Bovey Castle, formerly the Manor House Hotel, is a large early 20th-century mansion on the edge of

Dartmoor National Park Dartmoor is an highland (geography), upland area in southern Devon, South West England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by National parks of England and Wales, National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers ...

, near Moretonhampstead,

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, England. It is a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

and is now a hotel with 59 individually designed bedrooms in the hotel and 22 three-storey country lodges nearby.

History

Construction

The house started construction in 1907 for Frederick Smith, Lord Hambleden, the son and heir of the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

politician and stationery

magnate The term magnate, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...

William Henry Smith. Contemporary news reporting and a plaque within the building note the architect as Walter Edward Mills, although the official listing lists the architect as Detmar Blow, and Pevsner attributed it to

Thomas Garner Thomas Garner (1839 – 30 April 1906) was one of the leading English Gothic Revival architects of the Victorian era. He is known for his almost 30-year partnership with the architect George Frederick Bodley. Early life Born at Wasperton H ...

. The building is built of granite quarried within the wider estate, with dressings of stone from

Darley Dale Darley Dale, formerly Darley, is a town and civil parish in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England, with a population of 5,413. It lies north of Matlock, Derbyshire, Matlock, on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent an ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

. Over 300 people worked on the construction of the building, and the completion was celebrated with a grand dinner for them in March 1908.

Wartime service

In 1917, due to World War I, the manor house was opened for the use of wounded soldiers.

Conversion to a hotel

Following the death of Lord Hambleden, there were significant

death duties International tax law distinguishes between an estate tax and an inheritance tax. An inheritance tax is a tax paid by a person who inherits money or property of a person who has died, whereas an estate tax is a levy on the estate (money and prop ...

to be paid, and the estate was sold off by lots at auction in 1928, along with over 5,000 acres of land and the entire village of North Bovey. The following year, it was announced that the main manor house and 200 acres of land had been sold to the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

for conversion into a hotel. The provision of activities including fishing, croquet, and the possibility of the construction of a golf course on site were emphasised from the announcement. The hotel opened in 1929 as the "Manor House Hotel". The following year, on

Whitsun Whitsun (also Whitsunday or Whit Sunday) is the name used in Britain, and other countries among Anglicans and Methodists, for the Christian holy day of Pentecost. It falls on the seventh Sunday after Easter and commemorates the descent of the H ...

1930, the new 18-hole

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

course opened at the hotel, designed by John Frederick Abercromby. The following year, a group of noted golf professionals played at the Manor House Hotel course, at the invitation of Viscount Churchill, chairman of the

. The nationalisation of the railways in 1948 led to the hotel being part of the

British Transport Commission The British Transport Commission (BTC) 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 (Northern Ireland had the s ...

's Hotels Executive, which eventually became the

British Transport Hotels British Transport Hotels (BTH) was the hotels and catering business of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain. Origins of the company Britain's private railway companies pioneered the concept of the railway hotel, initially at loca ...

portfolio.

Privatisation

Privatisation of British Rail, including the hotel portfolio, saw the property sold into the private sector in 1983. It was initially sold with seven other British Transport Hotels to the Virani brothers, but was re-sold within 48 hours to Eclipsecare. Eclipsecare maintained ownership of the hotel under its Crown Hotels group until 1991 when the group went into receivership. The hotel continued to trade, and do good business, whilst the parent company was in administration.

Expansion and name change

Entrepreneur Peter de Savary, also then the owner of

Skibo Castle Skibo Castle (Scottish Gaelic: ''Caisteal Sgìobail'') is located to the west of Dornoch in the Highland (council area), Highland county of Sutherland, Scotland overlooking the Dornoch Firth. Although largely of the 19th century and early 20th ce ...

, purchased the Manor House Hotel in 2003 for £7.5 million. The hotel continued to trade during 2003, and was closed in early 2004 for a full refubishment. de Savary undertook extensive renovation and extension of the property, rebranding the hotel as Bovey Castle. The expansion included the building of a new wing on the main building, containing a swimming pool and new brasserie restaurant, as well as the building of 22 lodges in the grounds. In 2006 de Savary sold Bovey Castle to Hilwood Resorts for over £26m. Hilwood put the hotel up for sale for £17.5m in 2012, and was eventually sold in 2015 to the Rigby Group, forming part of their Eden Hotel Collection. The castle was used as the venue for the wedding of diver

Tom Daley Thomas Robert Daley (born 21 May 1994) is an English retired diver, YouTuber and television personality. He is an Olympic champion in the men's synchronised 10-metre platform event at the 2020 Olympics and double world champion in the FI ...

and his husband,

Dustin Lance Black Dustin Lance Black (born June 10, 1974) is an American screenwriter, director, producer, and LGBT rights activist. He is known for writing the film ''Milk'', for which he won the Oscar for best original screenplay in 2009. He has also subsequen ...

, in May 2017.

Recognition

Bovey Castle is rated as 5 star, and an "Inspector's Choice Hotel" by

The AA AA Limited, trading as The AA, is a British motoring association. Founded in 1905, it provides vehicle insurance, Driver's education, driving lessons, breakdown cover, loans, motoring advice, road maps and other services. The association Demut ...

, as well as having 3 rosettes for the main restaurant and 1 for the brasserie. The Eden Hotel Collection which it is part of was named Small Hotel Group of the Year in the 2024 AA Hospitality Awards. The hotel was named as Large Hotel of the Year at the South West Tourism Awards in 2024, following a win at the Devon Tourism Awards.

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.

Incidents

In September 2016, 13 people were injured when a balcony collapsed at the hotel.

References

{{reflist Country houses in Devon Hotels in Devon Grade II* listed buildings in Devon Grade II* listed houses Grade II* listed hotels Houses completed in 1907 Country house hotels Golf clubs and courses in Devon