Marsland Manor

Marsland Manor

A farmhouse with origins in the 16th century or earlier, substantially remodelled between 1656 and 1662, with further alterations dating to the early 19th century. The building stands as an unusually complete survival of a double courtyard house plan.

The structure is constructed of roughly squared stone rubble, some brought to course, with polyphant dressings. The rear includes some cob construction. The roofs are slate, with scantle to the rear and roll tile ridges to the front where renewed. The chimneys are stone, some featuring laced stonework and others with moulded polyphant caps.

The medieval open hall house survives in the present south range, where a massive stack was probably inserted in the 16th century. The remodelling of 1656–1662 created the distinctive double courtyard plan. The main range faces east, with the earlier south range incorporated as a kitchen wing. The 17th-century house is accessed through a contemporary gatehouse into a forecourt. The east-facing hall range follows a 2-room plan with through passage, the hall heated by a front lateral stack, with an unheated service room at the lower end. The through passage leads to the inner courtyard at the rear of the hall. The earlier south range comprises two heated rooms, probably used as kitchen and heated service room serving the east range. The 17th-century north range contains a heated parlour with lateral stack. The west range forms the fourth side of the inner courtyard and consists of unheated service rooms now used as storage, formerly with accommodation above. A chamfered square-headed stone doorway in the west range provides rear entry to the inner courtyard. The north and south ranges have gabled ends. Two storeys throughout.

The east front is asymmetrical with three bays plus one additional bay, featuring a projecting lateral hall stack on the front. An 18th-century 2-panel front door stands under a sloping slate roof carried on a solid wall and timber bracket with a stone seat to the left. The ground floor window to the left is a 2-light 20th-century casement under a timber lintel with 4 panes per light. The ground floor window lighting the hall is a 4-light 17th-century chamfered polyphant mullioned window with hoodmould and 8 leaded panes per light. A 19th-century entrance exists at the right on the front. The first floor window to the left is a 3-light 20th-century casement under a timber lintel with 3 panes per light. A datestone of 1656 with initials, probably W.A. for William Atkins, appears in the gable above this window. A full dormer above the front door contains a 17th-century 3-light polyphant mullioned window with 6 leaded panes per light and a casement in the central light. A similar full dormer with lowered sill stands above the hall window, fitted with a 20th-century 3-light casement with 3 panes per light under a chamfered timber lintel. The first floor window to the right is a 3-light 17th-century polyphant mullioned window with leaded panes under a hoodmould; a similar window above lights the garret room.

The interior reveals substantial historical complexity. The hall contains two unmoulded cross beams and a partially blocked fireplace said to conceal a timber fireplace beam with 17th-century jambs. A blocked stone mullioned window opens to the rear wall of the hall. The space retains 19th-century dado moulding and 6-panel doors. The through passage features a 17th-century moulded plaster cornice. A 17th-century stone stair to the rear of the unheated service room serves the upper floors. Rooms in the south range to the rear of the stair, probably representing the hall and kitchen of the earlier build, are heated from a single massive stack with massive stone shaft and tapered cap. Both fireplaces are partially blocked; the rear room's fireplace features a massive roughly-chamfered stopped fireplace beam approximately 3 metres long. Cross beams to the room are massive and unmoulded. The parlour in the north range has a partially blocked fireplace serving its lateral stack and two unmoulded cross beams. Late 19th or early 20th-century French windows open from the parlour to the inner courtyard. The west range displays first floor walls plastered with lath and plaster partition walls. Rooms on the first floor of the east range contain blocked fireplaces, one inscribed with the date 1662 above the former lintel. The roof timbers above the hall were probably renewed in the 19th century. The roof above the parlour was replaced in the 20th century following a fire. Roof trusses above the south range have been repaired with some replacement of principals. The principals feature 2 tiers of threaded purlins and formerly had collars lap dovetailed into the principals; one truss, partly concealed by the stack, appears to have a smoke-blackened collar and one smoke-blackened principal. Trusses above the west range are pegged. The truss to the plastered room above the storeroom to the rear of the north range features 2 tiers of threaded purlins and a collar lap dovetailed into one principal. The staircase to the garret room at the right end of the east range is a 17th-century newel stone stair with oak treads. Polyphant mullioned windows of 17th-century date light the north side of the north range, the west side of the west range, and the north side of the south range. The inner courtyard is paved with slate, replacing an earlier pitched stone surface.

The building forms a group with the gatehouse, barn and walls, cartshed, barn, stables, and mounting block, all listed separately.

The house was in the possession of the Atkin family in 1666. Charles Henderson described it as "one of the most interesting and picturesque old houses in Cornwall". The setting is reportedly the inspiration for Sabine Baring Gould's novel The Gaverocks.