IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Beer, SEATON, EX12 3AB

Historic house near Beer. Was used as a hotel but now could be a private house again. Info from Web : Bovey House was a seat of the Walrond family from about 1670 when they bought it from Sir William Pole, although they are believed to have been in tenancy from a considerably earlier time. It remained in the family until it passed by marriage to the Rolles family in 1778 and then onto Lord Clinton, again by marriage. The property was owned by Sherborne Abbey up until the dissolution of the monasteries when Henry VIII gave it to Catherine Parr as part of her dowry in 1543. The present house was built around a medieval hall in 1592 and having been reduced in size after a period of neglect, was restored in 1868. In places the house rises to three storeys and still retains that beautiful Elizabethan look. The Great Hall is now a drawing room with 17th century panelling and an interesting ceiling. There is another room, which has 16th century, linen-fold panelling and an ornate frieze. The ‘King Charles Bedroom’ has a unique coffered ceiling depicting Charles II hiding in an oak tree with the pursuing horsemen all around during his flight after the battle of Worcester. Bovey House is now a hotel, tastefully modernised and set in attractive walled gardens retaining many ancient and historic features, as does the house itself with secret passages and a priests’ hole. There is a well in the grounds, which is 180ft deep and has a tread-wheel for raising water. Thirty feet down is another hiding place let into the sidewall. In front of the house there are three anchor stones in a triangle used, up to the Second World War, to secure three defensive bronze cannons. Walrond family monuments can be found in the church of St. Mary at Uffculme. Two other lesser Walrond houses are Tidwell House at East Budleigh built around 1730 and Dunchideock House from the Georgian period and earlier. Two other houses with Walrond associations, by marriage, are Moorstone Barton, an important medieval house at Halberton and Huntsham Court, an impressive mansion built in 1868.

A driveway leading to Bovey House.

A small track and right of way.

The oaks shading the camera are at the east end of the drive, which crosses into Image to the right. The photo shows the eastern end of the field to the south of the drive, occupying a shallow valley, which is crossed on the left by the lane to Bovey Fir Cross.

A grassy field in the East Devon countryside.

A grassy field in the countryside.

Looking along a country lane in East Devon.