Burniere Farmhouse

Burniere Farmhouse, Egloshayle

A house now used as a farmhouse with probable 16th-century origins, partly remodelled in the 18th century and in the mid and late 19th century. The building is constructed of slatestone rubble walls over a metre thick, with a slate roof featuring gable ends.

The heating arrangement comprises a brick shaft to a rear lateral stack, incorporated as an axial stack, and a projecting stone rubble front lateral stack. There is also a brick end stack to the rear left-hand wing.

The plan of the building is complex due to several straight joints in the walls, partial refacing of the stonework, and replacement of the roof structure in the late 19th century. The front range comprises a three-room plan with cross passage and entrance positioned to the right of centre. The lower end is heated by an end stack, the hall by a front lateral stack, and the inner room by a rear lateral stack. A very thick crosswall on the higher side of the passage probably contains a flue for an axial stack serving the chamber above. A wing of two-room plan extends to the rear of the inner room, heated by an end stack, with an early 19th-century stair in a projection to the rear of the cross passage, possibly replacing an earlier stair.

A distinct straight joint rises on the front elevation to just above first-floor level, corresponding with the crosswall on the higher side of the passage. The front wall on the lower side of this joint and to the higher side of the front lateral hall stack appears to have been rebuilt, suggesting a possible single-storey hall bay on the lower right-hand side may once have existed, with the front wall to its right rebuilt in the 18th century. The front wall to the left of the stack appears partly refaced in the early 19th century, with the gable end rebuilt and eaves raised in the late 19th century. The rear wing's date is uncertain, though it probably dates from at least the 17th century. However, given the building's historical significance as the county seat of the Bishops of Exeter, it is possible the house was originally arranged entirely differently and may have extended further to the north and/or south.

The exterior shows two storeys with an asymmetrical five-window front. A projecting hall lateral stack sits near centre, with the entrance positioned to the right of centre. A late 18th-century six-panel door features a fanlight and broken pediment. Window treatments include an early 19th-century tripartite sash with dressed granite arch to the right; an early 19th-century 12-pane sash to the left; and early 19th-century 16-pane and 12-pane sashes to the far left. The first floor contains four hornless 12-pane sashes and a tripartite sash to the right.

The interior comprises a wide entrance hall with an early 19th-century open well stair in a rear projection, featuring a turned newel, stick balusters with ramped moulded rail, and a 20th-century fireplace. Ceilings are plastered throughout. The rear wing contains an unmoulded timber lintel over a large deep fireplace with one cloam oven and the remains of a second oven. The roof structure, dating from the late 19th century, is of king post construction.

The site is a Domesday manor and was the county seat of the Bishops of Exeter. It is marked on Norden's survey of Cornwall, recorded circa 1584 and published as Norden Speculi Britanniae Pars: A Topographical and Historical Description of Cornwall in 1728.