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
Manor of Orleigh assumed the name Lee, as he was required to do under his uncle's will, and purchased as his residence Dillington Manor near Ilminster in Somerset. He let Orleigh to his brother-in-law William Speke of Jordans near Ilminster, Somerset. Speke had seven children, all but one daughter having been born at Orleigh, including his eldest son the famous explorer and discoverer of the source of the River Nile, John Hanning Speke (1827–1864). The Speke family gave up their tenancy of Orleigh in 1845 and Mr Lee next let the house to Col. Bayly from 1845 to 1856 and then to Capt.