Abbey Cottage

Abbey Cottage, originally part of the gatehouse of Dunkeswell Abbey, is a cottage dating from the early 16th century, likely enlarged in the later 16th or 17th century, and modernised around 1980. It was probably used as a small farmhouse. The construction uses local stone rubble, incorporating small fragments of Beerstone ashlar from the original gatehouse. The stacks are stone rubble topped with 20th-century brick, and the roof is thatched, with slate and tile roofs on rear outshots.

The cottage has a two-room plan, facing north. The western room has a rear lateral stack, while the left room has a projecting front lateral stack. There may have once been a passage between the two rooms. The western room was originally part of the Abbey gatehouse, representing the southern side of the carriageway. The northern room is now in ruins. The gatehouse ruin is separately listed.

The north front has no windows, with a roughly central doorway containing a 20th-century part-glazed plank door under a thatched hood extending from the eaves. Windows on the other sides are 20th-century casements with glazing bars. The roof is half-hipped at each end.

The interior, which was not inspected during the survey, is believed to contain 16th and 17th-century carpentry and other detail. A previous description mentions the presence of two open hearths and a doorway with a pointed stone head and stop-chamfered jambs.

Dunkeswell Abbey was founded in 1201 by William, Lord Brewere, as a Cistercian monastery. The site is also a Scheduled Ancient Monument (228, part).