Treworvack

Treworvack is a farmhouse dating from the early 17th century, reconstructed in 1721, extended probably in the 18th century and again in the late 19th century when the interior was much altered, and restored in the 20th century. The building is constructed of roughly dressed and coursed granite with much reused early 17th-century carved granite. The rear additions are of granite rubble. The roof is grouted scantle slate with gabled ends, and the rear outshut has ashlar slates over a catslide roof. Granite ashlar gable end stacks with weathered cornices and doubled caps sit at the gable ends, with a red brick gable end stack serving the rear wing.

The original early 17th-century plan comprised two rooms and a through or cross passage, with the kitchen to the left and parlour to the right, both heated from gable end fireplaces. In 1721 the house was remodelled: the eaves were raised and an outshut was added at the back. The porch at the front probably dates from this remodelling. In the late 19th century a kitchen wing with a gable end stack was built behind the left-hand end and the interior of the main house was rebuilt with a staircase inserted into the passage. Shortly after, a small outshut was added in the angle of the rear wing and the earlier outshut. In the 20th century the outshut was raised to two storeys and the house was restored.

The exterior presents as two storeys with a symmetrical three-window south front. The windows have moulded granite frames with the original mullions removed and replaced with 20th-century metal frame casements with small panes. The centre first-floor window is narrower than its neighbours, and the ground floor windows have weathered hoodmoulds. The lintels of the first-floor windows were raised, probably in 1721 when the eaves were raised. The central doorway has a chamfered granite frame with a four-centred arch and ball and keel stops, with a 20th-century or late 19th-century plank door.

The granite porch is constructed from reused material and has a vaulted granite roof with a three-centred chamfered arch and a scrolled finial with a ball. The left-hand side of the porch is made of large granite slabs, whilst the right-hand side incorporates much reused stone randomly. The front wall also contains much reused stone, including carved scrolls. The datestone to the left of centre has a triangular head and the initials J.T. with the date 1721, probably referring to the reconstruction of the main front range.

The right-hand end of the house features a two-light chamfered granite mullion window on each floor to the left, whilst the end wall of the rear outshut to the right has granite windows made up from reused material. The left-hand end of the main range has a small blocked window on the first floor with a chamfered frame and hoodmould. At the centre of the left end wall is a reset stone, possibly a 12th-century corbel with a carved face. In the ground floor of the late 19th-century rear wing to the left are large 20th-century metal-frame windows with small panes. The gable end of the rear wing is blind. The rear wall of the outshut has 20th-century metal frame casements on both floors.

The ground floor rooms have high ceilings with exposed softwood joists. A Victorian straight staircase, inserted into the former passage, has turned newels and stick balusters. The left-hand room has a large fireplace with a chamfered lintel and jambs with indeterminate stops; 20th-century infilling of the fireplace incorporates a round stone resembling a cross head with a fleur-de-lis motif. The right-hand room has a smaller chamfered granite fireplace with egg-shaped stops. The kitchen wing has a blocked fireplace with a 19th-century bracketed shelf. The roof and first floor were not inspected, though the roof structure is reportedly roughly constructed with carpenter's marks.

Treworvack was part of the manor of Tucoys. In the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries it was held by the Arundells of Trerice and Lanherne. The datestone on the front bearing the initials J.T. and date 1721 refers to John Tremayne, a tenant who remodelled the early 17th-century house in 1721. There is a tradition of the existence of a chapel and burial ground at Treworvack.