St Benet'S Abbey

St Benet's Abbey is a Benedictine abbey, later converted to a house and now used as a hotel. It was founded in 1411 as a lazar house or hospital. During the 16th century it was adapted as the residence of the Courtenay family, with alterations made at that time. Further alterations followed in the 18th century and circa 1859, with additional changes in the 20th century.

The building is constructed of granite ashlar on the front and left side with granite dressings, and stone rubble elsewhere. The roof is of 20th-century slate with crested ridge tiles and gable ends. Chimney stacks are positioned at the gable ends and centrally, with rendered shafts and twisted terracotta pots.

The layout comprises a gatehouse to the left and a house range to the right. The house originally followed a 3-room plan, with one room to the left and two to the right of an entrance passage. The room to the right contains a late 16th-century to early 17th-century front lateral stack, now with the stack removed but the fireplace remaining inside, and a rear lateral fireplace from the 19th-century remodelling. Both the left room and the end right room have gable-end stacks. The gatehouse is of roughly square plan with a fireplace at the outer left side, carriage entrances to front and rear, a pedestrian entrance at the front to the left, and a stair tower at the front left corner. A parallel rear range was added in the late 18th to early 19th century, containing a stair hall and service rooms.

The front elevation is of two storeys. The gatehouse to the left has a gable and a polygonal stair tower with a lancet window. The pedestrian gateway has a 2-centred arch with roll-mouldings, recessed spandrels and hood mould, with a corbel set above, possibly as an image stand. The carriage arch is 4-centred with roll-mouldings and shields in the spandrels and a hood-mould; the opening was infilled circa the mid-19th century with a 3-light wooden window with cusped lights. At first floor is an oriel of 3 lights with ogee arches that are hollow-chamfered, with a blocking course over and an ogee recess to each side, each recess having a carved spear. The main range to the right has four 2-light casements at first floor with pointed arched lights, each fitted with a wrought iron grille of palmette pattern. At ground floor are four windows of 3-light, 2-light, 4-light and 3-light respectively, with granite cusped lights, recessed spandrels, hollow-chamfered mullions and square hood moulds. The doorway, second from the left, has hollow-chamfered granite jambs, a 19th-century door with studs and strap hinges, and a square hood mould. The left end of the gatehouse is rendered blind. The rear of the gatehouse has a 4-centred arched carriage doorway with double-chamfered order, and a similar 3-light wooden window with cusped lights inserted at first floor. A 3-light granite window with cusped lights is at first floor with no hood mould. Terracotta cross finials crown the gatehouse. The right end is rendered. Two single-storey rubble additions of the 19th century stand at ground floor, each with a gable end, fitted with 20th-century sashes and doors with brick segmental arches. A 20th-century greenhouse is attached to the left.

The rear elevation is nearly symmetrical, with three windows at first floor to the left and the stair hall with stair light to the right. All windows are 12-pane sashes with margin glazing and granite basket arches. The second window from the left is a 4-panelled door with overlight and similar arch. The stair light is tall with a basket arch and 20th-century glazing, with two small cellar lights below.

The interior of the gatehouse has granite ashlar walls. The front gateways have chamfered rere-arches. The rear wall shows a double order of chamfered 4-centred arches to the gateway. A chamfered 4-centred arched doorway leads into the house. The outer wall contains a cupboard or aumbry with an ogee arch. A chamfered segmental-arched doorway opens to the stair tower, which contains a stone newel stair ascending anti-clockwise in an unusual manner. To the right is a 2-centred arched doorway with roll-mouldings and recessed spandrels, fitted with a 19th-century door with strap hinges. The outer wall has a mid-19th-century granite chimneypiece and a 19th-century panelled wood ceiling. At first floor, the chamber above the gatehouse has a basket-arched granite doorway leading into the house. The front and rear windows retain fragments of late 15th-century stained glass showing figure work and panels of arms belonging to the Courtenay, Arundel and Archer families. The roof over the gatehouse retains three trusses with halved and pegged principal rafters.

In the main range of the house, the stair hall features an open-well stair with stick balusters, scrolled string and wreathed handrail. A 19th-century panelled plaster ceiling overhangs the stair well. Tall panelled double doors with a segmental arch lead to the gatehouse at ground floor. The room to the right of the entrance hall has a fireplace on the front wall in granite with a basket arch, roll-moulded with recessed spandrels. This has been partly reconstructed in the 20th century and has an inserted cloam oven. On the rear wall of the same room is a 19th-century chimneypiece, which conceals a third fireplace in the rear wall to the left. The entrance hall may occupy the site of an early passage, with a small room to the left, heated from a fireplace at the outer side, and two larger rooms to the right. Extensive remodelling circa the mid-19th century has obscured the original plan.