Cannington Court

Cannington Priory, later to be known as Cannington Court, was first established by the De Courcy family in about 1138. Many of the gentry of Somerset sent their daughters to reside there. By the fourteenth century, there was some moral backsliding and in 1328, an inquiry was set up to investigate illicit activities of monks and nuns. Large iron-bound gates were erected to ensure the nuns stayed inside the grounds, and there existed rumours that tunnels connected the nunnery to the village. The nunnery owned significant land in the area. Following the dissolution of the priory the building was bought by Edward Rogers and he made various alterations. These were continued by the Clifford…

Cannington Court is a Grade I listed building, having been so designated on 29 March 1963. It is built of red sandstone with some brick sections. There is a moulded cornice and ashlar parapet with a coping. Some of the roofs are hipped; some are slated and others have Roman tiles. The range of buildings consist of a medieval hall and other buildings surrounding an irregular quadrangle, with a chapel wing on the south side. The entrance building has three storeys. The central, three-storey porch is made of ashlar stone and has slender Ionic columns on pedestals on either side. The windows have stone mullions.