The Alcove or Clock Tower, About 20 Metres West of Brympton House is a Grade II listed building in the Somerset local planning authority area, England. First listed on 19 April 1961. Clock tower.
The Alcove or Clock Tower, About 20 Metres West of Brympton House
- WRENN ID
- patient-string-larch
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Somerset
- Constituency
- Yeovil MP: Adam Dance (LD)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 19 April 1961
- Type
- Clock tower
- OS grid reference
- ST 519 154
- Coordinates
- 50.93637, -2.68553
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Alcove, also known as The Clock Tower, is located about 20 metres west of Brympton House and was erected in 1723. It incorporates parts of a 16th or early 17th century porch that was removed from Brympton House in 1722, with the clock tower itself being added later in the 18th century. The structure is built from Ham stone ashlar and features a stone slate roof between coped gables, along with an ashlar bell turret.
The tower has a square plan with one bay on each face and stands two storeys tall, set into rising ground. The principal front faces south towards the forecourt of the house. It features a semi-circular arch on the ground floor, decorated with rusticated lozenge patterns, moulded imposts, and a keystone, flanked by Doric pilasters that support a plain entablature. The cornice continues as a string along the east and west sides. Above the arch is a small quatrefoil panel displaying the Sydenham arms upside-down, along with a clock face in the gable.
On the east side, there is a two-light chamfer-mullioned window set in a recess, with no label and unworked top mitres, featuring diamond-leaded glazing. The north side has a boarded door in a three-centre-arched opening, with a label above, accessible by a vertical timber ladder. Above this door is the bellcote, which is a simplified version of the one found at St. Andrew's Church. It has plain single openings on the east and west sides, and cruciform openings on the north and south sides, with moulded eaves and a hipped stepped stone roof. A date plaque is set high on the west wall.
The base of the tower is said to have served as a shelter for visitors' horses, and the clock is reputed to be the oldest working timepiece outside of the West Country.
Local climate
The Alcove or Clock Tower, About 20 Metres West of Brympton House receives an average of 820 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 51% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 65% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 30 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 66% of listed buildings. Of these, 12 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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