Tencreek And Garden Wall And Gatepiers On South West

Tencreek is a farmhouse with associated garden walls and gatepiers, dating to the late 16th century. The main house is constructed of rubblestone with cut granite and slatestone dressings, with the left-hand gable end of the front range rendered. The roof is slate with gable ends to the front range and rear wings. Large rubblestone stacks with granite strings are positioned in the gable ends of the south front and rear wings.

The building is arranged in a U-shaped plan, originally around a central courtyard which is now enclosed. A through passage contains the probably kitchen wing to the rear on the left (west), with a gabled staircase projection to the rear near the centre. The staircase is a newel stair rising from the left (west) of the through passage. The house is 2 storeys and attic, almost symmetrical, with 4 windows on the south front. These are sash windows that replaced original mullioned windows, though part of the front wall has been rebuilt.

The south front features a gabled 2-storey central porch. To the left of the porch on the ground floor is a 20-pane sash with crown glass, and a double 12-pane sash with horns, both beneath a continuous concrete lintel with a slate string above ground floor now removed. To the right of the porch is a 20-pane sash with horns in a partly blocked opening with a cut stone arch and remains of a slate string above. On the first floor are 4 pairs of 12-pane sashes beneath timber lintels.

The central double-storey porch has 2 centred arches with double ovolo and fillet between them and flat stops. The door is 19th-century gothic with lower timber panels and 2 pointed glazed lights with coloured glass and margin glazing bars. There are 2 rectangular slits in the side walls of the porch, with part of a reused granite mullion forming the cill and lintel to the opening on the right. A slate string continues above the ground floor of the porch, joining remains to the right and left of the main range. Above this is a 12-pane sash beneath a concrete lintel.

The rear left-hand wing is 2 storeys with a 4-light mullion window with cavetto moulds and later casements on the ground floor. A 19th-century tripartite sash without horns sits above. Continuing to the rear is a late 19th-century 2-storey extension under a lower roof with brick dressings to segmental arches.

The right-hand rear wing is 2 storeys with a 3-light casement with glazing bars on the ground floor, a timber lintel and slate hood above. A 19th-century tripartite sash without horns sits above. A 20th-century extension continues on the gable end. From the rear, the gable ends of the rear wings and gable end of the staircase projection are visible above a 20th-century single-storey extension that fills the courtyard. Small window slits on the ground floor are now blocked.

Internally, the inner entrance door has a rectangular oak frame with ovolo mould and flat stops decorated with radiating incised lines, with a tongue below. The door itself is vertical planked with a simple rail and stile, ledged and braced to the rear with strap hinges. A 17th-century doorcase with ovolo mould is in the rear left-hand wing. A late 19th-century staircase is to the left of a wide entrance lobby. Fireplaces are blocked with later grates. A cloam oven is in the rear wing on the right. The original newel staircase to the rear has its first stage covered with a later 19th-century staircase, but upper stages remain intact with a heavy central square timber newel and timber treads. The roof timbers were not inspected.

The rubblestone garden wall continues south from the west gable end of the house. Two large square granite gate piers with ball finials are positioned at the entrance.

Historically, the lands were formerly in the possession of Richard, Earl of Cornwall, who possibly briefly lived at Tencreek. A 17th-century description by Hals, quoted by Polsue, notes: "For in the old dilapidated house of this once famous fabric, I saw the ruins of a moorstone oven, about 14 foot diameter, in testimony of the hospitality once kept there. And moreover, in front of the castlewise moorstone gate, or portal, I beheld his arms cut in stone." No evidence of these items is visible. The property later belonged to the Trevilles family. By around 1761 it was a barton property of Samuel Pett, according to J. Polsue's Lake's Parochial History of the County of Cornwall (1867–73, reprinted 1979).