Manor Farmhouse

Lower Tremail, formerly known as Manor Farmhouse, is a 17th-century farmhouse located immediately south of the adjacent Manor House at Davidstow Tremail. It is believed to have been the home farm of the manor of Tremail, though there is no early documentary history for the building. The farmhouse appears in its present form on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1887.

The building is constructed of stone rubble with pebble-dashed render and has a slate roof with gable ends. Two 20th-century rendered chimneys are present: an axial stack to the left of centre and an end stack to the right, which was later incorporated as an axial stack after a single-bay extension was added to the right.

The original plan form was two rooms with a cross-passage. The living room, to the left, is heated by a massive axial stack backing onto the passage. The kitchen, to the right, has a massive end stack. To the rear of the passage is a newel stair in a projection thought to be the remains of a stair turret, incorporated into a later out-shut. The stairs originally gave access only to chambers above the living room. The house was later extended by one room to the right, and the roof was raised to provide additional bedrooms. A timber staircase was subsequently inserted to provide access to these new bedrooms from the kitchen.

The farmhouse is two storeys with 20th-century uPVC windows on both ground and first floors. The east (principal) elevation features a granite three-light window with chamfered mullions and a carved drip mould, a lean-to pebble-dashed stone rubble porch with a re-set datestone of 1659, and towards the north a 20th-century door and window. There are three 20th-century windows to the first floor in half dormers with flat roofs. The south gable displays a circular opening in the gable, now glazed with uPVC. The west elevation is unrendered and shows evidence of an infilled rear door to the cross-passage and the remains of the stair turret, lit by a two-light granite-mullioned window.

The entrance has a chamfered square-headed granite doorframe with diagonal stops and a wide planked and braced door with hand-forged decorative strap hinges. The cross-passage features three similar hewn granite doorframes, a slate-paved floor and 19th-century tongue and groove panelling. Both principal rooms have massive chimneybreasts with fireplaces featuring chamfered granite surrounds, partly obscured by later alterations. Beyond the cross-passage is the rubble newel stair with renewed slate treads, and a pantry with rubble and slate shelves. The roof structure was not accessible.

A range of single-storey outbuildings extends along the roadside from the north end of the rear elevation. These are of traditional construction but somewhat altered and do not contain any dateable features. They are not considered of special interest, although they contribute to the agricultural character of the farmstead.

The farmhouse was refurbished in the late 20th century when the windows were replaced, the roof re-laid, and the tops of both chimneys were rebuilt.