Tithe Map and O.S. Maps of how the house developed over the years. The first plan shows the Tudor Manor House built by John Wadham in 1570 in pink. Opposite in grey is the larger Coach house. By 1870, when the Hildyards were living there this had been extended. The next plan shows the property soon after John Bullen starts his alterations in 1887 with an additional central section linking the Coach House with the Manor House. The final 1905 plan is the completed building as we see it today with the Tudor porch at the end. The following slides are useful in revealing these changes.

The first of these depicts how John and Margaret Wadham would have appeared in 1570 standing in front of their newly built Manor House at Catherston,  based on the surviving porch and  later plans.

This old photograph from 1870 shows the original Tudor Porch in the centre of the front of the house. The change in the roof tiles clearly shows the gabled extension to the original house by the Hildyards.

This photograph compared with earlier 1870 photograph reveals all the additions.

This photograph also from 1870 shows how the former Coach House was completely separate from the main house, which can be seen on the right of the picture and matches the earlier photograph.

This photograph shows it today with all the additions that transformed the two buildings into a Tudor Mansion.

Aerial view looking down on Catherston Manor revealing the phases of building from the original manor House built by John Wadham in 1570. The Porch was later removed and added  to the end of the remodeled building in 1890

This series of pictures shows how I was able to recreate what John Wadham`s original Manor House may have looked like.

The Architect, Frederick Cooper gave Catherston mullioned and transomed windows, projecting bays and oriels, four gables, pierced quatrefoil parapets, elaborate finials, heraldic beasts and Tudor-arched doorways. Those are precisely the architectural ingredients associated with Clifton Maybank. Catherston appears to have amplified that Tudor character, creating what English Heritage effectively describes as a revival of the Clifton Maybank type.

Whilst Catherston Manor was being built from 1887 onwards John continued his career in the Army rising to the rank of Colonel. It was whilst being posted in Ireland that he was to meet and marry the heiress, Frances Mary Ann Perry in 1891. they were to have three children, Mary born in 1892, Henry in 1893 and John in 1897. All were baptized in Ireland, where they were living.

An amazing photograph has come down to us of Colonel Bullen and his family, proudly standing in front of the completed house in 1905.

A close up of the previous photograph.

Local historian, Sylvia Creed writes in her book, Dorset`s Western Vale:

1898 was the first year that Colonel and Mrs. Bullen invited the Day and Sunday School children from Whitchurch and Stanton St. Gabriel to Catherston Manor for a summer treat. This tradition, which happened during the summer holidays, continued in the same vein for many years. Wagons decorated with flags, evergreens and heather and pulled by chestnut horses arrived at Whitchurch vicarage at 1 pm and transported the children to the Manor, where they were joined by Charmouth school children. During the afternoon they found almost everything a child could wish for- cricket, merry go round, conjuror, rounders, games, races, the phonograph, scrambling for sweets, biscuits and nuts, and for the older ones dancing and tug of war. A sumptuous meal was served at tea time. The wagons reappeared in the evening and took the tired but happy children back to Whitchurch. This picture captures the popular annual event. An article from the Bridport News of 1905 describes the School Treat in more detail.

In 1910 on the death of his cousin, John Tatchell Bullen, the Colonel was left his extensive Marshwood Manor Estate covering over 1,400 acres, which he would farm until it was sold in 1919. He is seen here in front of the Manor House, which still stands.

In 1913 Colonel Bullen bought the neighbouring Berne Manor Farm when it came up for sale with 223 acres. It was to remain in the family until its sale in 1958, when it was bought by its tenant, Richard Legg. This picture imagines the Colonel standing in front of the thatched farmhouse, before its partial destruction in 1926 in a devastating fire.

On his retirement from the army in 1897, Colonel Bullen took up permanent residence at Catherston Leweston, and became Lord of the Manor of Marshwood, and the Hundred of Whitchurch Canonicorum, which he received from his cousin, Captain John Tatchell Bullen. He became prominently identified with county and local activities, and in politics was an ardent supporter of the Conservative cause, the West Dorset Conservative Association having been granted the use of the beautiful grounds of Catherston Manor for numerous summer meetings. Colonel Bullen can be seen  in the center with a bowler hat leading the annual “beating of the bounds” in Charmouth in 1911.

Colonel Bullen was a very keen sportsman, and while in India his remarkable horsemanship won him many trophies. When in this country, and after his retirement, he hunted regularly, and during his life he followed more than 40 packs in England and Ireland, including the Cattistock Hunt, the Blackmore Vale Hunt and the Cotley Harriers. Other sports in which he took a great interest were fishing and shooting. On his 89th birthday, he rode his pony to a meet of the hounds at Wootton House. He was Deputy-Lieutenant for Dorset, for some time Sheriff of the county, and served as a Justice of the Peace for many years.

In the village of Charmouth, Colonel Bullen became President or Vice-President of most of the sports organisations, including cricket, football and tennis clubs.

This wonderful old photograph commemorates the Opening of the Cricket Pavillion in Charmouth by Mary Frances, daughter of Colonel  Bullen in 1911.

This obituary from 1936, published in the Bridport News provides a detailed account of Colonel John Symes Bullen`s Life. After he lost his 1st Wife and son he remarried Frances Perry in 1891 and were to have three children. He went on to be Sheriff of Dorset and lived to be almost 90 and was buried by his first wife, Blanche at Ospringe in Faversham in Kent.

St. Mary`s Church in Catherston has two brass engraved plates by the pulpit commemorating the lives of Colonel Bullen and his wife, Frances, who died in 1942, aged 74.

Catherston Manor today has many features that relate back to the time when the Bullens owned it. This selection of photographs reveals some of these. The fire back in the bottom picture is especially interesting as it has the initial J.B.S.B. Catherston 1887 emblazoned on it, commemorating the year he bought it.

Henry Symes Bullen universally known as “Hank” Bullen, was the elder son of Colonel John Bullen Symes Bullen and his second wife, Frances Mary Ann Perry. He was born 30 March 1893 at Dundalk, Ireland. At about 19 years old, around 1912, he emigrated to Wyoming in the United States. He became closely associated with the historic Bones Brothers Ranch, on Hanging Woman Creek in southeastern Montana, close to the Wyoming border.

He was there for more than forty years. Hank’s cabin still survives. He married Helen Nasson in 1926 and was widowed in 1931, when she died aged only about 43.

Hank died in Sheridan, Wyoming, on 29 October 1973, aged 80, and was buried at Sheridan Municipal Cemetery. As eldest son, he should have inherited  Catherston but he fell out with his father for not enlisting in the Army and it passed to his brother, John instead.
Hank is seen on the left of this early photograph.

Mary Frances Symes-Bullen, daughter of Colonel John Bullen, married Sir William Philip Colfox on 27 January 1920. He was the local Conservative MP (first for North Dorset and subsequently West Dorset), a First World War officer and Military Cross recipient, and was created 1st Baronet Colfox of Symondsbury in 1939.

After her marriage she became Mary Frances Colfox, later Lady Colfox. She was quite prominent locally in her own right and became a Justice of the Peace for Dorset in 1931. She died on 21 November 1973.

Lieutenant-Colonel John Fitzherbert Symes Bullen was Educated at Cheltenham, he joined the Royal Artillery in 1914 and served in the First World War, remaining a professional soldier and reaching the rank of Major in 1936. That same year he succeeded his father, Colonel John Bullen Symes Bullen, at Catherston. Although he retired from the Army in 1939, the outbreak of the Second World War brought his immediate re-employment; he became a Lieutenant-Colonel in 1940 and served until 1944. He was appointed a Justice of the Peace for Dorset and, in 1950, followed his father in serving as High Sheriff of the county. Married in 1933 to Anne Harris St John, daughter of another distinguished Army officer, he was the father of three sons and three daughters. In1959 he sold the estate and he and Anne subsequently lived at the Manor House, Didmarton, Gloucestershire. Anne died in 1963 and Jack in 1966. His death closed an important chapter in the history of the family  and its links to Charmouth and Catherston.

Anne Harris St John Bullen was an accomplished equestrian artist, illustrator, author, horse breeder and trainer, and one of the most remarkable members of the Bullen family. The daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Edward St John Harris St John, D.S.O., she married John “Jack” Fitzherbert Symes Bullen in 1933 and made her home at Catherston in Dorset. There she combined raising six children with a prolific artistic career and an exceptional knowledge of horses. In 1949 she and Jack established Catherston Stud, where Anne's instinct for identifying, training and breeding talented ponies became legendary. When Catherston was sold in 1959, Anne moved the stud and family to the Manor House at Didmarton near Badminton. She died from cancer in December 1963, aged only 51. Her influence survived both through her paintings and books and through Catherston Stud and the extraordinary equestrian dynasty she created.

Anne was an Equestrian artist and illustrator of books. She illustrated about 40 children’s books in the 1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s. This is a small selection of Anne Bullen`s Book covers that she designed, including “Ponycraft” and Showing Horses” which she also wrote.

Anne was to paint this wonderful view of Catherston Manor, which is still treasured by her family.

There follows some photographs featuring Anne

Anne with her daughter Jane.

The Daily Mirror in 1954 reported that “Six-year-old Jane Bullen, of Catherston near Bridport, presented a four-year-old Dartmoor pony named Jumper to Queen Elizabeth II as a gift for the young Prince Charles. The pony, donated by the Dartmoor Pony Society, had been kept by Jane and her sisters for three years and trained to be suitable for a child.
During the presentation at the Royal Agricultural Show in Windsor Great Park, Jane demonstrated Jumper’s calm temperament by riding him, jumping small obstacles, climbing onto him with a ladder, and even crawling underneath him. The Queen thanked Jane and her sisters warmly and said she was sure Prince Charles would like the pony”.

This is a photograph of the event with Anne Bullen in the centre presenting her daughter, Jane to the Queen.

The Processions of Hussars on the field below Catherston Manor.

The Bullen sisters dressed as  Hussars.

The family on the steps of the entrance to Catherston Manor in 1955. In the back row are : Michael (son) Charles (son) middle row: Anthony (son), Jack (Father) Anne (Mother), Jennifer (daughter)

The Bridport News was to report on the sale of Catherston Manor in 1958 as follows:
£71,000 FROM CATHERSTON SALES

SITTING tenants and service occupiers were again in evidence at the dispersal of Colonel and Mrs. Bullen’s Catherston estate, which extends to approximately 900 acres near Charmouth, Dorset, and all of them took advantage of offers for them to buy their holdings privately, with the result that when Messrs. Jackson-Stops and Staff conducted an auction at Bridport most of the land had already changed hands.

However, a large company attended the sale, where the first lot to be submitted was Catherston Manor, an imposing house in the Elizabethan style, which was withdrawn at £6,000, but which was sold privately immediately after the auction to a firm of builders from Surrey, who intend to convert it to flats and who also bought the stable block.

Included among the remainder of the lots offered were eight parcels of accommodation land aggregating 294 acres, which realised a total of £12,050, an average of just over £40 an acre, and several cottages, one of which was sold to Bridport R.D.C. for £775.

The total realisation from all sales was over £71,000.

The Catherston Estate was sold by Auction in 1958. This is the map that went with the particulars. The total amount raised of £66,000 doesn’t seem a great deal for all the buildings and 900 acres of land that were included. I will now endeavour to cover in the next slides as best I can, from available information the lives of the 6 children that grew up at Catherston before its sale in 1958. You will see that they were all to lead remarkable lives. I have made use of available pictures that I have found, including where possible current photographs of them.

Anthony Symes Bullen was the adventurous eldest son of Jack and Anne Bullen. He found his passion in motor cars and in his twenties became involved in the creation of Tornado Cars and raced the company's lightweight Typhoon at Goodwood, Oulton Park and Mallory Park, achieving several podium finishes and race victories. In 1960 he married Gillian Burstall at St Mary's Church, Orcheston, and the couple went on to have two children. In 1977,his adventurous life almost ended when he narrowly survived a light-aircraft crash near Ashbourne. Anthony remained closely connected with cars, eventually running a garage at Alvediston selling used vehicles. He died in 1994, aged 60.

Michael Fitzherbert Symes Bullen was  born on 20 May 1937. Michael and his five siblings grew up riding and handling horses from an early age.  He developed into an outstanding three-day event rider. His ability was already evident by his early twenties, when he was competing successfully on horses including Cottage Romance and Sea Breeze.

His greatest individual achievement came at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome. Aged only 23 and riding Cottage Romance, Michael represented Great Britain in the three-day event. After improving dramatically during the cross-country phase and completing the final show-jumping without penalties, he finished an exceptional fourth individually, narrowly missing an Olympic medal. The British team also finished fourth.

Michael continued to compete internationally and was part of the British team that won a bronze medal at the 1962 European Eventing Championships. He was selected for his second Olympic Games at Tokyo in 1964, where he competed on Sea Breeze. Although they failed to complete the event, his selection for two successive Olympics confirmed his position among Britain's leading event riders of his generation.

Michael married Sally Elizabeth Beazley, and their daughter Lucinda Bullen was born in 1963. Horses continued to play an important part in his life after his competitive career. He subsequently became involved professionally in the equestrian, bloodstock and international horse-transport industries.

Charles Bullen was born in 1941and grew up in a strongly equestrian family and was a talented horseman, but he became particularly known for his practical and mechanical abilities. His working life involved engineering, land management and heavy machinery. He married firstly, in 1964, Elizabeth Allcock, with whom he had two daughters, Elizabeth Sarah Bullen, born in 1969, and Caroline Mary Bullen, born in 1972. In 1981 he married secondly Sarah Hickson, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel John Hickson, MC, and Audrey Mary Darrell-Huskinson. Through this marriage he became closely associated with Avington Park near Winchester, which Sarah’s family had acquired in 1951 and  spent much of his later life at there and was remembered as an adventurous, resourceful and mechanically gifted character. He died on 17 September 2020, aged 79, and was survived by his second wife Sarah and his two daughters.

The wedding of Jennie Bullen to Anthony Loriston-Clarke was covered in this article by Tatler on the 24th March 1965.

Jane Mary Elizabeth Bullen was  born in 1948. An outstanding horsewoman, she trained as a nurse before achieving national fame in 1968 when, aged twenty, she won the Badminton Horse Trials on Our Nobby. Later that year she represented Great Britain at the Mexico Olympics, becoming the first British woman to compete in Olympic eventing and helping Britain win the team gold medal. She subsequently won Burghley in 1976, European team gold in 1977 and Badminton for a second time in 1978. She married Timothy Holderness-Roddam in 1974 and established her later equestrian life at West Kington Stud in Wiltshire. A long-serving Lady-in-Waiting to the Princess Royal and an influential figure in British equestrian sport, she was appointed CBE and CVO.

Sarah Symes Bullen (later Vey)  was born 3 October 1950 and grew up in the strongly equestrian world of Catherston and became an accomplished rider, though unlike her siblings Michael, Jennie and Jane she pursued a career in theatre, television and film.

Her acting career began with Space: 1999 in 1975, followed by appearances in The XYY Man, The Sandbaggers, Dick Turpin, International Velvet, The Fourth Protocol, A Perfect Spy and Inspector Morse. She also narrated the documentary Castle and worked for five years as personal assistant to Peter O’Toole.

Sarah nevertheless retained close links with horses, helping to find Kadett, ridden by her sister Jennie at the 1972 Munich Olympics, and later establishing Godsfield Stud from Catherston bloodlines. In 2025 she published the children’s story Leap Into the Unknown, inspired by rural Dorset in the 1950s.

I have updated the  Bullen family tree to include the last generation of Bullens associated with Charmouth and Catherston.

To conclude my Talk I have included this wonderful photograph taken in 2017 when five of the six Bullen children returned to their roots at Catherston Manor, by reliving the earlier photo of them with their parents taken back in 1955.
I wish to thanks Sarah Bullen, now Vey for all her assistance with their recent history.