West Bower Manor (also known as Durleigh Manor) in

Durleigh Durleigh is a village and civil parish on the outskirts of Bridgwater in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, England. According to the 2011 Census, it had a population of 548. Its nearest town is Bridgwater, which lies approximately north-east fr ...

within the English county of

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

was largely built in the 15th century. It is a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

West Bower Manor is all that remains of a large manorial property, the majority of which has been demolished. Parts of the building date from the 15th century though the core of the fabric may even be earlier, further parts were built in the 17th and 19th centuries. It was the seat of the historical estate of "West Bower" (Bower Delamere) once held by

Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset (150022 January 1552) (also 1st Earl of Hertford, 1st Viscount Beauchamp), also known as Edward Semel, was the eldest surviving brother of Queen Jane Seymour (d. 1537), the third wife of King Henry VI ...

, the brother of

Jane Seymour Jane Seymour (c. 150824 October 1537) was List of English consorts, Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII of England from their Wives of Henry VIII, marriage on 30 May 1536 until her death the next year. She became queen followi ...

, Henry the VIII`s Queen, who is reputed to have been born at West Bower Manor. Seymour had inherited it from his cousin Margaret Coker, the last of the Cokers a local landowning family who had been

lord of the manor Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seig ...

since the Cokers had been granted the land by King Stephen. Coker had been granted the right to add an oratory in 1339. The estate became part of the estate of

Halswell House Halswell House is a Grade I listed country house in Goathurst, Somerset, England. Descent Domesday Book The Domesday Book of 1086 lists the holder of the manor of Halswell as Roger Arundel, whose tenant was Wido. It descended from Roger to ...

in the second half of the 16th century and has been used as a farm since then. It stands on the banks of

Durleigh reservoir Durleigh reservoir at Durleigh in Somerset, England covers and was formed in 1938 when Durleigh brook, a tributary of the River Parrett, was dammed. The reservoir's original purpose was to provide water for the newly built British Cellophane F ...

which was built in 1938.

Architecture

The principal surviving element from the Medieval manor is the gatehouse. It is an example of Decorated-Perpendicular architecture. The stone building has been extensively restored, but is a good example of a former courtyard gatehouse with a pair of faceted turrets on either side of the former entrance passageway. The adjacent farmhouse was built in the 19th century.

References

{{reflist, 30em Grade II* listed buildings in Sedgemoor