Details
WHITELACKINGTON CP
ST3615 DILLINGTON PARK
7/122 Dillington House
(formerly listed under Civil
Parish of Ilminster Without)
4.2.58
GV II*
Large country house, now residential training college. C16 and C17 origins, but reshaped c1838 by Sir James Pennethorne
for J.E.Lee. Ham stone ashlar; Welsh slate roofs with stone verges between coped gables; octagonal ashlar chimney
stacks in groups. Seven-unit roof over 'H'-plan; 2 storeys; 7-bay west elevation, of which the outer bays project.
Plinth, string courses, quatrefoil open parapet to centre bays, with gables to each bay. Hollow- chamfered mullioned
windows with 4-centre arched lights set in hollowed recesses, with labels above and under continuous strings below;
outer bays have angled corner buttresses, 4-light transomed windows below and 4-light plain above, bays 2 and 6 still
set forward slightly, with 2-light windows; bays 3 and 5 have pairs of 4-light windows below and single windows above;
bay 4 has a 4-light window above; all but the outer windows ornamentally leaded; lower bay 4 a tall projecting
single-storey porch with angled corner buttresses, a shield over the doorway and quatrefoil panels below a crenellated
parapet which has quatrefoil panelled merlons; outer doorway 4-centre-arched, the inner cambered-arched; the ceiling
octo-partite vaulted, and mounted on south wall an ornamental late C16/early C17 door, probably that of the previous
building on site. East elevation also 7 bays, but the inner bays not of corresponding widths; outer bays similar,bays 2
and 6 have 4-light windows, bays 3 and 5 very narrow, with single-light windows to first floor only; centre bay has a
4-light window above, set higher than remainder, with shield in gable over, and below a projecting single-storey bay
with 4-centre-arched lights, one to sides and 3 to front, with French doors, heavily moulded copings and pair of corner
turrets. South elevation of 3 bays, with 2-light transomed upper windows, with a pair to the centre bay; below,
occupying rather more than the central bay, an orangery, 2 bays x 5 bays, with small-pane French doors in 4-centre-
arched openings, with elaborate coving moulding featuring vine decoration, then 4 pinnacles, no parapet, and a hipped
glass roof. On the north side, linked but set on lower ground, a 2-storey 2-bay servants' wing, generally to match,
with pinnacle finish to dormers, gable copings and kneelers, and over the single-storey link to the main house a small
plain bellcote: parts of the north wall and the upper window of bay 7 east elevation may be C17 work. Inside, the
entrance hall across most of the front, with rib and panel ceiling, stone flag floor, and stone screens to each end
wall featuring three 4-centre arches; similar doorways to rooms on east side; to centre arch in north wall the
staircase, and in the east wall a heavy-detailed Gothic-style fireplace: all the ground floor roods of interest; the
dining rood, central on east front, has an elaborate panelled ceiling with pendant drops, marble fireplace and timber
Gothic- style doorcases; the south-east and south rooms similar, but with elaborate foliated ceiling covings, simpler
fireplaces and pendant ceiling roses: a C15 screen with arches opposite the kitchen: first floor not seen, but noted is
a C18 carved chimney piece in one bedroom. Origins of building not recorded, but sections of the north crosswing may be
before 1551, by John Bonvile; house extended c1600 by Sir George Speke, and later amended by Lord North; an 1831
drawing illustrates the degree of change made in 1838: by tradition some elements said to come from Barrington Court.
(Leaflet 'A Brief History of Dillington House', Dillington College for Adult Education,undated).
Listing NGR: ST3676515552
