Ashwick House (near Dulverton)
Encyclopedia
Ashwick House is a Grade II listed Edwardian mansion in Ashwick, four miles northwest of Dulverton
, Exmoor
, Somerset
, England.
The house is located on a hillside overlooking the Barle Valley
. It was built in 1901 by a Bristolian businessman as a hunting retreat. It sits in six acres of sprawling gardens and looks across the hills to the Bristol Channel
. The house has six bedrooms, each named after trees and individually decorated. The "Ash Room" is decorated in shades of pink and green, matching the stained-glass window.
In 1928 Frank Green
purchased Ashwick House. He moved to Exmoor
in 1930 and took as active interest in running the Ashwick Estate, which extended to several hundred acres of farmland. In those days 20 resident staff ran the house and it was regularly used for lavish entertaining. To provide for entertainment of the staff, a miniature theatre (sometimes known as the music room) was constructed in the grounds. Standing on stone pillars. The auditorium is 30 feet (9.1 m) long and 15 feet (4.6 m) wide with a wooden dance floor. The stage is 8 feet (2.4 m) deep with a proscenium arch 10 feet (3 m) wide. The wings have trompe l'oeil
paintings on canvas of Edward VII and Queen Alexandra on one side and politicians including Herbert Asquith, Andrew Bonar Law
and Austin Chamberlain on the other. The building has been taken over by the Moorland Mousie Trust and is being restored to serve as a heritage information centre.
From 1980 the house was run as a hotel but according to its official site it is now closed to the public.
Dulverton
Dulverton is a town and civil parish in the heart of West Somerset, England, near the border with Devon. The town has a population of 1,630. The parish includes the hamlets of Battleton and Ashwick which is located approximately north west of Dulverton...
, Exmoor
Exmoor
Exmoor is an area of hilly open moorland in west Somerset and north Devon in South West England, named after the main river that flows out of the district, the River Exe. The moor has given its name to a National Park, which includes the Brendon Hills, the East Lyn Valley, the Vale of Porlock and ...
, Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, England.
The house is located on a hillside overlooking the Barle Valley
Barle Valley
Barle Valley is a 104.2 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Devon and Somerset, notified in 1997.The site includes the Somerset Wildlife Trust's Mounsey Wood Nature Reserve and Knaplock and North Barton SSSI notified in 1954...
. It was built in 1901 by a Bristolian businessman as a hunting retreat. It sits in six acres of sprawling gardens and looks across the hills to the Bristol Channel
Bristol Channel
The Bristol Channel is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England. It extends from the lower estuary of the River Severn to the North Atlantic Ocean...
. The house has six bedrooms, each named after trees and individually decorated. The "Ash Room" is decorated in shades of pink and green, matching the stained-glass window.
In 1928 Frank Green
Frank Green
Frank Green , son of Sir Edward Green, 1st Baronet, a Yorkshire ironmaster and Mary Lycett, was a British industrialist. His father, Edward Green was a Conservative politician and wealthy industrialist....
purchased Ashwick House. He moved to Exmoor
Exmoor
Exmoor is an area of hilly open moorland in west Somerset and north Devon in South West England, named after the main river that flows out of the district, the River Exe. The moor has given its name to a National Park, which includes the Brendon Hills, the East Lyn Valley, the Vale of Porlock and ...
in 1930 and took as active interest in running the Ashwick Estate, which extended to several hundred acres of farmland. In those days 20 resident staff ran the house and it was regularly used for lavish entertaining. To provide for entertainment of the staff, a miniature theatre (sometimes known as the music room) was constructed in the grounds. Standing on stone pillars. The auditorium is 30 feet (9.1 m) long and 15 feet (4.6 m) wide with a wooden dance floor. The stage is 8 feet (2.4 m) deep with a proscenium arch 10 feet (3 m) wide. The wings have trompe l'oeil
Trompe l'oeil
Trompe-l'œil, which can also be spelled without the hyphen in English as trompe l'oeil, is an art technique involving extremely realistic imagery in order to create the optical illusion that the depicted objects appear in three dimensions.-History in painting:Although the phrase has its origin in...
paintings on canvas of Edward VII and Queen Alexandra on one side and politicians including Herbert Asquith, Andrew Bonar Law
Andrew Bonar Law
Andrew Bonar Law was a British Conservative Party statesman and Prime Minister. Born in the colony of New Brunswick, he is the only British Prime Minister to have been born outside the British Isles...
and Austin Chamberlain on the other. The building has been taken over by the Moorland Mousie Trust and is being restored to serve as a heritage information centre.
From 1980 the house was run as a hotel but according to its official site it is now closed to the public.