Pencarrow ( kw, Pennkarow) is a Grade II*-listed country house in the civil parish of

Egloshayle Egloshayle (pronounced "eglos-hale" kw, Eglosheyl – meaning church and ''heyl'' meaning estuary) is a civil parish and village in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is beside the River Camel, southeast of Wadebridge. Th ...

, in north

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 European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. It is situated three miles (5 km) east-southeast of

Wadebridge Wadebridge (; kw, Ponswad) is a town and civil parish in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town straddles the River Camel upstream from Padstow.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 200 ''Newquay & Bodmin'' The permanent popul ...

and three miles (5 km) north-northwest of Bodmin.

History

Sir John Molesworth, 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 A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...

, also Sir John Molesworth. The architect was probably

Robert Allanson Robert Allanson (1735–1773) was a British architect from York. He designed Pencarrow house in Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a Historic counties of England, historic county and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in ...

. The initial remodelling of the house may have begun around 1730, as the

Palladian style 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 ...

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 stuccoed 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 rhododendrons and 60 species of

camellia ''Camellia'' (pronounced or ) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. They are found in eastern and southern Asia, from the Himalayas east to Japan and Indonesia. There are more than 220 described species, with some controv ...

s, and an Italian garden, a granite rockery and lake. ''

Araucaria araucana ''Araucaria araucana'' (commonly called the monkey puzzle tree, monkey tail tree, piñonero, pewen or Chilean pine) is an evergreen tree growing to a trunk diameter of 1–1.5 m (3–5 ft) and a height of 30–40 m (100–130 ft). ...

'' 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