Tremough Part Of Tremough Convent

Tremough, part of Tremough Convent

Country house, now a school, dating from the early to mid-18th century. Built for John Worth and extended in the 19th century, possibly for Benjamin Sampson (née Cloak). The house was remodelled in the late 19th or early 20th century.

The main front elevations are constructed of granite ashlar from the 18th and 19th centuries, with the 19th-century addition built of dressed coursed granite with granite dressings. The right-hand wall of the 18th-century part and the rear elevations facing into the courtyard are of granite rubble with stucco. The building features a stuccoed eaves cornice with a wooden cornice over, and mostly dry Delabole slate hipped roofs. Stuccoed axial chimney stacks rise over the cross walls.

The plan is now a large H-shaped arrangement. The original 18th-century double-pile house contains a large hall on the left and smaller parlour on the right, with an axial passage behind the front rooms, a back parlour behind the left-hand side, and a rear cross passage aligned with the front doorway. A large stair hall is positioned to the right of the cross passage. A deep cross wing projects at both front and rear on the right side, featuring a large mid-18th-century parlour at the front, a smaller room behind (now united as one room), and an 18th-century service stair with kitchen beyond. In the 19th century, a matching cross wing was added on the left, projecting to the same depth, containing a very deep ballroom at the front overlooking an Italianate formal garden and a smaller room behind. Twentieth-century extensions have been added behind the cross wings and on the right-hand side as single-storey additions.

The exterior is two storeys plus attics over cellars (cellars are present only under the original part). The entrance front and garden front remain unaltered since the 19th century. The east entrance front displays an 18th-century symmetrical 5-window composition with a central doorway set back between the projecting hipped ends of the 19th-century cross wing on the left and the 18th-century cross wing. A 19th-century Tuscan porch with triangular pediment frames the entrance, with a late 19th or early 20th-century door. The windows are 20th-century replacements in original 18th-century openings with flat arches. Blocked cellar window openings are spanned by chamfered granite lintels. The 18th-century wing displays a 2-window return wall with openings blocked with granite ashlar in the 19th century. The right-hand wall of the 19th-century left wing is similar but retains a first-floor window on the right. Both wings have 19th-century tripartite windows at the front with horned sashes.

The south garden front is arranged in a 2:1:3 1-bay composition. A projecting tripartite window (ground and first floor) with hipped roof projects towards the right, positioned centrally to the ballroom which spans three bays. Late 19th-century horned sashes are installed throughout. The rear elevation is stuccoed and features a 19th-century round-headed traceried stair window on the left, a central early 19th-century 4-panelled door, and an early 19th-century door with ventilation holes under the stair window. Other windows are early or mid-19th-century 12-pane hornless sashes.

The interior contains numerous high-quality features in 18th-century style, though most date from the late 19th or early 20th century and may incorporate earlier 18th-century features. The hall features bolection-moulded oak panelling, a marble chimney piece, and a ribbed plaster ceiling with a round central panel decorated with acanthus leaves. The parlour displays bolection-moulded mahogany panelling with marquetry inlay, a ribbed plaster ceiling, and an iron grate. The stair hall contains an open-well mahogany stair with open string, twist balusters, and a scrolled handrail over the newel, flanked by Ionic pilasters alongside the landing balustrade. The ground-floor axial passage has 19th-century plaster ceilings with cornices, while the passage above retains possibly original 18th-century moulded plaster cornices. The front parlour features a fine-quality Rococo plaster ceiling with arabesques, possibly incorporating some original 18th-century carved detail. The room behind displays an 18th-century moulded plaster ceiling and an 18th-century cupboard with fielded panelled door and shaped shelves. An 18th-century dog-leg service stair with turned balusters is present. Further 18th-century details may exist elsewhere in the 18th-century parts of the house. The 19th-century ballroom contains ornate neo-classical plasterwork with an Ionic column positioned at each corner of the central bay.