This is a medieval and Tudor house of the highest quality, built and then remodelled by a junior branch of the great Devon family of Dinham, but little altered since. Doors and windows are of finely dressed granite, a noble if intractable material seen to great advantage here.

The chamber over the hall has an open arch-braced roof, less massive but otherwise very like that in the great hall at Cotehele, further down the Tamar valley. The hall itself has a ceiling of heavily moulded oak beams and rich late Gothic carving. Both are close in date, and may even have been put up together soon after 1500. Together with the carved surround of the front door, they are probably the work of John Dinham, cousin of Dame Thomasine of Week St Mary, whose building work at The College he oversaw. Like her, he had lived, and prospered, in London. In 1533, when an old man, he was pressed to take a knighthood, but declined.

Along with much other work, the house had to be entirely re-roofed, which gave us the opportunity to recover its original plan. We also bought some of the farm buildings on two sides of the house so that its setting could be preserved as well. Those who stay here have an unrivalled opportunity to experience the life of a prosperous, and quite sophisticated, Tudor gentleman, in that distant part of Devon once known as Cornwall in England.

View our history sheet for this Landmark

Sleeps: 15