Bee Shelter Approximately 50 Metres East Of St Mary The Virgin

The entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 23 and 25 November 2016.

HARTPURY

516/8/38 BEE HIVE RACK, ABOUT 300 METRES EAST 18-OCT-85 OF HARTPURY HOUSE

Shall be replaced by:- Bee Shelter approx 50m East of St Mary the Virgin

II*

Bee shelter. 1847-52. Paul Tuffley, mason (1803-1873). Limestone ashlar. Plan: the bee shelter has an overall length of 7.3m, stands 2.1m high to the top of the ridge tiles (omitting finials) and is 0.6m wide. It consists of three tiers of openings under a pitched roof with plain ashlar end walls. It has a solid back wall elaborately carved on the reverse. FACADE: The lowest tier is divided into five recesses; four of equal width (1.1m), and the fifth, at one end, narrower, (0.65m). They are separated by Doric pilasters on shelly limestone ashlar bases and have four-centred arched heads with sunk circles in the spandrels. Two have moulded keystones, the remainder are plain. The shelf above is edged with an applied continuous band of diamonds carved in relief on a rusticated background. This serves as a base for thirteen thin stone partitions which divide this tier into fourteen recesses, an average of 0.45m wide and 0.48m high. All but one are in line with the tier above. The partitions have a concave profile with a projecting foot and scrolled head. The front edges are cross-ribbed; some are convex and some are concave. INTERIOR: Each opening (28 bee holes) formerly sheltered a straw or wicker dome-shaped bee skep away from the weather. In essence the shelter is a roofed open-fronted set of shelves. HISTORY: Until at least 1985 it was assumed that the bee shelter (not a beehive rack as formerly assumed) dated from the early C17. The bee shelter was situated until 1968 as a part of the southern boundary wall to Paul Tuffley's garden at his house at Chapel Street, Nailsworth. Recent research suggests a much later construction date of between 1824, when Tuffley acquired his building plot, and 1852, when his property was sold likely 1847-52. The original tooling marks are typically Victorian. The shelter is explicitly mentioned in a deed dated 25 March 1852. The Tuffleys were an eminent family of quarry masters, stone merchants and master stonemasons in the Nailsworth/Minchinhampton area, and they were in operation for over 120 years.

David Verey & Alan Brooks, The Buildings of England, Gloucestershire: The Vale & the Forest of Dean (2002), p. 530. Rory Young, 'Report on Hartpury College Bee Shelter' (30 April 2001) K. A. Rodwell, 'A Report on the Structural History of the Bee Shelter at Hartpury College, Gloucestershire' (January 2001) Arthur J. Price, 'A Report on the Stone and Tuffley Family in Connection with the Hartpury Beeholes' (July 2001)

Listing NGR: SO7812923657