Set on a slope facing E in peaceful countryside a few miles from the N coast, the handsome Elizabethan house was largely built in local elvan stone as an extension of an earlier tower house on the same site.
Some fabric from the late medieval house has been incorporated in the W range but the design of the original remains speculative (Jope, 'Cornish Houses' 206--7).
Probable performance venue. Although relevant family papers do not survive, entertainers patronized by the Arundell family performed elsewhere in Devon in the late 15th c.
Now owned by the National Trust. Open to the public at specified times.
ca. 1330 Estate acquired by Ralph Arundell via marriage with Jane, heiress of Michael Trerise.
later 15th c. Sir John Arundell (d 1473) built the first house with a hall and 3-storey tower block.
early 16th c. Sir John Arundell (1495--1560) added a 2-storey block on the S side.
1572--3 The present Elizabethan hall-house added to the NE by another Sir John Arundell (d 1580). Older hall block converted to include a great chamber on the upper floor.
1768 William Wentworth inherited the Arundell estates from his uncle John, 4th Baron Arundell of Trerice.
1775 Estates settled on Wentworth's son, Frederick Thomas, later 3rd Earl of Stafford.
late 18th c. Occupied by tenants.
1802 Estate devolved upon Sir Thomas Dyke-Acland.
ca. 1860 Dilapidated N wing taken down to the level of the string course below the eaves.
1915 Sold to the Cornwall County Council and occupied by tenants for several decades.
1953 Acquired by the National Trust.
1954 Excavations revealed the existence of 2 prior phases of the house. N facade restored according to its original design.
REED Devon 32, 34, 36
| Name | Dates | Titles |
|---|---|---|
| Arundell, John | 0-1473 | Knight |
| Arundell, John | 1447-1512 | Knight |
