Shire House And Attached Wall And Gate

Shire House is an early to mid-19th century house, incorporating an earlier structure that was formerly part of the Duchy Palace group. It has undergone some late alterations. The house is constructed of slatestone rubble, rendered, with rubble and Pentewan stone to the rear. It has an asbestos slate roof with a gable end to the left and a slightly bellcast hip to the right end. Stacks have been removed.

The building is arranged with a central entrance to a two-room plan, with a central passage and staircase to the right. Originally, it was heated by a gable end stack to the left and a rear lateral stack to the right. The house has two storeys and an attic, with three windows to the front. The ground floor has a central panelled and glazed door with a semi-circular hood on brackets. To the right is a 20-pane sash with a segmental head. To the left is an early 19th century half-glazed door with pilasters, cornice, Gothic glazing, sidelights, and overlight. The first floor has two 20-pane sashes and a central 16-pane sash. There are two flat-roofed dormers, each with a 12-pane sash. A wooden oriel is located on the right side at first floor, featuring a 4-pane sash to the front and sides. The rear of the house has two 20th-century windows on the ground floor.

The rear wall displays the springing for two stone arches, one at the front and one at the rear entrance to the lane behind the house. The front arch is pointed with chamfered Pentewan stone dressings, while the rear arch is of slatestone rubble with Pentewan stone springings. Pentewan stone quoins are visible at ground floor level to the right side of the rear.

Attached to the front right is an embattled wall made of slatestone rubble, approximately 2 metres high and around 10 metres long, fronting Quay Street. A 20th-century wrought iron gate is located to the left.

Internally, late-20th-century partitions have altered the original layout. Two segmental arches remain in the rear wall to the right, their origin and function are uncertain. The rear wall is of a thickness comparable to other buildings within the Duchy Palace group, with a splayed reveal to the ground floor window to the left. An early 19th century winder stair features circular stick balusters and a ramped, moulded wreathed handrail, with barley sugar twist slender newel posts. At the first floor, there are six-panelled doors and a marble chimneypiece in the rear of the first floor room to the right. The house is believed to have been the prison governor's house for the Stannary Prison, in the 18th or early 19th century.