Church of St Andrew, Dowlish Wake that to John Hanning Speke, who made three exploratory expeditions to Africa and is associated with the search for the source of the Nile. He was the first European to reach Lake Victoria. In the churchyard is Speke Hall which was built in 1840 as a Sunday School and now serves as the village hall. Outside the church gate is a memorial stone. Church of St Andrew, Dowlish Wake The Anglican Church of St Andrew in Dowlish Wake, Somerset, England was built in the 14th century. It is a Grade II* listed building. The church contains some of the fabric
George Speke brother, William, was descended the explorer John Hanning Speke George Speke George Speke (1623–1689) was an English politician. A Royalist during the English Civil War, after the Restoration (England) he became an early Whig supporter in Parliament. Speke was from Whitelackington, near Ilminster in Somerset; his parents were George Speke, and Joan, daughter of Sir John Portman. He became a ward of Sir Robert Pye, and later married his daughter. Speke gave financial support to Prince Rupert at Bridgwater; and when the town surrendered to Thomas Fairfax in July 1645 he was taken as a hostage and his goods sequestrated.