The Weld family of Lulworth Castle owned the Manor of Sutton Poyntz (which included most of Preston and Sutton Poyntz) from about 1795 until 1925. In 1925, as part of planning for a triple dose of death duties, the Weld family put the majority of the land in the Manor up for sale, in lots. Copies of the Sales Prospectus are quite widely available, including at the Dorset History Centre. The Prospectus conntains a map to identify the lots, and provides useful historical descriptions of all the properties.

The property put up for sale included 6 main farms (Jordan Farm, South Down, Sutton Farm, Coombe Barton, North Down Farm, and Court Farm, with land totalling over 1600 acres), three other land holdings totalling just over 200 acres, Preston Beach, one cottage with 12 acres, and about 60 smaller dwellings or groups of dwellings. Most of the lots were eventually sold to existing tenants. Prices varied from £10 for small single cottages with a long term tenant, up to £19,000 for one of the largest farms.