Trewane

A manor house, possibly early 17th century, built for the Nicholls family. The building is constructed of ashlar and stone rubble with large granite quoins and dressings. The main range has a scantle slate roof with hipped ends, while the rear wing on the east has a regular slate roof with a gable end. A stair tower positioned in the angle between the main range and rear wing has a scantle slate hipped roof.

The house features several chimneys of architectural interest. At the rear of the parlour on the west stands a rear lateral stack, originally axial before alterations. This circa early 17th-century granite ashlar chimney has moulded strings and a moulded granite cap. An axial hall stack of granite ashlar, now missing its moulded cap, stands at the junction of the main range and rear stair tower. The rear east wing has a circa early 17th-century axial granite stack with moulded cap, and a circa 20th-century brick stack rises from the valley at the junction between the east wing and stair tower, heating the dining room and main chamber above.

Architectural Arrangement

The main range faces south and contains a wide through passage in the great parlour at the lower side on the west and the hall on the higher side on the east. The dining room occupies the rear wing behind the hall, with the stair tower positioned in the angle between hall and dining room. A service range was demolished and had continued in a wing to the rear of the parlour. The great parlour is heated by a rear lateral stack, originally an axial stack prior to the demolition of the rear service wing. Weathering on this stack indicates that the service range was lower and continued at right angles to the main range. The hall fireplace on the north wall is heated by an axial stack which backs onto the stair projection, while the dining room fireplace on the west wall is served by a stack positioned in the valley running between the rear wing and stair projection. Entrances to the stair tower lead from both the dining room and hall.

In the late 18th or early 19th century, a two-storey lean-to range was added to the rear of the through passage. This provided access to the stair from a corridor running at right angles to the rear of the passage and, on the first floor, access to the stair from the two chambers above the great parlour. This addition was probably contemporary with the demolition of the service range which would have likely housed a second stair.

The two-storey main range and east wing has been suggested by Maclean, Gilbert and Dalton-Clifford to have originally had a third storey. This is possibly indicated by the truncated three-storey stair tower and the string-course above the first floor. However, the early 17th-century roof structure remains intact and the house is more likely to have had a parapet arrangement above the moulded string course. Evidence for the reduction in height of the stair tower is indicated by several truncated blocked windows and the possible remains of a stone newel stair which would have provided access to a third floor. A tower such as this would be fairly common in an early 17th-century house of this quality.

Exterior

The symmetrical five-window south front has a moulded granite plinth and strings. The central entrance features a four-centred granite arch with roll mould, vase-ball stops and incised spandrels, with a hoodmould bearing possibly Maltese crosses in dripstones. Two lofty four-light mullion and transom windows light the great parlour on the left and hall on the right. The first floor has five three-light mullioned windows.

The east elevation to the rear wing displays two lofty four-light mullion and transom windows on the ground floor, the left-hand window lighting the hall and the right-hand window the dining room, with three three-light mullioned windows above. The rear elevation features the stair tower rising above the main range with several mullion windows blocked. The wall to the rear of the great parlour was rebuilt when the service wing was demolished. A kitchen was added in a single-storey range to the rear of the east wing in the mid-20th century, constructed of stone rubble with a hipped slate roof.

Interior

High ceilings throughout the ground floor feature unmoulded ceiling beams. The wide through passage has entrances slightly offset. The rear entrance of the original range has a four-centred granite arch with ovolo moulding on the north side.

The great parlour was remodelled in the 19th and 20th centuries and has a 20th-century grate. The hall is lit by three mullion and transom windows and contains a large granite fireplace on the north wall with chamfered jambs and lintel and outer roll moulded frame. To the left of the fireplace, the door leading into the stair tower has a four-centred granite arch with hollow chamfer and incised spandrels. The circa early 17th-century double lapped oak door has been restored with the framing removed and front skin replaced. To the right of the fireplace, the door leading into the dining room has a similar four-centred granite arch.

In the dining room, the circa early 17th-century granite fireplace has been reused from elsewhere in the house and has chamfered jambs and lintel with roll mould. The lintel is decorated with an incised triangular motif and central carved rosette. Above is a plasterwork achievement in high relief with arms of Nicholls impaling Mohuns, to commemorate the marriage of the 4th John Nicholls with Brigett, daughter of Sir Reginald Mohun in 1635. This achievement, which is of high quality, was probably originally in the chamber above the great parlour and was described in situ by Maclean in 1879. To the left of this fireplace is a door leading into the stair projection with a simple four-centred chamfered granite arch with rounded stepped stops. The early 17th-century oak door is of double construction with a scratch moulded panelled frame and strap hinges. The iron studding has been removed.

The wide oak framed circa early 17th-century stair rises gradually with one and a half revolutions between the ground and first floor, continuing to give access to the attic. A small bathroom on the landing between ground and first floor has a 17th-century ovolo moulded oak doorframe.

First Floor Chambers

The principal chamber above the dining room has a circa early 17th-century granite fireplace with chamfered jambs and lintel, outer roll mould, incised central triangular motif and ball finial. The circa mid-17th-century surrounding chimneypiece has a moulded mantlepiece decorated with carved rosettes and the overmantle above is flanked by Composite columns on tall bases. The circa mid-17th-century overmantle is of particularly high quality, depicting in plasterwork of high relief a lively scene with Abraham about to sacrifice Isaac. The text in a scroll above reads: "Old Abraham Hold Thy hand It doth suffice God loveth obedience More then sacrifice." The ceiling of this chamber has probably been lowered.

In the chamber above the hall, a similar fireplace and chimneypiece is ornamented with a plasterwork achievement in high relief. This circa mid-17th-century overmantle is also of particularly high quality and the escutcheon carries the arms of the Nicholls. The ceiling has been lowered and fragments of the ornate plaster frieze survive in the attic above. The partitions to the chambers above the parlour have been remodelled and a circa mid-17th-century fireplace is now positioned in a corridor along the north wall.

Roof Structure

The circa early 17th-century roof structure remains almost intact. The principals are chamfered and stopped, morticed at the apices and morticed into tie beams. The purlins are trenched, now replaced, and collars have been introduced. The roof structure to the north of the east wing was not inspected.

Historical Context

First records of the estate appear to date from 1304. It came into the possession of the Nicholls family in the early 16th century and Maclean suggests that Charles II sheltered in Trewane in 1646. 19th-century descriptions of the house record plasterwork of high quality. Hitchens and Drew in History of Cornwall, 1817, describe the rooms as "spacious and lofty with rich ceilings and cornices beautifully wrought, and the walls highly ornamented with emblems of sacred and profane history in figures two to five feet high in Plaster of Paris." Gilbert, in 1820, records that the hall was "ornamented by curious carved work and many composition figures" including Justice, Abraham, Isaiah and King Solomon with numerous attendants.

This early 17th-century manor house with its mid-17th-century plasterwork is of a high quality especially rare in Cornwall.