Trenake Farmhouse

Trenake Farmhouse

A manor house, now divided into two dwellings. The building dates from the early to mid 17th century, with possible mid 17th-century rear wing at the higher end and possibly late 17th or early 18th-century rear wing at the lower end. It was extensively remodelled in the early 19th century and again in the 1960s. The early to mid 17th-century range may have been built by Thomas Achym.

The house is constructed of stone rubble with slate hung above the ground floor on the front elevation and partly slate hung on the gable end of the rear wing. The roof is asbestos slate on the front slope and scantle slate on the rear. The main range features hipped ends and a double gable formed by two projecting wings to the rear of the lower end, with a gabled end to the projecting wing to the rear of the inner room at the higher end. A catslide roof covers service rooms to the rear of the main range between the two gabled rear projections.

The building has a two-storey, regular four-window front to the 17th-century range. The ground floor contains circa early 20th-century two-light and three-light cross windows with glazing bars. A gabled stone rubble porch to the right of centre features a slate roof and shouldered arched opening with a plank door within, chamfered lintel with run-out stops, and a three-light window to the right. The first floor has four sixteen-pane sashes with horns.

Chimney stacks are prominent features: a brick chimney shaft serves the fireplace at the lower end; the hall is heated by a rear lateral stone rubble chimney stack incorporated in a later outshut; a side lateral projecting stone rubble chimney stack belongs to the earlier rear wing at the higher end; and a projecting stone rubble chimney stack serves the gable end of the circa 17th-century rear wing projecting from the lower end. A brick chimney stack stands to the rear of the circa mid 19th-century wing to the rear of the through passage.

The early 17th-century range comprises a three-room plan with a wide through passage. The lower end is heated by an end chimney stack, the hall by a rear lateral stack, and the inner room is unheated. A wing to the rear of the unheated inner room is reputed to be the remains of an earlier house, though later remodelling reveals little evidence of this; it is heated by a lateral chimney stack. A rear wing at the lower end adds to an overall U-shaped courtyard plan. An outshut containing service rooms was added to the rear of the hall in circa early 19th century, incorporating a rear lateral chimney stack. A projecting wing was added to the rear of the through passage in circa mid 19th century. The through passage may have been widened at this time, when a 19th-century stair was inserted.

Internally, the widened through passage now forms a stair hall with a 19th-century stair to the rear. Twentieth-century chimney pieces appear in the lower end and hall. A nineteenth-century brick arch serves the fireplace in the gabled end of the rear wing at the lower end. A large clay-lined cloam oven with door is a notable feature.

The complete 17th-century roof structure comprises eight clean trusses to the main range. The principals are morticed at the apex with curved feet resting on the wallplate. Cambered chamfered collars feature dovetailed notched lapped joints. Some original purlins remain, slightly trenched. At the higher end, nails on the underside of collars and some trenched holes possibly indicate provision for a barrel vaulted ceiling. The earlier gabled rear wing at the higher end has steeply pitched principals dying into the top courses of the wall well below ceiling level, comprising two trusses with principals morticed at the apex. The collars are cambered, partly halved and lapped, and nailed rather than pegged into the principals, and possibly slightly smoke-blackened. However, the trusses have been cut about and may have been reused. The rear wing at the lower end has steeply pitched principals dying into the side of wall, though many rafters have been replaced and full inspection was impossible. The owners state this wing originally comprised a single-storey kitchen with the first floor inserted in the 1960s to accommodate a bathroom above.

The Achym family acquired Trenake in circa late 16th century. In circa 1625, Thomas Achym moved from Hall to Trenake, which they called a manor, a move that may correspond with the erection of the early 17th-century range. Shortly after, Thomas Achym was forced by financial pressures to sell Trenake to the Trelawners, who allowed the Achyms to remain there as tenants.