Butleigh Court

Butleigh Court is a country house dating from 1845, designed by J.C. Buckler and constructed on an earlier site. Subsequent minor work was undertaken by E.B. Lamb. It was originally built for Henry Neville-Grenville. The building was substantially altered after 1940, when the roof was removed and the interiors gutted, before being restored around 1975 and subsequently divided into three separate dwellings.

The house is constructed of coursed and squared blue lias stone with Bath stone dressings, featuring parapets with stone copings, some of which are embattled. The roofs are slate, though the majority are not visible. Numerous elaborate ashlar chimney stacks are present, occurring singly, in pairs, and in groups. The architecture is Tudor-Gothic, with an irregular outline and plan.

The two-storey building has a basement, and towers rise to three storeys. The north-facing entrance frontage is irregular, comprising five bays, and incorporates 2-, 3- and 5-light stone mullioned windows with four-centred heads. Larger transomed windows are a feature of the second bay. The windows contain simple 20th-century casements. A projecting tower features in the third bay of the entrance frontage, with angle buttresses and a rich oriel above the first floor. Royal arms are displayed on a corbel. The entrance doorway is set within a dressed stone surround with a four-centred head and has a plank door with elaborate hinges. A hall at the rear of the building was demolished during the restoration. Internally, three fireplaces remain, featuring elaborately carved freestone surrounds. Drawings of the building are held at the RIBA.