Cornwall 8 - Bodmin and a lovely house Lanhydrock/the Robartes family

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We are nearing the end of our trip to Cornwall. I worked out the main things I wanted to revisit and wanted Glenn to see. After today we will be on the other bits. I had pencilled in the Bodmin Railway a heritage steam train - closed. I had thought to take him to the museum of shipwrecks at Charlestown - closed until April. We could go to the Lizard and to Cape Cornwall but in this weather it was not that appealing. We possibly could visit St Ives - again not attractive in the pouring rain. I had no intention of visiting Lands End. So we were now in the process of wondering what to do next. Two more whole days - perhaps if I sleep on it something will come to mind.

Before that though we had Bodmin and Lanhydrock to visit . Another national trust property it was going to feel free to go around. Again it was another large house I had seen many times before . It had been a long time since I last visited so I knew I would enjoy it again .

Parking was easy. Another easy one for Suzy. The walk down to the house was a wet one. I wonder if we will ever get rid of ths rain. Today is the first day of metrological Spring . Not real Spring just the weather one.

Lanhydrock means church enclosure of St Hydrock in Cornish . St Hydrock is one of the strange saints that Cornwall is famous for. The name again can be easily translated if you are welsh as llan means a church in that language . The church is centred on the country estate and parts of it date back to the 15th century. Grey and forbidding it is the archaetypal Cornish church. There was not a great deal inside. To my mind it looked better outside than inside. There is a simple chancel , nave and aisles. Nothing spectacular nor fascinating sadly just a plain church. Outside was an incomplete Cornish cross .

The garden though is something else with its clipped box topiary making a statement on the front lawn. The gate lodge an Elizabethan treasure . It made a fitting entrance to the hall.

The house is built of the same granite as the church. Hard and grey glistening silver in the rain. The great house stands in extensive grounds (360 hectares or 890 acres) above the River Fowey and it has been owned and managed by the National Trust since since 1953. Much of the present house dates back to Victorian times but many of the sections date from the 1620s. Originally the house and estate belonged to the Augustinian priory of St Petroc (another saint peculiar to Cornwall) but with the dissolution of the monasteries it like many others passed into private hands. In 1620 wealthy merchant Sir Richard Robartes acquired the estate and began building Lanhydrock House, designed to a four-sided layout around a central courtyard and it was this house we were off to see. Robartes died in 1624 but work on the building was continued by his son John .

During the 18th century the east wing of the house was demolished leaving the U-shaped plan seen today. A large proportion of the house was destroyed in 1881 by a fire.



On entering the house we were allowed to walk around on our own. There were so many rooms it was hard to take it all in. Apparently this is the longest tour available in any National trust property and this becomes clear as we walked from entrance hall to kitchens. Huge rooms full of copper pans, saucepans and plates. A fireplace with the largest spit A cream room , a butter room and other rooms with specific functions. Returning to the main rooms where the family lived we visited bedrooms full of the families furniture and fittings, a room used by the estate manager . He sat there in his black suit writing in his ledgers and acknowledging us was we looked at him. A library full of books , more sitting rooms and upstairs the rooms used by servants. Up in the attics the rooms were small but perfectly formed with a comfortable single bed, chairs and somewhere to wash. It looked comfortable inside as we tried to imagine what the life of a servant was actually like. A long gaallery and a front porch.

The Robartes family declined significantly during the First World War when the heir to the estate Thomas Agar - Robartes was killed at the Battle of Loos.

Like many families this was the point that the house declined. It was a visit we enjoyed very much and one that was as good this time as the last time I saw it way back in the 1990's.

So it was on the drive home that the thought came to mind - how about driving half way home and visit Cardiff . We had always wanted to see Cardiff Castle and Castell Coch so it looks as if that is what we will do . A touch of Gothic on the way .

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