Crugsillick

Country house, dating from the 17th century, with substantial remodelling and extension around 1710. Constructed from slatestone rubble with Delabole dry slate hipped roofs, except for gable ends to the front wings. Brick and stone stacks are positioned laterally and as gables. The house is arranged in a U-shape, with a central hall flanked by rooms at each end, and wings projecting from the east (entrance) front. A parlour is located in the north-east wing, while the kitchen is in the other wing, with a further extension projecting southwards from it. A staircase is housed within one of the hipped projections at the rear of the hall block.

The symmetrical east front has a 3-window façade and is flanked by 2-window wings. The central entrance features a 6-panel door with overlight, and the windows are 12-pane sashes, some with crown glass, set within flat, slatestone arches. The hall front and parlour are dated to circa 1710, while the kitchen wing is older, with its eaves and gable end heightened around this time. The parlour gable end is now blind, having undergone some rebuilding to the gable and including a tie plate. A 12-pane sash window on the first floor to the right of the kitchen gable sits within an original opening, topped with a timber lintel. A lower wing attached to the left-hand gable is likely from the 17th century but was a later addition. This wing has 2 windows to both the ground and first floors, within original openings and timber lintels. Ground floor windows are 8-paned fixed lights, and the first floor window to the left is a 16-pane sash, while the extreme right window is a 12-pane sash. The rear of the hall block features a 16-pane sash window on the first floor at the left-hand end, and a long 19th-century sash window with two large horizontal panes and margin panes, illuminating the staircase. A lateral stack is located between this and a slightly shorter projection to the right, which was partly rebuilt in the 19th century. Another rebuilt 19th-century lateral stack is situated to the right.

The interior retains many features dating from circa 1710, including moulded plaster ceiling cornices in most rooms, notably the hall and parlour. The parlour’s ceiling features a fine double heart design with fleurs de lys. The staircase ceiling has a modillion cornice, ascending a dogleg staircase with turned balusters, a closed string, and a pulvinated frieze. The parlour retains fielded panelling to the east fireplace wall, incorporating two rounded niches with shell-moulded half-domes and scalloped shelves. The eared fireplace surround is a mid-18th century addition. Fielded panelled window shutters are present throughout. A small room to the south of the hall has a dado with fielded panels and a complete panelled south wall, including window shutters. Original 2 panelled doors remain in most rooms. Two 17th-century, 2 panelled doors with moulded stiles and rails survive, one housed in a stopped ovolo moulded frame to a first floor room of the rear wing. A second dogleg staircase in the south wing has barleysugar splat balusters and may also be from the 17th century. The roof structure throughout is a pegged and collared construction dating from circa 1710. Crugsillick was the home of the Kempe family, including Arthur Kempe, who served as Admiral of the Red Squadron of His Majesty’s Fleet and assisted at the Battle of Quebec in 1759.