The Abbey

THE ABBEY

A house built on the site of a Chantry Chapel, with origins in the late 16th century incorporating earlier fragments. The building was restored in 1902, believed by C.E. Ponting, who also undertook work at Lytes Cary.

The structure is built of local lias stone, roughly squared and coursed, with Ham stone dressings. The roofs are of plain clay tile, some between stepped coped gables and some hipped, with stone chimney stacks—some of octagonal ashlar, some of stone rubble. The plan is triple-roofed with an earlier crossing at the west end. The building is mostly two storeys with attic accommodation, except at the west end which rises to three storeys.

The west entrance elevation comprises four bays. Bays 1 and 2 are three storeys and form the earliest part of the house, featuring double corner buttresses with offsets. The central ground floor contains a 2-light window of the 16th century with double wave mould and an unusual panelled mullion, set beneath a damaged label. Above are two 2-light windows with hollow chamfer mullions in wave mould recesses, square heads and labels. A central 3-light window with ovolo mould and label sits above. All windows contain rectangular panes with some metal casements. A pointed relieving arch stands off-centre over the bay 2 first floor window, and another appears over a bay 4 ground floor window—a single hollow chamfer light in wave mould with label. Bays 3 and 4, set back, are otherwise blank. A small 20th-century porch with gabled roof and small chimney stack projects at bay 3.

The south elevation presents a gable to the porch, featuring a stepped external chimney stack and sundial set back. Two wide bays follow with full-height end and centre buttresses and hollow chamfer mullioned windows in wave-mould recesses with labels. The lower bay 1 has a 4-light window; both levels of bay 2 have 3-light windows. Upper bay 1 features a wider cruciform mullioned and transomed 2-light window.

The east elevation displays triple gables set in receding planes, with a lean-to against the northernmost. The south gable contains 2-light mullioned windows to the ground floor and attic, with a square stone carved with a circular pattern above. The central gable has a cruciform window below and 3-light and 2-light windows above. The north gable has a 2-light window to the attic beneath a gabletted finial, under which sits a plain stone plaque with hood.

The north elevation mirrors this arrangement and extends northwards with an early 20th-century extension which may incorporate reused windows.

Interior features include a west room with beamed ceiling and a staircase containing early 17th-century fragments, with a semi-circular lozenge-decorated arch on the landing. The drawing room, known as the Oak Room, retains a beam and joist ceiling and circa 1600 wall panelling with top frieze and cornice mould. A fine oak overmantel adorns the fireplace, which has a moulded cambered arch; similar smaller fireplaces occur elsewhere. A bedroom above originally spanned the full width of the house and retains an early 17th-century corner cupboard and window reveal-panels. The north rooms were gutted by fire in the 1960s and subsequently restored plainly. The north-east stairs to the attic feature a pointed arch with timber door, possibly reused from the 15th century. Two attic rooms have barrel-vaulted ceilings and 2-panel doors. The north wall contains the label to a 2-light window and an arched doorway possibly of 13th or 14th-century date.

The site was formerly occupied by the Chantry Chapel of the Holy Spirit, founded in 1237. The building is believed to incorporate fragments of this chapel, with its remodelling appearing to date from the late 16th century.