Country Houses

Families with large country estates liked to live in large, grand houses. These houses were expensive to build and needed lots of servants to run them. Sometimes the families couldn’t afford to keep them up so they sold them. You can still see many fine country houses on the Quantocks.

Some special building-words

Click on these dates to see some Quantock country houses.

Some special building-words.

arcade:
a row of arches
classical:
a style based on ancient Greek and Roman buildings
colonnade:
a row of pillars
crenellated:
looking like battlements on a castle
gothic:
a style based on medieval and Tudor buildings, popular with the Victorians
mullions and transoms:
the thick vertical and horizontal bars (usually stone) that divide up a large window
parapet:
a low wall going round the edge of a roof
pediment:
The triangular shape over a door or a window or at the end of a roof, on classical buildings
pilasters:
False pillars attached to a wall
rendered:
When a stone wall is covered with a plaster mixture to make it smooth