Penlee House

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Penlee House in Penzance
Entrance to Penlee House with park

Penlee House is a Victorian building in the village of Penzance , Cornwall , which now houses a museum and art gallery . The building, which houses the gallery with its changing exhibitions on the ground floor and the museum in the remaining rooms, is surrounded by the Penlee Memorial Park. The property is currently managed by the local council and the Cornwall county government.

Penlee House was built in 1865 for the wealthy merchant John Richards Branwell. The house is built in the Italian style and is likely the work of the architect John Matthews. The park around Penlee House was laid out extensively with green areas and fountains and a garden shed was installed at the end of the park on Trewithen Road. Penlee House originally contained a dining room, breakfast room and drawing room on the ground floor, plus a kitchen with pantry and servants' room. The first floor was reached from the hall via a large staircase and a servants' staircase. There were three large bedrooms, including separate bedrooms for Branwell and his wife. The bedrooms were connected with a cloakroom and a large bathroom. There were also four other small bedrooms for family members and servants.

In 1946, the Penzance Township bought the house along with the park as a memorial to the dead of World War II and formally opened it as the Penzance District Museum in 1949. In 1974 ownership of the museum passed to the Penwith County Government and since 1985 the local council has administered the property. In the 1990s, the administration carried out a general overhaul of the building to provide adequate and contemporary space for the famous collection of paintings.

Penlee House is home to numerous paintings by Newlyn School painters such as B. Walter Langley , Stanhope Forbes , Norman Garstin , Lamorna Birch , Thomas Cooper Gotch , Percy Robert Craft , Edwin Harris and Ralph Todd . The most famous painting in the exhibition is The Rain It Raineth Every Day by Norman Garstin, who lived for many years in Wellington Terrace, a large estate in Penzance.

gallery

Web links

Commons : Penlee House  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 50 ° 6 ′ 59.4 "  N , 5 ° 32 ′ 23.3"  W.