MDE20954 - Lower Lodge, Lee Abbey (Building)

Detached house. Probably c1875. Rubble, tile roof. A picturesque building in elaborate Cottage Ornee style, central entry to twin-gabled asymmetrical front. 2 storeys; 2-window range. Wood casements with mullions and decorative cast-iron lights. The upper floor has two 4-light under carved flat lintels with peaked heads, on slate cills. Ground floor has a 3-light, with a canted 1:4:1-light bay to the right beneath a pent roof on stone piers, covering also the central pair of plank doors with fleur-de-lys hinges, and side-light, under a straight moulded wood lintel. The gables have rich triple-cusped barge-boards, carried on elaborate carved corbels, returned also to the right gable, with plain walling generally but one small light at ground floor and a plain mid string. The left gable to the front is jettied slightly on a series of stone corbels. The roof tiles have scalloped ends, and there is a decorative clay ridge; to the left gable, which is plain, is a large stack, with a further ridge stack centrally. The rear is plain, with a small gabled unit, possibly containing the staircase. INTERIOR: not accessible. A richly detailed example of a Lee Abbey estate cottage, similar in style to Valley Lodge (qv), and Lee Cottage in Martinhoe CP. [1] The building was visited in December 2013 as part of the rapid condition survey of Exmoor's Listed Buildings 2012-13. It received a BAR score of 6. [2] The building is labelled "Lower Edge" on the 2020 MasterMap data. [3] It is not hown on the 25 inch 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map. [4] The building is shown on the 25 inch 2nd Edition map and is labelled "Lodge". A barrier is shown across the routeway to the buildings immediate north. [5] The building appears to have served as the gate lodge for Lee Abbey. [6] The building was assessed as part of the 2018-19 rapid condition survey of Exmoor’s Listed Buildings, receiving a BAR score of 6. [7]