Carclew House, one of Britain's lost houses, was a large

Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

country house near Mylor in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, England,

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. It was situated at approximately three miles north of Falmouth. Carclew House was for some generations owned by the Bonython family. It was rebuilt in the 18th century and again in the early 19th century but was destroyed by fire in 1934.

Design and construction

The original house and estate were purchased by a wealthy

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

William Lemon Sir William Lemon, 1st Baronet (11 October 1748 – 11 December 1824) was a Member of Parliament for Cornish constituencies from 1770 to 1824, a total of 54 years. Background He was the son of William Lemon and Anne, the daughter of John Willya ...

(1696–1760) circa 1739. Lemon's townhouse in Truro had been designed by the architect Thomas Edwards, and it was again to Edwards that Lemon turned to substantially increase and modernise his new country house Carclew.Cornish History Work began in 1739, the enhancement to the

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word '' manse'' originally defined a property l ...

included flanking the main block with

colonnade In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or curv ...

s terminated by small

pavilion In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings: * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

s in the fashionable Palladian manner, the design was similar in appearance to drawings of

Palladio Andrea Palladio ( ; ; 30 November 1508 – 19 August 1580) was an Italian Renaissance architect active in the Venetian Republic. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily Vitruvius, is widely considered to be one of th ...

's planned

Villa Ragona A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...

. The house is now a ruin, and is home to many wildlife species. The original stone pillars are still there today.

Enlargement

At the beginning of the 19th century, William Lemon's grandson Sir

(1748–1824) had the house expanded further. He employed the architect

William Wood William Wood may refer to: Politicians * William Wood (MP for Berkshire), Member of Parliament (MP) for Berkshire, 1395 * William Wood (15th century MP), MP for Winchester, 1413 * William Wood, 1st Baron Hatherley (1801–1881), British statesma ...

(1746–1818) to create new wings in the place of the pavilions designed by Edwards. Work began in 1799 with the east wing being built in 1800 and the west wing in 1802. The wings were linked to the

corps de logis In architecture, a ''corps de logis'' () is the principal block of a large, (usually Classical architecture, classical), mansion or palace. It contains the principal rooms, state apartments and an entry.Curl, James Stevens (2006). ''Oxford Dict ...

by raised colonnaded connecting wings on the site of Edwards's original colonnades. Sir

Charles Lemon Sir Charles Lemon, 2nd Baronet (3 September 1784 – 13 February 1868) was a British Member of Parliament for several constituencies and a baronet. Early life He inherited his baronetcy in 1824 upon the death of his father Sir William Lemon, 1s ...

was amongst the first people in England to receive and grow

rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; from Ancient Greek ''rhódon'' "rose" and ''déndron'' "tree") is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are nati ...

seed from Sir

Joseph Hooker Joseph Hooker (November 13, 1814 – October 31, 1879) was an American Civil War general for the Union, chiefly remembered for his decisive defeat by Confederate General Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863. Hooker had serv ...

, who had sent seed directly to Carclew House from his

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

n expedition of 1848–1850. The Rhododendron arboretum specimen at Carclew, planted c. 1850 by Sir Charles became one of the most famous in Cornwall. By 1928 it was about 35 feet high.

1934 fire and after

In 1934 Carclew was destroyed by fire and has been derelict since. It was then owned by Captain Charles H. Tremayne, a descendant of Sir Charles Lemon. In the late 1930s though, one wing was ‘made habitable by hard work’ and brought into service as a reception centre for refugees coming from Europe. This was a project of the

Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

’ Peace Committee and was run by James T. Baily. The

terraced In agriculture, a terrace is a piece of sloped plane that has been cut into a series of successively receding flat surfaces or platforms, which resemble steps, for the purposes of more effective farming. This type of landscaping is therefore ...

gardens complete with their water

fountain A fountain, from the Latin "fons" (genitive "fontis"), meaning source or Spring (hydrology), spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect. ...

s and cascades remain and are privately owned and not open to the public. A new house was built by Mr Jack Silley on a new site at the top of the present garden. Mr Silley also developed the present garden on the site of the old mansion garden and his work was continued by Judge and Mrs Chope. One of the notable features of the garden is the large lily pond with swans.Synge, Patrick (1977) ''The Gardens of Britain; Vol. 1: Devon and Cornwall''. London: B. T. Batsford; p. 91 It was added to

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked wit ...

Heritage at Risk Register An annual ''Heritage at Risk Register'' is published by Historic England. The survey is used by national and local government, a wide range of individuals and heritage groups to establish the extent of risk and to help assess priorities for actio ...

in 2018.

References

Notes

Sources