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
John Hanning Speke and 18 out of the entourage of the Queen Mother. Speke took a serious liking to the elder, Meri, whom he fell in love with, according to his diaries (which were redacted when they were published as books later). While Meri proved loyal to Speke and fulfilled her task at being a "wife" as commanded by the Queen Mother, she showed no emotional attachment to Speke, and this left Speke heart-broken because he sought a relationship of mutual emotional feelings. Speke spent several months at the court of Mutesa and when he had given up winning Mere's heart, tried to