Dinder House

Last updated

Dinder House & Estate
Dinder House 2.jpg
Dinder House and grounds
Dinder House
General information
Architectural styleRegency
Location Dinder, Somerset, England
Construction started1799
Completed1801
Renovated2003
ClientRev William Somerville
Design and construction
Architect(s)Nichols of Bath
Other designersIlse Crawford

Dinder House, is a Somerset estate with a small country house Grade II Regency listed building in the village of Dinder, in the civil parish of St Cuthbert Out in Somerset. Dinder House was formerly a manor house dating back to the 12th century, but the existing building was constructed between 1799 and 1801 by the Rev William Somerville on the original site. The estate remained as the seat of the Somerville family until the late twentieth century.

Contents

History

The Dinder estate formed part of the early endowment of the Bishopric of Wells. By the 12th Century it has been granted away to William Fitzjohn whose descendants were known as 'Harptree' or 'Fleming' By 1327 the manor was held by Richard de Rodney and his family until sold in the mid 17th Century to Richard Hickes. The Hickes heiress brought it to her husband, George Somerville who died in 1776. His son Rev William Somerville rebuilt the present Dinder House in 1801, on the site of the original manor house, and subsequently died shortly after the completion in 1803. [1] On the death of Rev William Somerville's widow in 1830, the estate passed to his nephew, James Somerville Fownes, who took the surname Somerville to ensure the Somerville name survived. [2]

The Dinder Estate encompassed many properties around the village including Dinder House, Dinder Lodge, The Coach House, The Old Rectory, West House, Gardeners Cottage, Pond Cottage in addition to large tracts of agricultural land and farms.

The last Somerville resident of the house was Admiral of the Fleet Sir James Somerville, who was in command of the British force that sank the French fleet at Mers-el-Kébir, near Oran, Algeria, on 3 July 1940. After World War II, Somerville, who was made Lord Lieutenant of Somerset in August 1946, lived in the house before he died in 1949. He was buried at the Church of St Michael and All Angels Church at Dinder. [3]

The house was completely restored and renovated under the guidance of designer Ilse Crawford and Swiss landscape designer Augusto Calonder. The interior, gardens and grounds have subsequently been featured in many publications . [4]

Dinder House and Estate was sold in March 2017 to private owners.

Architecture

Dinder House is listed as being of architectural and historical importance Grade II and its bridge over the River Sheppey is also listed as a Grade II listed building. [5] [6]

The house is included in Pevsner's Buildings of England as a small country house constructed of ashlar stone with a hipped slate roof and ashlar chimney stacks. [7] The original house was constructed between 1799 and 1801 and Nichols of Bath (William Nichols (architect)) are thought to be the architects. The outer bays were added around 1850 by Vulliamy, and a further single-storey addition to the north dates from 1929. [8]

The house is of a classic Regency style with mellowed ashlar stone elevations and sash windows under a hipped slate roof. The house has a symmetrical front, a full height bow window, ionic pilasters, moulded dentil cornicing, fanlights and parapet wall. The house is linear in plan with bays arranged symmetrically, with the side bays slightly stepped back. The house has three storeys, and serving quarters located on the lower ground floor. The kitchen on the lower ground floor contains the original range and dresser and the former scullery retains the original ovens and washing copper. [6]

Interior features include an oval-shaped vestible with curved panelled doors, a marble fireplace, decorated plaster ceilings and a geometrical stone cantilever staircase, with a mahogany handrail and wrought iron balustrading. [7]

The gate piers, quadrant walls and flanking piers include panelled central piers with pagodal caps, and one with iron lamp at its apex. [9] A bridge over the River Sheppey predates the house. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Museum and Gardens</span> Culture and arts museum near Bath, England

The American Museum and Gardens is a museum of American art and culture based at Claverton, near Bath, England. Its collections of American furniture, quilts and folk art are displayed in a Grade I listed 19th-century house, surrounded by gardens overlooking the valley of the River Avon.

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

Dulverton is a town and civil parish in west Somerset, England, near the border with Devon. The town had a population of 1,408 at the 2011 Census. The parish includes the hamlets of Battleton and Ashwick which is located approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) north west of Dulverton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broadlands</span> Country house in Romsey

Broadlands is a country house located in the civil parish of Romsey Extra, near the town of Romsey in the Test Valley district of Hampshire, England. Its formal gardens and historic landscape are Grade II* listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. The house itself is Grade I listed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hewell Grange</span> Grade I listed house in Worcestershire, United Kingdom

Hewell Grange is a former country house in Tardebigge, Worcestershire, England. "One of the most important late 19th century country houses in England", the mansion was built between 1884 and 1891 by George Frederick Bodley and Thomas Garner for Robert Windsor-Clive, later first Earl of Plymouth. Constructed in the Jacobethan style, it was "perhaps the last Victorian prodigy house". After the Second World War, the third earl sold the Hewell estate to the Crown and it was redeveloped as a prison. The mansion was used to house young offenders, and later low-risk prisoners, while adult prisons were built in the grounds. The site was subsequently consolidated as HM Prison Hewell. In 2019, the Ministry of Justice announced the closure of the Category D open prison housed in Hewell Grange, after a highly critical report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cricket St Thomas</span> Civil parish in Somerset, England

Cricket St Thomas is a parish in Somerset, England, situated in a valley between Chard and Crewkerne and was formerly within the South Somerset administrative district. The A30 road passes nearby. The parish has a population of 50. It is noted for the historic manor house known as Cricket House, and its estate in recent times formerly home to a wildlife park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dunham Massey</span> English civil parish

Dunham Massey is a civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. The parish includes the villages of Sinderland Green, Dunham Woodhouses and Dunham Town, along with Dunham Massey Hall and Park, formerly the home of the last Earl of Stamford and owned by the National Trust since 1976. Dunham Massey is in the historic county of Cheshire, but since 1974 has been part of Trafford Metropolitan Borough; the nearest town is Altrincham. At the 2001 census, the parish had a population of 475.

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

St Cuthbert Out, sometimes Wells St Cuthbert Out, is a civil parish in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. It entirely surrounds the city and parish of Wells. According to the 2011 census it had a population of 3,749.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tracy Park</span> Estate near Wick, South Gloucestershire, England

Tracy Park is an estate near Wick, South Gloucestershire, close to the boundary with Bath and North East Somerset and approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) from the World Heritage City of Bath. Set in approximately 240 acres (97 ha) of parkland, the house is a Grade II listed building. It has a 17th-century nucleus behind a classical two-storey front built of Ashlar stone. The gate piers either side of the carriageway leading to the house are also Grade II listed.

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

Dinder is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of St Cuthbert Out, in the Somerset district, in the ceremonial county of Somerset. It is 2+1⁄2 miles west of Shepton Mallet, and 2 miles east of Wells. In 1961 the parish had a population of 198.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Abbey, Ditcheat</span>

The Abbey, Ditcheat is a large house at Ditcheat in Somerset. Originally a rectory, now converted into a house, the Grade II* listed building dates from the 15th century. To the rear of the Abbey is a Grade II listed granary.

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

Ditcheat is a village and civil parish 4.5 miles (7 km) south of Shepton Mallet, and 2.5 miles (4 km) north-west of Castle Cary, in Somerset, England. Besides the village, the parish has four hamlets: Wraxall, Lower Wraxall, Alhampton and Sutton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Halswell House</span> Country house in Sedgemoor, UK

Halswell House is a Grade I listed country house in Goathurst, Somerset, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adlington Hall</span> Country house in Cheshire, England

Adlington Hall is a country house near Adlington, Cheshire. The oldest part of the existing building, the Great Hall, was constructed between 1480 and 1505; the east wing was added in 1581. The Legh family has lived in the hall and in previous buildings on the same site since the early 14th century. After the house was occupied by Parliamentary forces during the Civil War, changes were made to the north wing, including encasing the Great Hall in brick, inserting windows, and installing an organ in the Great Hall. In the 18th century the house was inherited by Charles Legh who organised a series of major changes. These included building a new west wing, which incorporated a ballroom, and a south wing with a large portico. It is possible that Charles Legh himself was the architect for these additions. He also played a large part in planning and designing the gardens, woodland and parkland, which included a number of buildings of various types, including a bridge known as the Chinese Bridge that carried a summerhouse.


Bolesworth Castle is a country house 2 miles (3 km) south of the village of Tattenhall, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building.

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

Pitcombe is a village and civil parish 1 mile (2 km) south-west of Bruton and 5 miles (8 km) from Wincanton in Somerset, England. It has a population of 532. The parish includes the hamlets of Cole and Godminster.

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

The River Sheppey has its source in a group of springs west of the village of Doulting, near Shepton Mallet in Somerset, England. It flows through the wetlands to the north of the Polden Hills and ultimately joins the River Brue.

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

Littleton is a village in the borough of Spelthorne, approximately 16 mi (26 km) west of central London. Historically part of the county of Middlesex, it was transferred to Surrey in 1965. It is the location of Shepperton Studios.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ven House</span> Historic site in Somerset, England

Ven House in Milborne Port, Somerset, England is an English manor house that has been designated as a Grade I listed building.

The Manor House in Chew Magna, Somerset, England, was a country house built in the mid-17th century. It was the principal residence of the Adlam family from the mid-1800s until 1940. The house is a Grade II* listed building and was part of the Sacred Heart Convent School. It has now been redeveloped and returned to residential use.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fitzhead Court and The Manor</span>

Fitzhead Court and The Manor in Fitzhead, Somerset, England was built in the late 16th century and has now been split into two buildings. It is a Grade II* listed building.

References

  1. ↑ "Dinder House". Open Buildimgs. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  2. ↑ "Papers of the Somerville Family of Dinder, 1457-1949". South West Heritage Trust. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  3. ↑ Heathcote, Tony (2002). The British Admirals of the Fleet 1734 – 1995. Pen & Sword Ltd. p. 233. ISBN   0-85052-835-6.
  4. ↑ "Dinder House. A Georgian house for modern living". Urban kaleidoscope. 13 May 2011. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  5. ↑ Historic England. "Bridge over River Sheppey in grounds of Dinder House (1345123)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  6. 1 2 Historic England. "Dinder House (1058621)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  7. 1 2 "Dinder House, St Cuthbert Out". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  8. ↑ Historic England. "Dinder House (1058621)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 20 September 2007.
  9. ↑ Historic England. "Gate piers, quadrant walls and flanking piers to Dinder House (1177568)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 20 September 2007.
  10. ↑ Historic England. "Bridge over River Sheppey in grounds of Dinder House (1345123)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 20 September 2007.

51°11′58″N2°36′32″W / 51.19944°N 2.60889°W / 51.19944; -2.60889

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.