Boskenna

BOSKENNA

Country house for the Paynter family, with datestones recording 1678, 1858 and 1888. The building combines granite ashlar on principal elevations with granite rubble elsewhere. Roofs are Delabole slate with bitumen grouting, mostly with gable ends finished with granite coping and moulded kneelers to the entrance front and right-hand wing. Nineteenth-century pierced crested clay ridge tiles are present. Granite ashlar gable and axial chimneys are supplemented by some brick chimneys. A bellcote sits over the left-hand gable of the rear wing.

The house has a large, irregular plan. In 1678 the building was remodelled or rebuilt as a T-shaped plan facing north-west, likely with a hall on the left, parlour on the right, and a large stair hall behind the centre. This arrangement survives as the north-west wing. Probably during the 18th century and circa early 19th century, deep service wings were added at right angles behind either side, though these may have been remodelled from remains of earlier, possibly 16th-century ranges. These wings survived until 1858, when the house underwent major remodelling. The rear right-hand (south-west) wing, formerly a coach house and stables, was completely or partly rebuilt in 1888 in the style of the 17th-century house, when the building was also extended to the rear in matching style. The right-hand (south-west) elevation then became the principal entrance front. The irregular rear left-hand wing, dating from circa mid-to-late 19th century, was retained as a service wing.

The exterior presents two storeys plus an attic over the parlour. The regular late 17th-century north-west front of three bays has a plinth and continuous hoodmould stepped up over the windows. The left-hand window is a Victorian canted bay with paired central lights and sidelights. The other windows sit in 17th-century chamfered openings filled with Victorian 2-light wooden cross windows, possibly based on original transomed mullions.

The principal south-west entrance front is gabled with a 1:3:1:1 bay arrangement, remodelled 17th-century gable end on the left, otherwise Victorian but in similar style. The left-hand bay projects slightly; the hoodmould continues from the north-west front and steps over a tall 4-light transomed mullioned window, a Victorian replacement (an old painting shows a similar but less deep window). The first-floor window is a 17th-century 3-light mullioned window with a square hoodmould. Above it are two datestones: one recording 1678 with the arms of the Paynter family, and another 1858. The gable window is a similar 2-light 17th-century window without hoodmould. An octagonal granite gable finial is Victorian, as are similar finials to the other principal gables.

The next three bays feature gabled dormers with 2-light windows. All Victorian windows are mullioned with transoms; except for the dormers, all openings have hoodmoulds. Below the left-hand window is a large 5-light window lighting the Victorian hall; on the right is a Tudor-arched doorway with 3-light overlight. The next gable-ended bay projects forward and has 5-light windows to each floor. The right-hand bay is set back with 2-light windows to each floor; the upper window is a gabled dormer.

The north-east front has a 17th-century gable end on the right with a reset 17th-century doorway to its left and a single-storey service wing on the left. The left-hand wing has a pyramidal roof lantern over the middle of the roof. Three arched circa mid-19th-century 12-pane hornless sashes light the wing's front, with a similar window towards the right. Between these is a canted late-Victorian bay window with horned sashes.

The mostly Victorian south-east elevation contains reused masonry. A doorway with arched head (towards the right) is topped by moulded spandrel stones of a former, probably 17th-century 4-centred arch. To the right of the doorway the masonry is older, possibly 17th-century, with a 3-light mullioned window possibly in situ, which would evidence a larger 17th-century plan. A service wing projecting forward on the right has a lean-to with doorway constructed using 17th-century chamfered stones.

Reused 17th- and earlier masonry appears both on the left-hand (north-east) and rear (south-east) elevations.

The interior contains significant 17th-century features. The 17th-century parlour retains complete late 17th-century bolection moulded panelling with panelled doors and a fine-quality ribbed plaster ceiling of the same date. The 17th-century possible hall, now a kitchen, has Victorian panelling in the 18th-century style and a 17th-century chamfered fireplace beneath a large axial stack. The stair hall contains a 17th-century open-well stair with heavy turned balusters and pendants. Exposed roof structure above the stair is Victorian. A 17th-century chamfered granite fireplace is in the chamber over the kitchen. The south-west parlour contains a reseated circa early-17th-century moulded granite fireplace with dice stops.

Other interior features are predominantly Victorian, including ceiling cornices, back stairs, chamfered roof structures, other carpentry and joinery, chimney-pieces, cast-iron grates and a cast-iron range in the back kitchen. The Victorian back kitchen is lit and ventilated by a large roof lantern. Behind the 17th-century parlour is a large Victorian room with a high ribbed ceiling and a fine marble chimney-piece.