Bovey Castle is a large early 20th century mansion on the edge of Dartmoor

Dartmoor

Dartmoor is an area of moorland in south Devon, England. Protected by National Park status, it covers .The granite upland dates from the Carboniferous period of geological history. The moorland is capped with many exposed granite hilltops known as tors, providing habitats for Dartmoor wildlife. The...

, near Moretonhampstead

Moretonhampstead

Moretonhampstead lies on the edge of Dartmoor and is notable for having the longest one-word name of any place in England. The parish church is dedicated to St. Andrew. George Oliver and John Pike Jones , 1828, Exeter: E. Woolmer. Moretonhampstead is twinned with Betton in France.-History:The...

, Devon

Devon

Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

, England. It is a Grade II* listed building
and is now a hotel.

History

The house was built in 1907 to designs by Detmar Blow

Detmar Blow

Detmar Jellings Blow was a British architect of the early 20th century, who designed principally in the arts and crafts style. His clients belonged chiefly to the British aristocracy, and later he became estates manager to the Duke of Westminster...

, for the second Viscount Hambleden

Viscount Hambleden

Viscount Hambleden, of Hambleden in the County of Buckinghamshire, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1891 for Emily Danvers Smith, in honour of her deceased husband, the businessman and Conservative politician William Henry Smith...

.

By 1930 it had become a hotel

British Transport Hotels

British Transport Hotels was the brand name of the hotels and catering business associated with the nationalised railway system in Great Britain from 1953 to 1983.- Organisation :...

 operated by the Great Western Railway

Great Western Railway

The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...

, known as the Manor House Hotel. In 1948 it was taken over by the British Transport Commission

British Transport Commission

The British Transport Commission was created by Clement Attlee's post-war Labour government as a part of its nationalisation programme, to oversee railways, canals and road freight transport in Great Britain...

. It was expanded under new ownership in the 1990s and renamed 'Bovey Castle' in 2003.

Architecture

The main building was built in 1907 in Jacobean style, with a Great Hall into which a floor was inserted in the 1980s. The interior is of high quality, with panelled rooms and elaborately carved features. Extensions were built in the 1930s. The garden front is set above terraces overlooking a lake and the River Bovey

River Bovey

Bovey is a river in the Dartmoor moors in Devon in south-west England....

.