Quantock Lodge
Quantock Lodge is a green-grey nineteenth-century Gothic revival mansion built by Henry Labouchere, 1st Baron Taunton (1798–1869), to the design of Henry Clutton. It is built from Cockercombe tuff and is located near the hamlet of Aley, near the village of Over Stowey in the English county of Somerset. The house was described by Pevsner as "A large rather dull Tudor house... Gothic Stables, a specially crazy Gothic Dovecote and a big Gothic Lodge on the Aisholt Road."[1] Quantock Lodge and its gatehouse are Listed Buildings.[2]
In 1869 on the death of Lord Taunton the house and estate passed to the eldest daughter the Hon. Mary Labouchere who married Edward Stanley (1826–1907) in 1872. The house stayed in the Stanley family until 1919 when the 8,000 acre estate, house and contents were sold at auction over eleven days. The house was bought by Somerset County Council and was the Quantock Sanatorium until 1961.[3]
In the 1960s the house was purchased by David Peaster and made into a school which he headed along with Cotham School in Bristol. The first three pupils, Richard Williams, Laurie Booth and Tony Budget, came from Cotham High School. Quantock had a boys-only intake, mainly the sons of diplomats and armed services personnel. The 1960s and early 1970s saw a high point for the school, with it being described as "The Gordonstoun of the West". Cotham High School closed in 1966.
In 1986 Quantock School went co-educational, but soon after the turn of the 1990s was in gradual decline, due in the main to the end of the Cold War and the closing of a number of overseas service bases, which in turn led to a drying up of new pupils. The return of the colony of Hong Kong to China in 1997 also had a serious impact on the school population. In 1998, Quantock School closed.
Following the death of David Peaster in 2000, the school reverted to its former name of Quantock Lodge, and was remarketed by Peaster's widow Jane as a centre for recreation and banqueting. It is also a recognised youth summer camp centre.
Gallery
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Dovecot at Quantock Lodge. - geograph.org.uk - 116147.jpg
Dovecote
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Gatehouse at Quantock Lodge - geograph.org.uk - 116150.jpg
Gatehouse
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Quantock School colour crest.png
Colour School crest
References
External links
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