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PENHALLAM MANOR

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The site of Penhallam Manor, a late 12th to mid 14th century moated manor house near Week St Mary. Moated manor houses are rarely found in the south-west, making Penhallam Manor an unusual building. It is visible as four ranges, and excavations have indicated that the surviving plan results from four main building phases. The original entrance was across a drawbridge on the south side operated from an early-13th century gatehouse. Later in the century this was replaced by a fixed bridge. The east range contains the earliest structure dated, circa 1180-1200. It housed, over an undercroft, the domestic apartments of the owner. About 1200 AD, a wardrobe and garderobe were added to the northern end of the domestic apartments. The third and most extensive phase took place in circa 1224 and 1236, resulting in most structures of the north, west and south ranges. This included the hall, buttery, chapel and bakehouse. The fourth building phase of circa 1300 resulted in the rebuilding of the kitchens and service wing. Historical records show that the manor of Penhallam was held by the de Cardinham family. Although Penhallam seems to have been built in various stages, Andrew de Cardinham is assumed to have been responsible for the main (third) building phase, in the 1220s and 1230s. The remains of an earthwork castle at Week St Mary nearby may have been their original family home. Penhallam seems to have been lived in for a relatively short time. Andrew de Cardinham died in about 1256 and by 1270 Penhallam had passed to the Champernowne family, and by the early 14th century to tenants. Partitioning of the manor's lands had begun by 1330 and was complete by 1428. Local people would then have helped themselves to the building materials, quickly reducing the deserted shell to its foundations. The threat of tree planting led to its excavation in 1968-73, when the ruins were consolidated and the outline of the walls restored. It is now in the care of English Heritage.

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(SX 22449740) Barton (NR) (Site of) (NAT) Moat (NR) (1)

The manor of Penhallam was held by Erneys in the times of Edward the Confessor and by Richard fitz Turold, the earliest recorded memberof the Cardinham family, in 1087. Mounds at Penhallam Farm (SX 29 NW 2) were traditionally thought to be the remains of the manor-house, but excavations by Beresford have shown that it was situated within a ring-work north of Burycourt (SX 29 NW 21).

The ring-work, probably constructed soon after the Norman Conquest, was considerably defaced by subsequent development, but the west and east sides and the sub-circular moat are still visible.

Excavations in the interior revealed an earlier sunken-floored building and post-holes, which could represent the site of the pre-Conquest manor. The hall contemporary with the ring-work had left no visible trace, but its existence is attested by the remains of a 12th century chamber (camera) which must have been associated with it.

In the late 12th and early 13th centuries the ring-work banks were demolished to accommodate an impressive manor-house, of which stone walls still remain up to 5 feet high. It included a domestic chapel and a gate-house with drawbridge, and was built round a courtyard in three phases (see illustration), the principal period of building being in the time of Andrew de Cardinham, between 1226 and 1234. The house was certainly occupied in 1319 when Isabella de Beaupre obtained a licence to say mass in her oratory at Penhallom, but in 1355, when Ralph de Beaupre held a messuage and a caracute of land in Penhallam, it is uncertain whether the messuage was the manor-house or the farm (Burycourt). (2)

Partition of the manorial lands began as early as 1330 and by 1428 the manor was divided into six parcels of land. Two jettons of circa 1360, found under a fall of slates, indicate the approximate date of the collapse of the roof of the house.
The manor house excavation is open, and the walls remain to an average height of 0.5m. The entrance to the courtyard is in the centre of the south side and leads to the bridge, the abutments of which are exposed. The moat is largely silted up, and is an average 1.0m in depth. The chapel forms the south east corner building of the complex,at SX 22459738, and the subdividing wall footings and base of the altar remain. (3)

Published on distribution map of medieval sites in Cornwall also featured in text, summarising site features (See above authorirties). (4)

Pehallam Manor is a late 12th to mid 14th century moated manor house in a steep sided valley floor near Week St Mary in north east Cornwall. The monument is visible as a sub-circular moat cut into valley-floor deposits, defining a central island which supports the walls and foundation trenches of the manor house complex. The surviving walls are generally 0.75 metres-0.8 metres wide and 0.5 metres high but they rise to 1.4 metres high in the north west sector. The foundation trenches recorded by excavation are now visible as modern, low, wire-framed and turf-covered earth banks which are built over their courses. The moat is flat-bottomed, from 5.5 metres wide and 1.5 metres deep on the south to 12 metres wide and 1 metre deep on the north. It contains water on the north, east and south sides. The structural complex forming the manor house is visible as four ranges of buildings. Excavations indicated that the surviving plan resulted from four main building phases. The east range contains the earliest structure and is dated to circa 1180-1200. It housed, over an undercroft, the domestic apartments of the owner. About AD 1200, a wardrobe and garderobe were added to the northern end of the domestic apartments. The third and most extensive visible phase of building took place between circa 1224 and 1236, resulting in most structures of the north, west and south ranges. This building phase included the hall, buttery, chapel and bakehouse. The fourth building phase of circa 1300 resulted in the rebuilding of the kitchens and service wing. (5)

A brief history and description. Moated manor houses are rarely found in the south-west, making Penhallam Manor an unusual building. It is visible as four ranges, and excavations have indicated that the surviving plan results from four main building phases. The original entrance was across a drawbridge on the south side operated from an early-13th century gatehouse. Later in the century this was replaced by a fixed bridge. The remains of an earthwork castle at Week St Mary nearby may have been their original family home. Penhallam seems to have been lived in for a relatively short time. Andrew de Cardinham died in about 1256 and by 1270 Penhallam had passed to the Champernowne family, and by the early 14th century to tenants. Partitioning of the manor's lands had begun by 1330 and was complete by 1428. Local people would then have helped themselves to the building materials, quickly reducing the deserted shell to its foundations. The threat of tree planting led to its excavation in 1968-73, when the ruins were consolidated and the outline of the walls restored. (6)

SOURCE TEXT

( 1) Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)

25" 1905

( 2) Medieval archaeology : journal of the Society for Medieval Archaeology

18 (1974) Page(s)90-145

( 3) Field Investigators Comments

F1 MHB 16-JAN-74

( 4) Cornwall Archaeological Society Cornish archaeology

25 (1986) Page(s)135

( 5) Scheduled Monument Notification

18-JUN-1996

(6) English Heritage 2004 Heritage unlocked: guide to free sites in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly

Page(s)36-39

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