Description

HELSTON

SW62NW PENROSE HILL
631-1/1/202 Penrose Manor House
24/03/50

GV II*

Country house. C17. For Penrose family, probably John Penrose
d.1679, remodelled and extended from c1788 for John Rogers and
c1832 for the Reverend John Rogers, extended 1863 by William
Webb for John Jope Rogers, remodelled 1867, buttery added 1868
and centre of Loe elevation rebuilt 1927-28.
Principal front Elvan ashlar with granite ashlar plinth,
granite string and parapet, other elevations mostly Killas
rubble with granite dressings, some slatehanging and some
stucco within courtyard; scantle slate and dry slate roofs,
mostly hipped, NW front with moulded parapet and C17 or early
C18 battlements to left with many C17 crested ridge tiles to
hipped roof above and gadrooned urn over left-hand corner;
late C19 parapet and weather vane to SE corner and cast-iron
ogee gutters, most with lions' heads, to SW front; irregularly
disposed brick stacks with moulded cornices. C17 U-shaped plan
front survives to NW incorporated into the present irregular
square plan ranged around a small courtyard.
Principal nearly symmetrical 1:2:3:2:2-bay NW front
incorporating the original 2:3:2-bay front with blind bay
addition on the left and 2-bay addition on the right and with
2-bay inner returns with blocked window openings; early and
mid C19 hornless sashes with glazing bars. Central doorway
with Tuscan pilasters surmounted by carved eagle which was
formerly above the parapet; pair of late C19 two-panel doors.
SW front is an overall 7-window range: wide 3-window
projection on left with resited late C18 Venetian window right
of centre; recessed 3-window central range; large octagonal
3-light bay on the right and stuccoed return of SE front, far
right, with ventilated larder window to ground floor. Most
windows are early/mid C19 hornless sashes with glazing bars;
round-arched doorway towards left and doorway left of centre;
early C20 doors.
SE front is an irregular 7-window range with predominantly
late C19 features including 4 gabled roof dormers and similar
dormer to left-hand return. Centre 3-window range with mid C19
twelve-pane hornless sashes and central late C19 or C20
classical style doorway with 6-panel door; 3-window range on
the left with later C19 or C20 twelve-pane horned sash over
blocked doorway and flanking canted bays, the left-hand bay
mid C19 with hornless sashes with glazing bars over a C20
garage projection and the other bay a late C19 or C20 horned
copy over a similar but larger ground floor bay; late C19
Gothic-style bay to far right of SE front with 2-light
mullioned windows with 8-pane hornless sashes.
NE front is 2:6:1 bays with left-hand bays similar to return
to SE front; central bays, rebuilt 1927-28, has 12-pane horned
sashes and recessed splayed doorway on the right with 6-panel
door flanked by 8-pane sashes; large early C19 two-storey
3-light bowed window at far right with 12-pane sashes divided
by granite mullions. Courtyard has mostly mid C19 hornless
sashes with glazing bars.
INTERIOR: features include (from partial inspection only); C17
ovolo-moulded granite door jamb to rear of central passage.
Right-hand wing of NW front retains early/mid C18 panelled
room with fielded panels (later graining), doorway with
dentils, 6-panel door, eared overmantel, moulded ceiling
cornice and ceiling with panels with moulded ribs including
round central panel with key pattern and acanthus rose; C18
chamber above with similar doorway and door, eared
chimneypiece with key-pattern cornice and coved ceiling with
dentilled cornice. Stair hall behind has large early C20
open-well staircase with heavy turned balusters. Chamber
behind stair hall has C18 coved ceiling over a moulded
cornice. Behind this chamber is the room with the octagonal
bay with late C19 moulded and enriched classical style
plasterwork.
HISTORY: Penrose (or at least some land) was held by the
Penrose family pre-1269. The estate grew as a result of
various grants of land and inheritances some of which resulted
from marriages linking the Penroses with other leading Cornish
families including: St Aubyn, Tremayne, Methele, Erissey,
Killigrew and Rashleigh. Hearth Tax records show that there
were 13 hearths in 1664. Between 1750 and 1770 Penrose was
bought by Hugh Rogers. His son John married Margaret, the
daughter of Francis Basset of Tehidy, became MP for Penryn,
was 6 times mayor and was deputy Lieutenant of Cornwall.
Hugh Rogers and his son the Reverend John Rogers carried out
many of the major alterations and additions at Penrose. John
Rogers' eldest son John Jope Rogers became deputy Lieutenant
of Cornwall and was MP for Helston from 1859-1865. Later
eminent members of the Rogers family include John Lionel
Rogers, born 1880, who married Caroline Ford of Pengreep and
became High Sheriff of Cornwall.
(Pascoe N: The Early History of Porthleven: Redruth: 1989-: 5;
Squires S: Penrose Historic Survey: National Trust: 1986-).

Listing NGR: SW6412525775

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17532641

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

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  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  England's Post-War Listed Buildings
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  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability
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  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)