Cotehele

Cotehele House, a rustic house built of slatestone and granite, was redeveloped between 1485 and c.1565 after Sir Richard Edgcumbe was rewarded for his loyalty to Henry Tudor at the Battle of Bosworth. It quickly became a second home to the Edgcumbes who built their principal residence near Plymouth. Cotehele thus escaped major changes in subsequent years, retaining the Tudor Hall, Kitchen and Chapel. The solar block and other areas were modernised in the mid-17th century to create a series of dimly lit rooms . The interior is defined by the imposing great hall with a timber-framed roof and heraldic panels in the windows.The Chapel has a barrel-vaulted ceiling with wooden ribs joined with a variety of bosses. Despite the strong air of Tudor authenticity, most of the interior furnishings were probably introduced in the 18th century by the Edgcumbes in an attempt to create romantic interiors which evoked the past.

Cotehele House, Cornwall

This collection has 3,434 items online

Cotehele is an important Tudor house, and the Hall, Kitchen and Chapel remain relatively intact. The site was owned by the Edgcumbe family from 1353 until 1947. From the 1550s, it became their second home, and was scarcely lived in. A visit by the King and Queen in 1789 demonstrates revival of interest in Cotehele, which was being presented as an antiquarian showpiece. Queen Charlotte observed ‘Chair Seats made of the Priests Vestements’, which were typical of Cotehele's culture of reinvention. Similarly intriguing objects can be found amongst the indigenous collection, which includes arms and armour, oak furniture, tapestries, beds and hangings, pewter, ceramics, and an ancient faceless clock.

View full collection