Pencarrow ( kw, Pennkarow) is a Grade II*-listed

country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

in the civil parish of Egloshayle, in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated three miles (5 km) east-southeast of Wadebridge and three miles (5 km) north-northwest of

Bodmin Bodmin () is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated south-west of Bodmin Moor. The extent of the civil parish corresponds fairly closely to that of the town so is mostly urban in character. It is bordere ...

History

Sir

John Molesworth John Matheson Molesworth (16 February 1878 – 27 August 1942) was an Australian rules footballer who played with St Kilda in the Victorian Football League (VFL). John Matheson Molesworth, one of three sons of Flora Macdonald ( Matheson) and ...

, the fourth Molesworth baronet, started the construction of Pencarrow in the 1760s, extending a large older house on the site, and it was completed after his death in 1766, by his son, the fifth baronet, also Sir John Molesworth. The architect was probably Robert Allanson. The initial remodelling of the house may have begun around 1730, as the Palladian style of the house was somewhat out of fashion by the 1760s and 1770s when much of the work was done. Another clue is that the symmetry of the south and east façades is not matched by any symmetry in the interior plan, possibly because the layout of the building's rooms inhibited the axial symmetry associated with the Palladian style.

Description

The oldest parts of the house probably date from the late 17th or early 18th century, although there was earlier building on the site. The south and east façades are

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

ed stone rubble and brick, while the north side is stone rubble. The west side is built of dressed slate stone with a moulded plinth. The roofs are slate with hipped ends on the south and east fronts. Garden Pencarrow - geograph

The surrounding woodlands and gardens, laid out by Sir William Molesworth, the 8th Baronet, between 1831 and 1835, now contain 160 species of specimen conifers, 700 species of

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 ...

s and 60 species of camellias, and an Italian garden, a granite rockery and lake. '' Araucaria araucana'' derives its popular name of "monkey puzzle tree" from what happened when a young specimen of it at Pencarrow was shown to a group of friends of the owner; one of them made the remark "It would puzzle a monkey to climb that"; as the species had no existing popular name, first 'monkey puzzler', then 'monkey puzzle' stuck.

Stone cross head

A stone cross head at Pencarrow was described by Arthur Langdon (1896). It was found c. 1870 on the estate and afterwards set up in the grounds.Langdon, A. G. (1896) ''Old Cornish Crosses''. Truro: Joseph Pollard, p. 194-96

References

External links

Pencarrow official website
{{Portal bar, Cornwall, United Kingdom, Architecture, border=no Gardens in Cornwall Country houses in Cornwall Tourist attractions in Cornwall Historic house museums in Cornwall Grade II* listed houses Grade II* listed buildings in Cornwall National Heritage List for England Buildings and structures in Cornwall