Cannington Court (Part Of Somerset Farm Institute)

Cannington Court, part of the Somerset Farm Institute, is a significant remnant of a Benedictine nunnery founded around 1138 by Robert de Courcey, originally situated to the east of the Church of St Mary. The nunnery was dissolved in 1536, and the site subsequently underwent alterations, notably by Edward Rogers around 1580, and later by the Clifford family, especially in the 18th century. Further modifications occurred in the 19th and 20th centuries, primarily involving internal divisions.

The building is constructed of random red sandstone rubble, with brickwork on the entrance elevation and a rendered section. It has a moulded cornice, an ashlar parapet with a coping, and predominantly triple Roman tile roofs, with some hipped sections and slate coverage. A distinctive ashlar lantern features a shallow semicircular headed niche on each face, topped with a weather vane.

The structure comprises an altered medieval hall and associated buildings arranged around an irregular quadrangle, with a separate chapel wing to the south. The entrance elevation has three storeys and six, one, and five bays. The upper-right-hand storey is a false facade with blank window openings. Window openings generally feature two, three, and four-light stone mullioned windows; those on the first floor have transoms and stopped labels, while those on the second floor have cambered heads, and a four-keyed oval opening on each side. A central three-storey ashlar porch has a broad moulded outer opening, supported by thin fluted and engaged Ionic columns on tall pedestals. It features a frieze, moulded cornice, a stone mullion and transom window on the first floor, and four-keyed oval openings on the second floor. The underside of the entrance archway is divided into three sections, each with a moulded cornice, and incorporates paired barred wooden gates.

Key courtyard features include two tall, four-light stone mullioned and transomed windows illuminating a first-floor hall, and an external doorway remaining within a moulded, four-centred stone surround, incorporating carved spandrels and a stopped label. A stair turret is located in the south-eastern corner.

The interior includes an early 18th-century octagonal chapel with a domed, coffered ceiling rising to an octagonal glazed lantern. Twin giant fluted Corinthian columns at each angle support a frieze and modillion cornice. Attached to the west of the chapel on the first floor is an ante-room with a vaulted ceiling, creating three galleried boxes overlooking the chapel. A 15th-century fireplace is located on the first floor of the west range, featuring four quatrefoils on the lintel. Also on this floor are two 17th-century painted wooden plaques. A wing to the south of the courtyard contains five arch-braced and windbraced roof trusses.