Pencarrow

Pencarrow is a Grade II* country house in the parish of Egloshayle, north Cornwall. It stands three miles from Wadebridge and three miles from Bodmin, on a site with older buildings. The present house was remodelled from the 1730s and extended in the 1760s by Sir John Molesworth and his son. Robert Allanson probably designed the façades in Palladian style. The interior plan shows earlier layouts beneath the new symmetry. The house mixes stuccoed stone, brick and dressed slate with slate roofs and hipped ends. The oldest parts may date from the late 17th or early 18th century. Sir William Molesworth laid out the gardens and woodlands between 1831 and 1835. They now hold 160 conifer species, 700 rhododendrons and 60 camellias, plus an Italian garden, granite rockery and lake. A young monkey puzzle tree shown to guests gave the species its name. A stone cross head found on the estate around 1870 stands in the grounds. Cornish wrestling tournaments were held here in the 1800s for prizes. The gardens remain open to visitors and show the family’s planting tastes. The woodlands provide walks among tall specimen trees. The cross head and wrestling history add to the estate’s interest.