Cotehele House
| Cotehele House | |
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 East facade of Cotehele House |
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| Place: | Calstock |
| Geographical location | 50 ° 29 '45.2 " N , 4 ° 13' 32.5" W |
Cotehele House is a Tudor- style mansion in the county of Cornwall in Great Britain . Classified as a Grade I Monument, the mansion was owned by the Edgcumbe family for nearly 600 years and is considered one of the least-modified medieval mansions in England. The house is about 10 km north of Plymouth near Calstock .
history
William Edgcumbe married Hilaria de Cotehele , daughter of William de Cotehele , in 1353 . After the death of her father and her brother Ralph de Cotehele , Hilaria inherited the lands of the Coteheles, which fell to the Edgcumbe family. After her great-grandson Richard Edgcumbe was rewarded with more extensive land holdings after the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, he began to expand his country estate. His son Piers Edgcumbe continued the renovation, which was completed around 1520. Pier's son Richard built the new family mansion Mount Edgcumbe House on the Rame Peninsula , which was completed in 1553. After the family moved there, Cotehele House was rarely inhabited for centuries. Because of its historical importance, the house was highly valued by the family and has only been changed insignificantly. It is still not connected to the power grid to this day. In 1947, in lieu of inheritance taxes, the mansion was given to the state, which turned it over to the National Trust . It is the first house that the National Trust has acquired in this way. The manor house can be visited today from Easter to the end of September.
investment
The mansion sits high above the western bank of the Tamar River . This location offered protection from raids in the Middle Ages and the house was easily accessible via the navigable river.
Originally the house consisted of a square house built in the 13th century made of red sandstone. The lower rows of masonry of this house are still preserved, which can still be seen in the inner courtyard. The current two-storey mansion, built around three courtyards, was built between 1485 and 1520. The complex is easily secured with a squat, crenellated gate tower and small, high-lying exterior windows. The walls are made of granite, the roofs with numerous gables are covered with slate.
In front of the house is a large forecourt with stables to the side. To the west of the manor house is the farm yard in front of which the chapel protrudes. The gate tower in the south wing leads to the lawn-covered main courtyard, from which several entrances lead into the house. Behind the large hall is the small kitchen courtyard, in the north-west of the house there is a three-storey, crenellated tower that was added as a status symbol in 1627.
Interior decoration
The private apartments are furnished with old furniture, pewter dishes and tapestries . The rich collection of Brussels and Antwerp tapestries that cover the walls in almost every room is unusual . The furnishings of the house are on loan from Lord Mount Edgcumbe's Trustees . The rooms were deliberately old-fashioned by the Edgcumbe family between 1750 and 1860 to indicate the centuries-old importance of the family. This allows many bizarre details to be recognized, e.g. For example, two tapestries with different motifs were sewn together in the dining room so cleverly that they look like one large tapestry at first glance.
- The core of the facility is the large hall with its open beamed ceiling built in around 1485. The whitewashed walls are decorated with numerous weapons, armor and flags.
- The chapel was consecrated in 1411 and rebuilt at the beginning of the 16th century. It has a wooden barrel ceiling with carved Tudor roses . The most important piece of equipment is the clock from 1489, which is considered to be the oldest clock in the world in a residential building. The functional balance clock has two 40 kg weights, no dial and shows the hours by striking a bell.
- The kitchen still contains a 3 m long stove from the Tudor period as well as a huge stove set into the wall. It was used until 1946. In the kitchen yard there is a lead water tank made in 1639.
The private apartments are located on the upper floors and in the tower.
garden
The house is surrounded by a 4.4 hectare garden. As early as the 19th century, Jane C. Loudon admired the old oaks and chestnuts on the hillside between the manor and the Tamar River. Most of today's gardens were created by the National Trust.
A formal, multi-level terrace garden borders directly on the house in the east. Rosa bracteata and jasmine and magnolias grow along the walls . The upper garden to the west of the house is bordered by yew hedges cut into shape and laid out around a rectangular ornamental pond. Thanks to the mild climate, exotic trees such as a tulip tree grow here , but also a stately common ash . Adjacent are two orchards with apple and cherry trees.
A tunnel leads from the eastern garden to the wild valley garden with rhododendrons , azaleas and similar plants. A path leads to a thatched summer house from the 19th century, to a medieval fish pond and to a domed pigeon house from the 15th century. A gate leads to a path to the chapel in the forest, which Richard Edgcumbe built on the spot where he hid from pursuit in 1483 while fleeing.
The three- story Cotehele Tower stands in the open field north of the house at the highest point in the area . The tower was probably built as a folly in the 18th century and allows a wide view.
Others
Cotehele House received royal visits several times. Charles I is said to have stayed in the tower in 1644, and Georg III. and his wife Sophie Charlotte had breakfast in the Queen Anne's Room in 1789 when they made George Edgcumbe 1st Earl of Mount Edgcumbe.
Cotehele Quay
The Cotehele Quay is on the banks of the Tamar . In the 19th century it was a bustling industrial and port complex, today it serves as a museum jointly operated by the National Trust and the National Maritime Museum . The granite buildings contain a functioning water mill , a forge and other workshops. The Discovery Center houses an exhibition on the economic history of the Tamar River, and the Shamrock , a 17-meter-long freighter built in 1899, is anchored on the bank . The ship was handed over to the National Trust in 1974 and is now seaworthy after an extensive restoration.
literature
- Anthony Emery: Greater Medieval Houses of the England and Wales, 1300-1500. Volume 3, Southern England. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge 2006, ISBN 978-0-521-58132-5 , p. 526 ff,
Web links
- National Trust: Cotehele
- National Heritage List: Cotehele House
Individual evidence
- ^ The National Heritage List: Cotehele. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on May 2, 2014 ; Retrieved March 6, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ tour UK: Cotehele House. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on July 19, 2012 ; Retrieved March 6, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Cornwall Calling: Cotehele House & Gardens. Retrieved March 6, 2013 .
