Dillington House

Last updated

Dillington House
Dillington House.jpg
Coordinates 50°56′10″N2°54′05″W / 50.93611°N 2.90139°W / 50.93611; -2.90139
Built16th century
Governing body Somerset County Council
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official nameDillington House
Designated4 February 1958 [1]
Reference no.1057040
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official nameNos.2 AND 3 and attached railings, gate piers and gates
Designated23 September 1950 [2]
Reference no.1195064
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameDillington Arts Centre
Designated29 October 1987 [3]
Reference no.1175942
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameFountain
Designated29 October 1987 [4]
Reference no.1345860
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameObelisk
Designated29 October 1987 [5]
Reference no.1308088
Somerset UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location of Dillington House in Somerset

Dillington House is a residential adult education college near Ilminster in the parish of Whitelackington, Somerset, England. The present house, which dates from the 16th century, is owned by Lord Cameron of Dillington and operated by Somerset County Council. There has been a house on the site since before the Norman Conquest, [6] probably taking advantage of the nearby chalybeate spring.

Contents

History

The house has 16th-century origins, but was reshaped around 1838 by its then owner John.E.Lee to the design of Sir James Pennethorne. John Lee, who purchased the house, had been born John Hanning and had assumed the surname Lee on becoming the heir of his uncle Major Edward Lee (d.1819) of Orleigh Court, Buckland Brewer, North Devon. John Lee's brother-in-law and his tenant at Orleigh Court was William Speke of Jordans near Ilminster, father of the celebrated discoverer of the River Nile John Hanning Speke. [7] It is now a Grade II* listed building. [1] Dillington House was the country residence of George III's Prime Minister, Lord North who acquired it through marriage to Anne Speke. [8] The stables which were built in the 18th or early 19th century were remodelled in 1875 by George Nattress and later in the 1960s when the Coach House was converted into a theatre. [3] The two lodges adjacent to the main gate are also Grade II* listed and are in private ownership. [2]

In 1940, the 'Fortress Ilminster' project saw the area prepare for what was thought to be imminent invasion by the Nazis. The drive extending from the town, north toward Dillington House hosted tank barricades and concrete gun emplacements as part of the Taunton Stop Line. Remains of Fortress Ilminster can still be seen today and the drive is now a public footpath. [9]

In the spring of 2009 a new building, 'The Hyde', was opened, providing two studio spaces, additional dining accommodation and 15 fully accessible bedrooms. Designed by Tim Rolt and Dan Talkes of Purcell Miller Tritton, the building won the 2010 South-West Region Architecture Award from the Royal Institute of British Architects. [10]

Present use

Dillington House offers a range of day courses and residential short courses as well as a programme of public lectures. As well as being a hotel, it is also a venue for conferences and meetings, weddings and other private events. The residential accommodation is set in historic parkland and gardens.

In 2017, the House and Gardens were used as the location for a short documentary film, highlighting the national decrease in the numbers of Pembroke Welsh Corgis. [11]

Related Research Articles

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

Ilminster is a minster town and civil parish in the South Somerset district of Somerset, England, with a population of 5,808. Bypassed in 1988, the town now lies just east of the junction of the A303 and the A358. The parish includes the hamlet of Sea.

Sir James Pennethorne was a British architect and planner, particularly associated with buildings and parks in central London.

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

Ashill is a small village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated 7 miles (11.3 km) south of Taunton, and three miles north-west of Ilminster. The parish includes the hamlet of Windmill Hill and has a population of 529.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ewen Cameron, Baron Cameron of Dillington</span> British peer (born 1949)

Ewen James Hanning Cameron, Baron Cameron of Dillington, is a British Conservative Party politician, landowner and life peer who sits as a crossbench member of the House of Lords.

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

Dowlish Wake is a small village and civil parish in Somerset, England, 2 miles (3 km) south of Ilminster and 5 miles (8 km) northeast of Chard in the South Somerset district. With a population of 277, it has several thatched houses and a pub, the New Inn. Its post office closed in 1991.

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

West Buckland is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated 5 miles (8.0 km) south west of Taunton. The parish has a population of 1,189.

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

Buckland St Mary is a village and parish in Somerset, England, situated 6 miles (9.7 km) to the west of Ilminster and 8 miles (12.9 km) south of Taunton in the South Somerset district, close to the A303. The village has a population of 521. The parish is within the Blackdown Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and includes the hamlet of Birchwood.

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

Donyatt is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at the source of the River Isle 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Chard in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of 347. The parish includes the hamlet of Peasmarsh.

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

Ilton is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated 8 miles (12.9 km) south-east of Taunton, and 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Ilminster in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of 854. The parish includes the hamlets of Ilford and Cad Green with its 16th-century almshouses.

Buckland Brewer is a village and civil parish in the Torridge district of Devon, England, 4.7 miles south of Bideford. Historically the parish formed part of Shebbear Hundred. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 777, increasing to 794 at the 2011 census The village is part of Waldon electoral ward. The population for this at the same census was 1,679.

Purcell is a British architectural design practice, founded in 1947 by Donovan Purcell. It has 11 regional studios in the UK and four studios in the Asia Pacific region.

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

Seavington St Mary is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. It is situated next to the village of Seavington St Michael, about 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Ilminster, within the South Somerset district and had a population of 384 inhabitants at the 2011 census.

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

Halsbury is a historic manor in the parish of Parkham in North Devon, England. It is situated 2 miles north-east of the village of Parkham and 4 miles south-west of the town of Bideford. Halsbury was long a seat of the ancient Giffard family, a distant descendant of which was the celebrated lawyer Hardinge Stanley Giffard, 1st Earl of Halsbury (1823–1921), who adopted the name Halsbury for his earldom and was the author of the essential legal reference books Halsbury's Statutes. Halsbury Barton, now a farmhouse, retains 16th- and 17th-century elements of the former manor house of the Giffard family. It was described in a record of 1560 as a "new dwelling house".

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

Whitelackington is a village and civil parish on the A303 one mile north east of Ilminster, in Somerset, England. The parish includes Dillington Park and the hamlets of Atherstone and Ashwell.

John Lee Lee of Orleigh Court in the parish of Buckland Brewer in Devon, and of Dillington House, near Ilminster in Somerset, was a British Whig politician who was Member of Parliament for Wells in Somerset between 1830 and 1837. He was Sheriff of Somerset in 1845–6.

Vaughan Hanning Vaughan-Lee was an English Conservative Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1874 to 1882.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orleigh Court</span> Historic site in Devon, England

Orleigh Court is a late medieval manor house in the parish of Buckland Brewer about 4 miles south-west of Bideford, North Devon, England. It is a two-storeyed building constructed from local slate stone and has a great hall with a hammer-beam roof, installed in the late 15th century.

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

Orleigh is a historic manor in the parish of Buckland Brewer, situated 4 miles to the south west of Bideford, North Devon, England. The manor house is known as Orleigh Court.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church of St Mary the Virgin, Whitelackington</span> Church in Somerset, England

The Anglican Church of St Mary the Virgin in Whitelackington, Somerset, England was built in the 14th and 15th centuries. It is a Grade II* listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church of St Andrew, Dowlish Wake</span> Church in Somerset, England

The Anglican Church of St Andrew in Dowlish Wake, Somerset, England, was built in the 14th century. It is a Grade II* listed building.

References

  1. 1 2 Historic England. "Dillington House (1057040)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 7 March 2010.
  2. 1 2 Historic England. "Nos.2 AND 3 and attached railings, gate piers and gates (1195064)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 7 March 2010.
  3. 1 2 Historic England. "Dillington Arts Centre (1175942)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 7 March 2010.
  4. ↑ Historic England. "Fountain, about 75 metres east of Dillington House (1345860)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 7 March 2010.
  5. ↑ Historic England. "Obelisk, about 70 metres south of Dillington House (1308088)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 7 March 2010.
  6. ↑ Gathercole, Clare. "An archaeological assessment of Ilminster" (PDF). English Heritage Extensive Urban Survey. Somerset County Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 August 2011. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  7. ↑ Rogers, W.H. "Buckland Brewer, 1938, p. 53
  8. ↑ "Dillington House". Cafe du Monde. Archived from the original on 11 November 2009. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
  9. ↑ Rogers, Joseph (17 July 2017). "5 Somerset Country Houses - By Public Footpath". The Travel Pocket Guide.
  10. ↑ "Awards". Purcell Miller Tritton. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  11. ↑ "SOMERSET NEWS: Student highlights the plight of the Queen's favourite – the loveable Corgi". www.yeovilpress.co.uk. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
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.