Bovey Castle

Last updated

Bovey Castle
Bovey Castle logo.png
North Bovey - Bovey Castle.jpg
Bovey Castle
Hotel chainEden Hotel Collection
General information
Type English country house
Architectural style Neo-Jacobean
Location Moretonhampstead, Devon, England
Coordinates 50°38′46″N3°47′44″W / 50.646092°N 3.795516°W / 50.646092; -3.795516
Completed1908
Client Frederick Smith
Owner Rigby Group
Design and construction
Architect(s) Walter Edward Mills
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official nameManor House Hotel, including terraces immediately to south-east
Designated16 January 1981
Reference no. 1097161
Other information
Number of rooms59
Number of restaurants2
Number of bars1
Bovey Castle
Restaurant information
RatingRed star.svgRed star.svgRed star.svgRed star.svgRed star.svg 5 red stars (The AA)

Bovey Castle, formerly the Manor House Hotel, is a large early 20th-century mansion on the edge of Dartmoor National Park, near Moretonhampstead, Devon, England. It is a Grade II* listed building [1] and is now a hotel with 59 individually designed bedrooms in the hotel and 22 three-storey country lodges nearby. [2]

Contents

History

Construction

The house started construction in 1907 for Frederick Smith, Lord Hambleden, the son and heir of the Conservative politician and stationery magnate William Henry Smith. Contemporary news reporting and a plaque within the building note the architect as Walter Edward Mills, [3] [4] [5] although the official listing lists the architect as Detmar Blow. [6]

The building is built of granite quarried within the wider estate, with dressings of stone from Darley Dale in Derbyshire. [3] Over 300 people worked on the construction of the building, and the completion was celebrated with a grand dinner for them in March 1908. [3]

Wartime service

In 1917, due to World War I, the manor house was opened for the use of wounded soldiers. [7]

Conversion to a hotel

Following the death of Lord Hambleden, there were significant death duties to be paid, [8] and the estate was sold off by lots at auction in 1928, along with over 5,000 acres of land and the entire village of North Bovey. [9] The following year, it was announced that the main manor house and 200 acres of land had been sold to the Great Western Railway for conversion into a hotel. [10] [11] [12] The provision of activities including fishing, croquet, and the possibility of the construction of a golf course on site were emphasised from the announcement. [13]

The hotel opened in 1929 as the "Manor House Hotel". [14] The following year, on Whitsun 1930, the new 18-hole golf course opened at the hotel, [15] [16] designed by John Frederick Abercromby. [17] [18] The following year, a group of noted golf professionals played at the Manor House Hotel course, at the invitation of Viscount Churchill, chairman of the Great Western Railway. [19]

The nationalisation of the railways in 1948 led to the hotel being part of the British Transport Commission's Hotels Executive, which eventually became the British Transport Hotels portfolio.

Privatisation

Privatisation of British Rail, including the hotel portfolio, saw the property sold into the private sector in 1983. It was initially sold with seven other British Transport Hotels to the Virani brothers, but was re-sold within 48 hours to Eclipsecare. [20]

Eclipsecare maintained ownership of the hotel under its Crown Hotels group until 1991 when the group went into receivership. [21] [22] The hotel continued to trade, and do good business, whilst the parent company was in administration. [23]

Expansion and name change

Entrepreneur Peter de Savary, also then the owner of Skibo Castle, purchased the Manor House Hotel in 2003 for £7.5 million. [24] The hotel continued to trade during 2003, and was closed in early 2004 for a full refubishment. [25]

de Savary undertook extensive renovation and extension of the property, rebranding the hotel as Bovey Castle. [26] [27] [28] The expansion included the building of a new wing on the main building, containing a swimming pool and new brasserie restaurant, as well as the building of 22 lodges in the grounds. [27]

In 2006 de Savary sold Bovey Castle to Hilwood Resorts for over £26m. [29] [30] Hilwood put the hotel up for sale for £17.5m in 2012, [31] and was eventually sold in 2015 to the Rigby Group, forming part of their Eden Hotel Collection. [8] [32]

The castle was used as the venue for the wedding of diver Tom Daley and his husband, Dustin Lance Black, in May 2017. [33]

Recognition

Bovey Castle is rated as 5 star, and an "Inspector's Choice Hotel" by The AA, as well as having 3 rosettes for the main restaurant and 1 for the brasserie. [34] The Eden Hotel Collection which it is part of was named Small Hotel Group of the Year in the 2024 AA Hospitality Awards. [35] [36]

The hotel was named as Large Hotel of the Year at the South West Tourism Awards in 2024, following a win at the Devon Tourism Awards. [37]

Architecture

The main building was built in 1907 in Jacobean style, with a Great Hall into which a floor was inserted in the 1980s. The interior is of high quality, with panelled rooms and elaborately carved features. Extensions were built in the 1930s. [1] The garden front is set above terraces overlooking a lake and the River Bovey.

Incidents

In September 2016, 13 people were injured when a balcony collapsed at the hotel. [38] [39]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moretonhampstead</span> Town in Devon, England

Moretonhampstead is a market town, parish and ancient manor in Devon, situated on the north-eastern edge of Dartmoor, within the Dartmoor National Park. The parish now includes the hamlet of Doccombe, and it is surrounded clockwise from the north by the parishes of Drewsteignton, Dunsford, Bridford, Bovey Tracey, Lustleigh, North Bovey and Chagford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teignbridge</span> Non-metropolitan district in England

Teignbridge is a local government district in Devon, England. Its council is based in the town of Newton Abbot. The district also includes the towns of Ashburton, Buckfastleigh, Dawlish, Kingsteignton and Teignmouth, along with numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. Teignbridge contains part of the south Devon coastline, including the Dawlish Warren National Nature Reserve. Some of the inland western parts of the district lie within the Dartmoor National Park. It is named after the old Teignbridge hundred.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skibo Castle</span> Castle in Scottish Highlands, Scotland

Skibo Castle is located to the west of Dornoch in the Highland county of Sutherland, Scotland overlooking the Dornoch Firth. Although largely of the 19th century and early 20th century, when it was the home of industrialist Andrew Carnegie, its origins go back much earlier. Andrew Chirnside was a previous owner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bovey Tracey</span> Town in Devon, England

Bovey Tracey is a town and civil parish in Devon, England. It is located on the edge of Dartmoor, which gives rise to the slogan used on the town's boundary signs: The Gateway to the Moor. It is often known locally as Bovey. About 10 miles (16 km) south-west of Exeter, it lies on the A382 road, about halfway between Newton Abbot and Moretonhampstead. The village is at the centre of the electoral ward of Bovey. At the 2011 census, the population of the ward was 7,721.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lustleigh</span> Village in Devon, England

Lustleigh is a small village and civil parish in the Wray Valley, inside the Dartmoor National Park in Devon, England. It is between the towns of Bovey Tracey and Moretonhampstead. The village has often been named in various publications as being amongst the best or prettiest villages in the country, particularly due to the traditional thatched buildings in the village centre, and local activities such as the Lustleigh Show. That has also led to it being noted as the most expensive rural location in which to buy a house.

Peter John de Savary was a British businessman in shipping, oil and property. He once owned or managed 13 shipyards around the globe and had global oil-trading and refuelling businesses. He was the Chairman of Millwall F.C.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Bovey</span> River in Devon, England

The River Bovey rises on the eastern side of Dartmoor in Devon, England, and is the largest tributary to the River Teign. The river has two main source streams, both rising within a mile of each other, either side of the B3212 road between Moretonhampstead and Postbridge, before joining at Jurston.

The Moretonhampstead and South Devon Railway was a 7 ft 1⁄4 in broad gauge railway which linked the South Devon Railway at Newton Abbot railway station with Bovey, Lustleigh and Moretonhampstead, Devon, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bovey railway station</span> Disused railway station in Devon, England

Bovey railway station, sometimes known as Bovey for Ilsington, was a stop on the Moretonhampstead and South Devon Railway at Bovey Tracey, Devon, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moretonhampstead railway station</span> Disused railway station in Devon, England

Moretonhampstead railway station was the terminus of the Moretonhampstead and South Devon Railway at Moretonhampstead, Devon, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GWR road motor services</span>

The Great Western Railway road motor services operated from 1903 to 1933 by the Great Western Railway, both as a feeder to their train services, and as a cheaper alternative to building new railways in rural areas. They were the first successful bus services operated by a British railway company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lustleigh railway station</span> Disused railway station in Devon, England

Lustleigh station was a stop on the Moretonhampstead and South Devon Railway; it served the village of Lustleigh, in Devon, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A382 road</span> Road in Devon, England

The A382 is a road in South West England, connecting Newton Abbot to the A38, then to Bovey Tracey and on through Moretonhampstead to the A30.

Walter Edward Mills was an English architect.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hawkmoor Hospital</span> Hospital in England

Hawkmoor Hospital, originally known as Hawkmoor County Sanatorium, was a specialist hospital near Bovey Tracey in Devon, England, founded in 1913 as a pulmonary tuberculosis sanatorium as part of a network of such facilities, instigated by the Public Health 1912. From 1948, the hospital catered for patients with a range of chest ailments, as well as chest surgery, and mental disability patients. From 1973, the facility dealt solely with mental health problems until its closure in 1987.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Bovey</span> Village and civil parish in Devon, England

North Bovey is a village and civil parish situated on the south-eastern side of Dartmoor National Park, Teignbridge, Devon, England, about 11 miles WSW of the city of Exeter and 1.5 miles SSW of Moretonhampstead. The village lies above the eastern bank of the River Bovey from which it takes its name. In 2001 the population of the parish was 274, compared to 418 in 1901 and 519 in 1801.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teigngrace</span> Human settlement in England

Teigngrace is a civil parish centred on a hamlet that lies about two miles north of the town of Newton Abbot in Devon, England. According to the 2001 census, its population was 235, compared to 190 a century earlier. The western boundary of the parish mostly runs along the A382 road; its short northern boundary along the A38; and its eastern partly along the rivers Bovey and Teign. It comes to a point at its southern extremity, near Newton Abbot Racecourse. The parish is surrounded, clockwise from the north, by the parishes of Bovey Tracey, Kingsteignton, Newton Abbot and a small part of Ilsington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fardel Manor</span> Historic manor in Devon, England

Fardel is a historic manor in the parish of Cornwood, in the South Hams district of Devon. It was successively the seat of the Raleigh and Hele families. The surviving Grade I listed medieval manor house is situated about half-way between Cornwood and Ivybridge, just outside the Dartmoor National Park on its south-western border.

The Miniature Pony Centre was a farm tourist attraction based in the Dartmoor National Park, near Moretonhampstead. In 2023, it permanently closed as a result of the cost of living crisis in the UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newton Bushell Turnpike Trust</span>

The Newton Bushell Turnpike Trust was a turnpike trust company in Devon which built and maintained trunk road connections from the West of Newton Bushell (now Newton Abbot between 1760 and November 1872. The trust built several roads, including what is now the A382 from Newton to Whiddon Down and the A383 to Ashburton.

References

  1. 1 2 "Bovey Castle". britishlistedbuildings.co.uk. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  2. ↑ "Bovey Castle - Luxury English Castle Hotel in Dartmoor National Park, Devon". www.celticcastles.com. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 "North Bovey Manor House". The East & South Devon Advertiser. 28 March 1908.
  4. ↑ Harmer, V (2003). Manor House Hotel, North Bovey, 1-4 (Report - Assessment).
  5. ↑ "Bovey Castle, North Bovey". Heritage Gateway: Devon & Dartmoor HER. Historic England.
  6. ↑ "MANOR HOUSE HOTEL INCLUDING TERRACES IMMEDIATELY TO SOUTH EAST". Historic England.
  7. ↑ "North Bovey". Western Times. 11 May 1917.
  8. 1 2 Tift, Duncan (23 June 2014). "Rigby expands Eden Hotel Collection with Devon acquisition". The Business Desk.
  9. ↑ "North Bovey Manor: Sale of Lord Hambleden's Estate". Western Times. 9 November 1928.
  10. ↑ "North Bovey Manor: Residence of late peer to become an hotel". Western Morning News. 7 March 1929.
  11. ↑ "Another G.W.R. Hotel". Cornishman. 11 April 1929.
  12. ↑ "Hotel on edge of Dartmoor". Dundee Evening Telegraph. 9 April 1929.
  13. ↑ "Veritable sun-trap on Dartmoor: New G.W.R. luxury hotel of the West". Langport & Somerton Herald. 13 April 1929.
  14. ↑ "Manor House Hotel". Illustrated London News. 15 June 1929.
  15. ↑ "Dartmoor Golf - Sporting course at G.W.R. Luxury Hotel". Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette. 7 June 1930.
  16. ↑ "New Gold Course - Railway Enterprise at Moretonhampstead". Western Morning News. 6 June 1930.
  17. ↑ "JF Abercromby". Evalu18. 20 May 2019.
  18. ↑ Cornish, Geoffrey S (1987). The Golf Course. New York: Rutledge Press. p. 162. ISBN   9780831739430.
  19. ↑ "Golf - Professionals in Devon". Western Morning News. 28 April 1931.
  20. ↑ "Hotel is resold". Herald Express. 26 April 1983. p. 3.
  21. ↑ "'Troubled hotel' seeks staff". Herald Express. 30 April 1991. p. 7.
  22. ↑ "Interest by buyers in hotel". Herald Express. 8 April 1991. p. 3.
  23. ↑ "It's boom time at 'troubled' hotel". Herald Express. 14 May 1991. p. 25.
  24. ↑ "Manor House Hotel sold for £7.5m". EGI Radius. 10 December 2002.
  25. ↑ "De Savary acquires Manor House Hotel". Golf Business News. 3 February 2003.
  26. ↑ Lake, Emma (1 November 2022). "Entrepreneur Peter de Savary who transformed more than 60 hotels dies". The Caterer.
  27. 1 2 Aslet, Clive (29 April 2004). "Interview with Peter de Savary". Country Life. pp. 104–105.
  28. ↑ Dennier, Clive (9 July 2003). "Cheeky de Savary tries to woo Skibo clients to latest venture". Aberdeen Press and Journal. p. 11.
  29. ↑ Patenall, Helen (20 September 2006). "De Savary sells Bovey Castle to Hilwood Resorts". Health Club Management.
  30. ↑ "de Savary sells Bovey Castle for £26m". Wiltshire Times. 2 November 2006.
  31. ↑ "Bovey Castle for sale for £17.5m". Foodservice News. 22 May 2012.
  32. ↑ Harmer, Janet (5 June 2014). "Bovey Castle sold to Eden Hotel Collection for undisclosed sum". The Caterer.
  33. ↑ "Tom Daley and Dustin Lance Black marry at Devon hotel". BBC News . 6 May 2017. Archived from the original on 1 May 2018. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
  34. ↑ "Bovey Castle". AA Rated Trips.
  35. ↑ "Devon hotel lands prestigious award". Visit Devon. 27 September 2024.
  36. ↑ McCrum, Kirstie (28 September 2024). "Stunning Dartmoor hotel named one of UK's best for second time in a decade". Devon Live.
  37. ↑ Duma, Corina (22 March 2024). "Bovey Castle wins Gold at 2024 South West Tourism Awards". Hotel Owner.
  38. ↑ "Ten hurt in balcony collapse during 'impromptu party' in Devon". BBC News. 19 September 2016.
  39. ↑ "Investigation into Bovey Castle balcony collapse". Mid-Devon Advertiser. 19 September 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.