Chapel Cleeve Manor

Last updated

Chapel Cleeve Manor
Big House at Chapel Cleeve - geograph.org.uk - 133626.jpg
Location Chapel Cleeve, Somerset, England
Coordinates 51°10′41″N3°22′52″W / 51.17806°N 3.38111°W / 51.17806; -3.38111
Area27,000 square feet (2,500 m2) [1]
Built1450s
OwnerMarten street [2]
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official nameChapel Cleeve Manor
Designated22 May 1969 [3]
Reference no.1057541
Somerset UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location of Chapel Cleeve Manor in Somerset

Chapel Cleeve Manor in Chapel Cleeve, Somerset, England started life in the 1450s as a pilgrims' hostel. It was enlarged in the 19th and 20th centuries when it was a private house and then a hotel. It is a Grade II* listed building.

Contents

History

The oldest part of the house was built as an inn for pilgrims attending the chapel of St Mary which was built by the monks of Cleeve Abbey in the mid-15th century. The chapel was built to replace one which had fallen into the sea, [4] however the later version no longer exists. [5]

Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries the house was leased by Henry VIII to Anthony Busted (Bustard?) however this was revoked and the estate given to Robert Radcliffe, 1st Earl of Sussex for his services to the king. In the early 17th century the property was owned by the Stewkley family who used it as a family home until 1723. It was then purchased by Sir James Langham, 7th Baronet. [1] In the early 19th century woods were planted on the estate, [6] when the house was extended following designs by Richard Carver. [7]

In World War I the house was occupied by the Lysaght family who added the current main entrance and a ballroom, which is now used as the dining room. [1] The house used to be surrounded by a landscape park, however most of this had been built on by the 1970s, [8]

In 1969, Donald Rose and his wife Rita and sons Nigel & Kevin purchased the house and turned it into a successful country public house and bar restaurant putting on massive balls dances and weddings. They stayed until 1972 when it was sold as a going concern and the family emigrated to New Zealand. In the 1980s it was being used as the Chapel Cleeve Manor Hotel. [7]

Present day

In 1998, the house was bought for £360,000 by a couple who intended to restore it with friends. Part-restoration of some areas was completed in 2002. After having parted ways, the remaining owner, Jeannie Wilkins, unable to afford further restoration works and upkeep, placed the 17-bedroom house, with 7 acres (2.8 ha) of land, up for sale with a price of £1,695,000 [9] [10] however it was estimated by Jeannie Wilkins it would take at least £500,000 to make it habitable. [11]

In 2012, after having been on the market unsold for over a year, the manor was used in an episode of the Channel 4 television series Country House Rescue . [2] [12] Strategies were discussed and tested, with the house used as a location for ghost hunting tours and special excursions were run by the West Somerset Railway to the building [13] to help raise funds to assist the current owner to continue restoration works and to reside in the manor.

In June 2015, the manor remained on the market with approximately £500,000 of renovation work needed, although some restoration has been undertaken by students from Somerset College. [14] [15]

As of September 2017, the Manor was still on the market for £1,475,000. [16] After owner Jean Wilkins died in September 2020, the house was purchased by the London-based interior designer Marten Street in January 2021.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Watchet</span> Human settlement in England

Watchet is a harbour town, civil parish and electoral ward in the county of Somerset, England, with a population in 2011 of 3,785. It is situated 15 miles (24 km) west of Bridgwater, 15 miles (24 km) north-west of Taunton, and 9 miles (14 km) east of Minehead. The town lies at the mouth of the Washford River on Bridgwater Bay, part of the Bristol Channel, and on the edge of Exmoor National Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Somerset</span> Former non-metropolitan district in England

West Somerset was a local government district in the English county of Somerset from 1974 to 2019. The council covered a largely rural area, with a population of 34,900 in an area of 740 square kilometres (290 sq mi); it was the least populous non-unitary district in England. According to figures released by the Office for National Statistics in 2009, the population of West Somerset had the oldest average age in the United Kingdom at 52. The largest centres of population were the coastal towns of Minehead and Watchet (4,400).

Williton is a large village and civil parish in Somerset, England, at the junction of the A39, A358 and B3191 roads, on the coast 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Watchet between Minehead, Bridgwater and Taunton in the now-defunct Somerset West and Taunton district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cleeve Abbey</span> Medieval monastery located near the village of Washford, in Somerset, England

Cleeve Abbey is a medieval monastery located near the village of Washford, in Somerset, England. It is a Grade I listed building and has been scheduled as an ancient monument.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Washford</span> Human settlement in England

Washford is a village on the Washford River in the civil parish of Old Cleeve, Somerset, England. The village is next to Cleeve Abbey, one of the best-preserved medieval monasteries in England. It centred in a valley close to the Bristol Channel on the A39 road 7 miles (11 km) east of the resort town of Minehead and 2 miles (3 km) southwest of the port of Watchet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Cleeve</span> Human settlement in England

Old Cleeve is a village 5 miles (8 km) south east of Minehead in the Somerset West and Taunton district of Somerset, England, and also a civil parish. The civil parish of Old Cleeve covers an area of 2,092 hectares and includes the villages of Old Cleeve, Roadwater and Washford as well as hamlets such as Bilbrook, Chapel Cleeve, Golsoncott and Leighland Chapel. Approximately half the parish lies within the Exmoor National Park. The remaining half is on the southern edge of Exmoor. The village has been in existence since the early 13th century. The village held its first council meeting in 1711. By the 1720s the village had several churches, in which to meet. The town hall was built in 1727. The first church here was built in 1694, built by the Eastern Christian Society. This church was destroyed in a fire in 1847, and has been rebuilt and restored. In 2011, the population of the parish was 1,672.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nettlecombe Court</span> Grade I listed building in Somerset, UK

Nettlecombe Court and park is an old estate on the northern fringes of the Brendon Hills, within the Exmoor National Park. They are within the civil parish of Nettlecombe, named after the house, and are approximately 3.6 miles (5.8 km) from the village of Williton, in the English county of Somerset. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lytes Cary</span> Grade I listed house in Somerset, UK

Lytes Cary is a manor house with associated chapel and gardens near Charlton Mackrell and Somerton in Somerset, England. The property, owned by the National Trust, has parts dating to the 14th century, with other sections dating to the 15th, 16th, 18th, and 20th centuries. "Yet all parts blend to perfection with one another and with the gentle sunny landscape that surrounds them," comments Nikolaus Pevsner. The House is listed as Grade I by English Heritage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cothay Manor</span> Grade I listed historic house museum in Stawley, United Kingdom

Cothay Manor is a grade one listed medieval house and gardens, in Stawley, near Wellington, Somerset. The manor grounds consist of almost 40 acres and include cottages, outbuildings, stables, and 12 acres of gardens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Combe Sydenham</span> Historic manor in Somerset, England

Combe Sydenham is an historic manor in Somerset, England. The 15th-century manor house, called Combe Sydenham House is in the parish of Stogumber, Somerset and is situated just within the boundary of Exmoor National Park. It is a Grade I listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church of St Mary the Virgin, Nettlecombe</span> Church in Somerset, England

The Church of St Mary the Virgin in Nettlecombe, Somerset, England dates from the 13th and 14th centuries, and has been designated as a Grade I listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Andrew's Church, Old Cleeve</span> Church in Somerset, England

The Church of St Andrew in Old Cleeve, Somerset, England dates from the 12th century and has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Court House, East Quantoxhead</span> Historic site in Somerset, England

The Court House in East Quantoxhead, Somerset, England has a medieval tower and other parts of the building which date from the 17th century. It has been designated as a Grade I listed building.

The Dogs in Wincanton, Somerset, England was built around 1650 and has been designated as a Grade I listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sir Francis Wyndham, 1st Baronet</span> English soldier and politician

Sir Francis Wyndham, 1st Baronet of Trent, Dorset was an English soldier and politician who sat in the House of Commons of England at various times from 1640 until his death in 1676. During the First English Civil War, he served as a colonel in the Royalist army and helped Charles II of England escape to France after his defeat in the 1651 Third English Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barford Park</span> Historic site in Somerset, England

Barford Park is a Georgian country house and park to the south of Spaxton, west of Bridgwater, Somerset, England. It was designated a grade II* listed building on 29 March 1963. The name "Barford" comes from owners of the land, who had a house on the site in the 13th and 14th centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Horsington House</span>

Horsington House is a country house in Horsington, near Templecombe in Somerset. It is a stone-built house with pillared porch, built in 1839. It is a Grade II listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairfield, Stogursey</span> Historic site in Somerset, England

Fairfield House is a historic house in Stogursey, Somerset, England. A house existed on the site from the 12th century and it has been owned by the same family since that time. The current building is largely 16th-century, but has undergone various remodellings since then. It is designated as a Grade II* listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church of St Peter, Williton</span> Church in Somerset, England

The Anglican Church of St Peter in Williton in the English county of Somerset is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sydenham House, Somerset</span>

Sydenham House, the manor house of the ancient manor of Sydenham in the parish of Wembdon, Somerset, England, is a grade II listed building, constructed in the early 16th century and refronted and rebuilt after 1613. In 1937, British Cellophane Ltd set up production and built extensive factories on 59 acres (24 ha) of land adjacent to the manor house. Production ceased in 2005 and between 2010 and 2015 the industrial site was razed to the ground. In 2015 the razed site is owned by EDF Energy, which in 2012 purchased the manor house with the former factory site, intended for construction of temporary accommodation for 1,000 workers.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "17 bedroom detached house for sale". Zoopla. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
  2. 1 2 Slade, Jane (10 June 2012). "When the roof falls in on your dreams". Daily Express. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
  3. Historic England. "Chapel Cleeve Hotel, balustrade flanking entrance steps and East wall terminating terrace marked by 2 steps fronting facade (1057541)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 4 April 2015.
  4. "Chapel Cleeve Hotel, balustrade flanking entrance steps and East wall terminating terrace marked by 2 steps fronting facade, Chapel Cleeve". Somerset Historic Environment Record. Somerset County Council. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
  5. "St Mary's Chapel, NE of Chapel Cleeve, Old Cleeve". Somerset Historic Environment Record. Somerset County Council. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
  6. Baggs, A. P.; Bush, R. J. E.; Siraut, M. C. "Parishes: Old Cleeve". British History Online. Victoria County History. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  7. 1 2 Baggs, A.P.; Bush, R.J.E.; Siraut, M.C. (1985). Dunning, R.W. (ed.). "Parishes: Old Cleeve". A History of the County of Somerset: Volume 5. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
  8. "Landscape park, Chapel Cleeve". Somerset Historic Environment Record. Somerset County Council. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
  9. "17 bedroom detached for sale in Minehead, Somerset". Fine & Country. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  10. "Property Specifications". Fine & County. Archived from the original on 16 October 2013. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
  11. "63 Year Old Lives Alone in 15 Room $400.000 Mansion". Country House Rescue. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  12. "Country House RescueSeries 4 Episode 2". Channel 4. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
  13. "Ghost Express calling at Chapel Cleeve". West Somerset Railway. Archived from the original on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
  14. Slade, Jane (10 June 2012). "When the roof falls in on your dreams". Sunday Express. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  15. "Construction students help to restore Manor House". Somerset College. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  16. "Chapel Cleeve, Minehead, Somerset". Webbers.co.uk. Retrieved 28 March 2021.

16. follow the new owners restoration journey https://www.instagram.com/manor_house_restoration/