Description

DOWLISH WAKE CP
ST31SE
DOWLISH WAKE VILLAGE
Dowlish Manor Farmhouse
(formerly listed as Manor House .
with three outbuildings)
4.2.58
GV 11*

Manor House, At least C11 origins, present fabric of all periods from C15. Ham Stone cut and squared, with ashlar
dressings; thatched roof between coped gables; stone chimney stacks. Four-unit Plan, 'L' shaped with additions; 2
storeys. North elevation of 5 bays, of which bay 1 is a 3-bay northwards projecting wing, with blind end gable: the
west flank of the return has C20 casement window bays 1 and 3, but upper bay 2 has a single-light hollow-chamfer mould
window in chamfered recess under label: bay 2 of the main block has a 3-light leaded casement to the first floor; lower
bay 3 and both levels bay 4 and 5 have 12-pane sash windows, whilst upper bay 3 has a later single casement matched by
another to right of the C20 door to bay 2, which it set under a thatched hood; there is a slijht projection of walling
left of the door, and a nearly full-height buttress between bays 3/4 having moulded offsets: lean-to against front west
gable, - bays 4 and 5 have double roof plan. East elevation has C20 windows and is of little interest. South elevation
apparently the earliest, in part;. the 2-bay projection of the south-west corner, bays I and 2, has corner and central
buttresses originally all full-height, the centre now shortened; hollow-chamfer mulloned windows in chamfered
recesses, the lower 5-light with labels; upper bay 1 is a 3-light, probably deepened, and is matched by an extra window
over the central buttress, and upper bay 2 has a 2-light; in the return east gable at ground floor another 3-light with
label: the recessed portion also 2 bays, with a single light to upper bay 1, set to a slight angle, with traces of a
stairlight under, and bay 2 has 4-light mullioned windows- to both levels, all with labels: a C20 doorway in the angled
part of bay 1. In the west gable of, the south-west section are 2 further blocked stairlights, and water tabling for the
roof of a former extension, now represented by a thatch-topped wall. The interior much altered and the ground floor
opened out, but nevertheless much of interest: a former through passage marked by a length of in-and-out boarded
partition: the large north-west room has a C20 staircase alongside a cambered arched fireplace with hollow and ogee
moulding, small-chamfered crossbeams with scroll-stops, whereas the room eastwards has beams with keeled stops and a
blocked fireplace: the south-west room has another cambered-arched fireplace.backing onto that of hall; with large
relieving arch over, and traces of a stair to an external upper room: the uper south-west room has a similar fireplace;
to the north-west room there is a later C18 fireplace, and door, doarcases and other details to match: the upper
south-east room has a panelled ceiling with moulded beams of later C16, the whole possibly raised floor, and a
fireplace with wide and massive moulded lintel, set very low indicating a change of floor level, and on its right a
verv heavy C15 2-centre-arched doorframe, almost certainly reset from elsewhere. The south-west wing roofspace was not
seen, but there are hints of at least one jointed cruck roof truss; the north-west corner, despite the Cl8 work below,
has a fine arch-braced, cranked collar trussed roof with trenched purlins; and 3 tiers of arched windbraces, parts
smoke blackened - some pendants survive to the arch-braces, and part of a dentilled cornice plate survives: this roof
said to continue across whole of main block: the roof to the north projecting wing said to have 3 adapted jointed cruck
trusses. This is a pre-Conquest manor, known as Dowlish Farm by 1688: held by the Wake family from the C12, it passed
through marriage to the Speke family at the end of the C15; they sold it in l920. (VCH Somerset Vol IV, l978, ppl52-3;
VAG Report, unpublished SRO, (1984).

Listing NGR: ST3760812953

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17554977

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair by Hunt. Roger ( 2008 ) Hardcover
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes (For Pros By Pros)
• 
  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)