Tullimaar House
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Tullimaar House is a mansion just east of
Perranarworthal Perranarworthal ( kw, Peran ar Wodhel) is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is about four miles (6.5 km) northwest of Falmouth and five miles (8 km) southwest of Truro. Perranarworthal p ...
in west
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; it is not visible from the main A39 Falmouth to
Truro Truro (; kw, Truru) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its ...
road, and stands in private grounds. However, the white gate forming the entrance to the property can be seen from the road.


History


19th century

It was built in 1828 for Benjamin Sampson, born in 1770, who was originally a "bal carpenter" (''i.e.'', carpenter at a mine) and founded the gunpowder works at Kennall Vale. He also held the post of Manager and shareholder in the
Perran Foundry Perranarworthal ( kw, Peran ar Wodhel) is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is about four miles (6.5 km) northwest of Falmouth and five miles (8 km) southwest of Truro. Perranarworthal p ...
, and was an adventurer in
Tresavean Mine Tresavean is a hamlet in the parish of Lanner, 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. ...
, from which he derived a large fortune. He had Tullimaar built and resided there until his death 12 years later in 1840. He was buried at
Gwennap Gwennap ( kw, Lannwenep (village), Pluw Wenep (parish)) is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is about five miles (8 km) southeast of Redruth. Hamlets of Burncoose, Comford, Coombe, Gwennap, Coomb ...
. The house has been home to many distinguished residents or guests including Sarah Parkin widow of Dr. Henry Parkin, RN, Inspector-General of Hospitals and Fleets, and illegitimate child of one of the daughters of George III, who spent her last years there. She was the mother of Caroline, later Mrs. F. Hearle-Cock. The 1861 census shows that the house was occupied by William Henry Lanyon, manager of Kennall Vale. In 1870 the Rev.
Francis Kilvert Robert Francis Kilvert (3 December 184023 September 1879), known as Francis or Frank, was an English clergyman whose diaries reflected rural life in the 1870s, and were published over fifty years after his death. Life Kilvert was born on 3 ...
spent nearly 3 weeks on holiday at Tullimaar with his friends Mr. and Mrs. William Hockin. In the 1891 census, it was occupied by Francis Hearle Cock, solicitor, and his family. His two nieces, Mabile Mary Arundell and Katherine Mary Arundell, the granddaughters of
Baron Arundell of Wardour Baron Arundell of Wardour, in the County of Wiltshire, was a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1605 for Thomas Arundell, known as "Thomas the Valiant", son of Sir Matthew Arundell (died 1598) and grandson of Sir Thomas Arund ...
, also lived there.


20th century

Tullimaar was inhabited until at least 1918 by the Hearle-Cocks, when Francis Hearle-Cock's widow, Caroline, died. It was, presumably, inherited by her only child and heir, Catherine. Tullimaar was later occupied by
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
troops during the latter part of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and U.S. General
Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
stayed at the house for two weeks in the run-up to
D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...
in 1944. These troops brought all their stores with them and when they eventually left on D-Day, all the packing cases, some of which were not even opened, were dumped in
Rosemanowes Quarry Rosemanowes Quarry, near Penryn, Cornwall, England, was a granite quarry and the site of an early experiment in extracting geothermal energy from the earth using hot dry rock (HDR) technology. Quarry In the nineteenth century the quarry provi ...
. In the central east room of the house there is a commemorative brass plaque with the wording 'A shot was fired through this window by a sentry Running Amok 1944'. It is reported that the incident occurred whilst Eisenhower was using the house as his personal headquarters.
Marthe Bibesco Princess Martha Bibescu (Martha Lucia; ''née'' Lahovary; 28 January 1886 – 28 November 1973) also known outside of Romania as Marthe Bibesco, was a celebrated Romanian-French writer, socialite, style icon and political hostess. She spent her c ...
, the Franco-Romanian writer, lived here, after purchasing Tullimaar in 1957 until 1973. She had a plaque placed in the hall stating that the Normandy landings had been planned by General Eisenhower while staying in the house during 1944. Doubt was cast on this by local historians and later owners covered the plaque (which still exists) with a wall hanging. However it was subsequently confirmed that Eisenhower and Winston Churchill had met at Tullimaar for discussions prior to D-Day. In recent years the house was home to Nobel Prize-winning novelist Sir
William Golding Sir William Gerald Golding (19 September 1911 – 19 June 1993) was a British novelist, playwright, and poet. Best known for his debut novel ''Lord of the Flies'' (1954), he published another twelve volumes of fiction in his lifetime. In 1980 ...
who lived at Tullimaar with his wife Ann Brookfield from 1985 until his death there in June 1993. He described it as "a devastatingly beautiful house in the middle of a flowering wilderness" and drafted several of his novels while living there. Golding and his wife Ann selected Tullimaar because of the privacy from unwelcome fan attention provided by its relatively remote location and the surrounding woodlands. The house was later occupied by David Golding, William's son (1940-2022).


Description

Tullimaar ("House on the Hill") is set in a parkland of five acres of woods and gardens. It includes a gardener's lodge and a separate cottage. William Golding devoted much of his final years to clearing a large walled garden located to the south of the house from overgrowth, substituting rows of apple trees. The mansion itself features a succession of tall windows on both floors, reaching almost to each floor.


References

{{Portal bar, Cornwall, United Kingdom, Architecture, border=no Country houses in Cornwall Grade II* listed buildings in Cornwall National Heritage List for England Buildings and structures in Cornwall Grade II* listed houses