Tredrea Manor Farmhouse Including Garden Wall And Railings At Front

Tredrea Manor Farmhouse, including adjoining garden walls and railings at front

A manor house of 17th-century origins, largely or possibly entirely rebuilt around 1750 for Henry Davies. The building is constructed of granite ashlar on the front elevation, with granite rubble and granite dressings to other sides, and incorporates some dressed granite fragments from the 17th century. Some sections of the gables are slate-hung. The roofs are laid with asbestos slate and grouted scantle slate, featuring gable ends except where a hipped roof covers the stair wing and a half hip appears at the far right. Brick chimneys rise above the gable ends, and cast iron ogee gutters run around the building.

The house has an irregular plan comprising two parlours at the front with a wide entrance hall between them, leading to a projecting stair hall wing. Behind the left-hand parlour is a lean-to dovecote with external access. Behind the right-hand parlour is an axial passage connected to a single-room-plan wing set back on the right, with a wide service wing extending at right angles behind the right-hand corner. This service wing contains a large kitchen, dairy, and rear entrance hall. A washhouse with former service accommodation in the roof space adjoins the left side of the rear left-hand corner of the service wing.

The front elevation presents a symmetrical 5-window, 2-storey facade with a central doorway. The ashlar work features deeper granite quoins, flat arches with projecting keystones, and a modillioned eaves cornice. The doorway is mid to late 19th-century, with flush-beaded bottom panels and 9 panes above the lock rail, and is sheltered by an old open-fronted brick porch with gable ends. Two original 12-pane hornless sashes with thick glazing bars survive at first-floor level on the right; the remainder of the front windows are early 19th-century copies with thinner glazing bars. Three other 18th-century windows remain on the right-hand side of the house: a 12-pane sash on the right wall of the small wing, a 24-pane 3-light casement on the right wall of the outshut between the wings, and an 8-pane light on the front wall of the rear wing above a doorway. Other windows are mostly 19th-century hornless sashes with glazing bars, including two groups of three sashes divided by mullions overlooking wide openings to the kitchen and the chamber above in the left wall of the service wing. Panelled doors from the 19th century mark the rear entrances. All elevations of the house are architecturally interesting and remain unspoiled.

The interior preserves much original 18th-century carpentry, joinery, and plasterwork. A dog-leg stair features a closed string, moulded handrail, and column-turned balusters. Six-panel doors with two panels forming a wide lock rail are found throughout. A fine plaster ceiling in the right-hand parlour is divided by double bands into a round central panel with a leaf-carved central rose and corner panels decorated with arabesques in shallow relief. The first floor and roof structure are reported to be original, though not inspected for this listing.

A low rubble wall adjoins the small wing on the right and returns toward the front, topped with old dowelled railings with urn finials.

The house has a notable historical association. Tredrea was once home to a family of the same name; in the 17th century it was owned by the St Aubyns, who leased it to Matthew Phillips. One of Phillips's daughters married John Davies, younger brother of Henry Davies of Bosence. The Davies family line, through marriage, led to Davies Giddy, Member of Parliament, who adopted the name Gilbert in 1824. Davies Gilbert authored the Parochial History of Cornwall (1838), was a mathematician, and assisted Jonathan Hornblower in designing pumps and other mining machinery for the mining industry.

Tredrea represents a significant small 18th-century manor house, fashionable in its front presentation while traditional in its rear arrangements, and has remained largely unaltered since the 18th century.