Dowlish Manor Farmhouse

Dowlish Manor Farmhouse

A manor house of at least 11th-century origins, with fabric from all periods from the 15th century onwards. The building is constructed of squared Ham Stone with ashlar dressings, has a thatched roof between coped gables, and stone chimney stacks. It is a two-storey, four-unit plan, L-shaped with additions.

The north elevation comprises five bays, with bay 1 being a three-bay northward-projecting wing with a blind end gable. The west flank of the return has 20th-century casement windows in bays 1 and 3, while upper bay 2 retains a single-light hollow-chamfer mould window in a chamfered recess under a label. Bay 2 of the main block has a three-light leaded casement to the first floor. Lower bay 3 and both levels of bays 4 and 5 have 12-pane sash windows, though upper bay 3 has a later single casement. A 20th-century door to bay 2 sits under a thatched hood, with a slight projection of walling to its left and a nearly full-height buttress between bays 3 and 4 having moulded offsets. A lean-to stands against the front west gable; bays 4 and 5 have a double roof plan. The east elevation has 20th-century windows and is of little architectural interest.

The south elevation appears to be partly the earliest. The two-bay projection at the south-west corner, bays 1 and 2, has corner and central buttresses originally full-height, though the centre has now been shortened. Hollow-chamfer mullioned windows in chamfered recesses appear throughout, the lower ones being five-light with labels. Upper bay 1 is a three-light (probably deepened) and is matched by an extra window over the central buttress; upper bay 2 has a two-light. In the return east gable at ground floor sits another three-light with a label. The recessed portion contains two bays: single-light to upper bay 1, set at a slight angle with traces of a stairlight beneath, and bay 2 has four-light mullioned windows to both levels, all with labels. A 20th-century doorway sits in the angled part of bay 1. The west gable of the south-west section contains two further blocked stairlights and water tabling for the roof of a former extension, now represented by a thatch-topped wall.

Interior

The interior has been much altered with the ground floor opened out, but contains much of architectural interest. A former through passage is marked by a length of in-and-out boarded partition. The large north-west room features a 20th-century staircase alongside a cambered arched fireplace with hollow and ogee moulding and small-chamfered crossbeams with scroll-stops. The room eastwards has beams with keeled stops and a blocked fireplace. The south-west room contains another cambered-arched fireplace backing onto that of the hall, with a large relieving arch over and traces of a stair to an external upper room. The upper south-west room has a similar fireplace. The north-west room also contains a later 18th-century fireplace with matching door, doorcases and other details.

The upper south-east room has a panelled ceiling with moulded beams of the later 16th century, the whole possibly with a raised floor. A fireplace with a wide and massive moulded lintel is set very low, indicating a change of floor level. To its right is a very heavy 15th-century two-centre-arched doorframe, almost certainly reset from elsewhere.

Roof Structure

The south-west wing roof space shows hints of at least one jointed cruck roof truss. The north-west corner, despite the 18th-century work below, contains a fine arch-braced, cranked collar trussed roof with trenched purlins and three tiers of arched windbraces, parts smoke-blackened. Some pendants survive to the arch-braces, and part of a dentilled cornice plate survives. This roof is said to continue across the whole of the main block. The roof to the north projecting wing is said to have three adapted jointed cruck trusses.

Historical Context

This is a pre-Conquest manor, known as Dowlish Farm by 1688. It was held by the Wake family from the 12th century and passed through marriage to the Speke family at the end of the 15th century. The Spekes sold it in 1920.