Pengenna

Pengenna is a house of late 16th or early 17th-century date, possibly built for Reverend Thomas Pocock. It is constructed of ashlar and stone rubble with granite quoins, and has a renewed slate roof with a hipped end to the left and a gable end to the right.

The building comprises a main range with a projecting right-hand wing beneath a lean-to roof, and a service range in a cross wing on the left. The roof of the main range originally continued to the right before returning over the projecting wing with a front gable. The main range contains a 17th-century axial granite stack with a moulded cap backing onto the lower side of the passage, and a projecting rear lateral hall stack whose shaft has been removed; a 17th-century granite stack with a moulded cap stands to the right, serving a heating chamber above the hall and possibly an inner room. This end stack was originally an axial stack when the roof continued to the right. The lower service range has a 19th-century brick stack in the front gable end and a 17th-century granite stack with a moulded cap to the kitchen fireplace in the rear gable end.

The original plan comprises a wide cross passage with the hall on the right, heated by a rear lateral stack, and an inner room beyond with a projecting front wing. At the lower side of the passage is possibly a parlour with a stair projection to the rear, and a service range in the cross wing at the lower end with a large fireplace. The plan has been partly remodelled: the hall has been converted to a dairy and bathroom; the inner room is now used as a calves house with a store above; and the room at the lower side of the passage has been divided into two rooms.

The building is two storeys and attic in height. The front is a tall, asymmetrical five-window elevation, with the entrance positioned near the centre. The projecting wing on the right-hand side has had its roof and right-hand wall reduced in height. The cross wing projects on the left-hand side.

On the main range's left-hand side is a four-pane sash and a four-light mullion window with two mullions removed and a two-light casement inserted. The central entrance features a four-centred arch with hollow chamfer and carved spandrels; the initials T.P. (Thomas Pocock) appear in the label stops of the drip-mould. The original door is of double construction with strap hinges. To the right is a partly blocked four-light mullion window with one light containing early leaded glass and a three-light casement beyond. The first floor has a two-light casement, three three-light mullion windows with casements and some early leaded glass, and a three-light mullion window to the right with mullions removed and casements inserted. The right-hand wing has a crocketted finial reset on its left-hand corner. The left-hand wing has 19th-century sixteen-pane sashes on the ground and first floors; its side elevation is partly rebuilt with at least two straight joints in the masonry and three three-light mullion windows with casements. The rear elevation has a stair projection with a blocked stair window and several blocked windows to the attic below the eaves. A four-centred granite arch with chamfer and pyramid stops to the service range is visible from within an outshut extension.

Internally, a wide cross passage is flanked by a thick wall containing a fireplace at the lower side and the remains of a hall screen at the higher side. Granite floors run throughout. The hall on the right-hand side contains an oak hall screen, reset to form a partition to the bathroom and larder; the screen dates to circa the early 17th century and has a scratch moulded panelled frame with an ovolo-moulded doorframe featuring scroll stops to the bathroom. The hall fireplace has a plaster panel above depicting Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden in high relief, with a moulded plaster cornice featuring a floral trail on the front and rear walls. An ovolo-moulded doorframe with a blocked entrance to the inner room is present. The room on the lower side of the passage has a fireplace with a 20th-century chimneypiece backing onto the passage. A four-centred granite arch doorway separates the main range from the service wing, with chamfer and inverted pyramid stops on the higher side. The large kitchen fireplace has a chamfered granite lintel and jambs with pyramid stops, the right-hand jamb being replaced; a cloam oven and a possible smoking chamber or fringle lie to the right. The initials T.P., possibly those of Thomas Pocock, are carved on a settle. A timber newel stair is located in the projection at the rear of the parlour.

On the first floor, the floor level changes above the hall and cross passage, where the chamber and dressing room are divided by the thick cross wall continuing up from the lower side of the passage. A 17th-century ovolo-moulded doorframe is present in the wall, with a similar doorframe featuring scroll stops at the entrance to the dressing room, which also has a moulded plaster cornice. The adjoining chamber has an ovolo-moulded doorframe with a 17th-century three-panel door, a complete set of ovolo-moulded ceiling beams with scroll stops, and a granite fireplace with chamfer, pyramid stops and a hearth kerb.

The roof timbers are said to have been replaced in the 1970s. The roof structure was not inspected.

Pengenna was formerly a seat of the Mohun family, then passed to the Pococks and later to the Molesworth family.