Shapwick Manor at Shapwick in 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_ ...

is a medieval

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

which was largely remodelled in the 19th century by

Henry Strangways Henry Bull Templar Strangways (14 November 1832 – 10 February 1920) was an Australian politician and Premier of South Australia. Strangways was the eldest son of Henry Bull Strangways of Shapwick, Somerset, England. As a boy, he visited Sou ...

on his return from South Australia in 1871. 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 ...

. It is not to be confused with Shapwick House, formerly an hotel, and more recently a rental property, which lies to the north of the village.

History

The manor of Shapwick originally belonged to

Glastonbury Abbey Glastonbury Abbey was a monastery in Glastonbury, Somerset, England. Its ruins, a grade I listed building and scheduled ancient monument, are open as a visitor attraction. The abbey was founded in the 8th century and enlarged in the 10th. It wa ...

, forming part of its Pouholt (Polden) estate in 729. The building that is known as Shapwick House, not the Manor, was built for the

Almoner An almoner (} ' (alms), via the popular Latin '. History Christians have historically been encouraged to donate one-tenth of their income as a tithe to their church and additional offerings as needed for the poor. The first deacons, mentioned ...

of Glastonbury Abbey in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. A survey in 1327 includes a garden, moat and fishponds. Between 1956 and 1980, Shapwick Manor was an outlying boarding house for boys at

Millfield School Millfield is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) located in Street, Somerset, England. It was founded in 1935. Millfield is a registered charity and is the largest co-educational boarding scho ...

, and was later home to

Shapwick School Shapwick School was a specialist school at Shapwick Manor in Shapwick, a village on the Somerset Levels in Somerset, England. In March 2020, it was announced that the school would close at the end of term in March due to financial difficulties ...

, which closed in March 2020.

Architecture

Shapwick Manor is a two-storey stone building that has an asymmetrical frontage, formerly with a glazed

veranda A veranda or verandah is a roofed, open-air gallery or porch, attached to the outside of a building. A veranda is often partly enclosed by a railing and frequently extends across the front and sides of the structure. Although the form ''veran ...

supported on iron columns to one side of the building. The stable block, which was built in the 17th century, is also Grade II*

listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...

. The

dovecote A dovecote or dovecot , doocot ( Scots) or columbarium is a structure intended to house pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be free-standing structures in a variety of shapes, or built into the end of a house or barn. They generally contain pige ...

is medieval but was restored in the 18th and 19th centuries; it was re-roofed in the 20th century. The stone screen and flanking walls were built around 1658.

History

Architecture

References

Further reading