Details
ST4916 MONTACUTE CP ABBEY FARM LANE (South end)
8/91 Abbey Farmhouse
(previously listed as Priory
Gatehouse), and farm gate and
stile to north-west corner
19.4.61
GV I
Detached house, incorporating the gateway of the medieval priory. C16, C17 and C19. Ham stone ashlar; stone slate roofs
behind castellated parapets with coped gables; stone slab chimney stacks. South elevation 2 storeys, 7 bays, with a
2-storey 2-bay C19 addition to west. Plinth, eaves course, parapets, angled corner and bay buttresses; bay 1 has
3-light hollow-chamfered mullioned windows, no labels; bays 2/4 represent the gateway, bay 2 being an octagonal stair
turret with entrance door and three 2-light mullioned 4- centre arched light flat headed window under labels to
south-east face, the turret being taller than surrounding work; bay 4 is similar but lower, with 2 matching windows and
doorway in south face; between then the tall 4-centre arched gateway with 3 jamb shafts, and above a 1+4+1 light oriel
window with 4-centre arched lights, moulded corbel, battlements being angled to the bay, with a device on the central
merlon featuring a bishop's mitre and a block sundial over; above and below the oriel are bands of quatrefoil
panelling: bays 5, 6 and 7 have hollow chamfered mullioned and transomed windows, 3-light below and 2-light above, all
with labels; bay 6 is wider, with a moulded 4-centre arched doorway to the left having incised spandrils and
square-stopped label; the merlons to bays 5, 6 and 7 have a variety of carved panels. The extension to the west is set
lower, with double Roman clay tiled roof, and 2-light mullioned windows. The east elevation is plain - the chimneys
have been removed from a projecting stack here. The north elevation is plainer, with plinth, end buttresses only, eaves
course, battlemented parapets: bays 1, 2 and 3 have 2-light mullioned and transomed windows above; to lower bay 2,
off-centre, a 2-light chamfer-mullioned window, and to lower bay 3 an ovolo-mould mullioned window, these both with
labels; between bays 1/2 and right of bay 3 projections for chimney stacks, the former with offsets, the chimneys
probably C20: the main gateway matches the south side except for the absence of stair turrets, with a full-height
buttress to the left and a lean-to projection to the right, possibly for another stair, with stepped stone roof and 2
small windows: upper bay 7 has a 2-light mullioned window without label. The western extension has a mullioned window
to upper bay 1 and steel windows to bay 2, with a lean-to single-storey building across the front, with a C19 Gothic
style door; projection with stepped gable at west end, against which is a farm gateway with single stone gateposts and
a step-over stile to north. The interior not seen. The gateway bears the initials T.C., for Thomas Chard, prior
1514-32, and was thus one of the last buildings of this Cluniac house before the Dissolution. In 1539 the property was
leased as a farmhouse, being part of the landholding of the Phelips family of Montacute House: it was 'almost desolate'
by 1633; some years later it became a residence, but by 1782 it was a revitalised farm, retaining part of the Phelips
estate until 1918. (Country Life, 19th June 1915, p874: VCH vol III, 1974).
Listing NGR: ST4959016889
