Pentillie Castle, Cornwall
Pentillie Castle, Cornwall
Pentillie is a listed castle and estate, located on the banks of the River Tamar, near the village of St Mellion in Cornwall, England, in the United Kingdom. Pentillie is also situated near to the village of St Dominick, which at one time belonged to the estate.
From a poor background, James Tillie (16 November, 1645 – 15 November, 1713) rose through the ranks, and became an agent for Sir John Coryton (son of William Coryton), owner of the estate, Newton Ferrers. Soon after the sudden death of Sir John, Tillie improved his fortunes by wedding his patron's widow, Elizabeth. Tillie then divided the Newton Ferrers estate, and commissioned the building of Pentillie, which was completed in 1698. James Tillie died in 1713, leaving the Pentillie estate to his nephew, James Woolley. On his death the estate was passed to Woolley's daughter Mary Jemima, who went on to marry Peter Coryton, the new heir of Newton Ferrers, thereby reuniting the two estates. Pentillie then became the main seat of the Coryton family in Cornwall.
The Corytons were a prosperous 18th century family, becoming owners of more than 20,000 acres of land in Cornwall. In 1809, the family appointed the famous landscape designer Humphry Repton, to draw up plans for a remodelling of Pentillie. Repton envisaged an impressive Gothic Revival castle, and as a cnsequence of his vision, Pentillie was extenively enlarged in 1810, with the construction of an three new wings to the west side of the old structure. The building thus enclosed a central open courtyard.
Pentillie remained under the ownership of the Coryton family for the whole of the 19th and 20th centuries. However, during the Second World War the south wing of Pentillie Castle was requisitioned, and used as maternity ward for the local population. By the 1960s the house was in a poor state of repair, and the decision was taken to demolish most of 1810 construction. The subsequently remodelled Pentillie Castle was declared a listed building in 1968.
In 2007, Pentillie was inherited by Ted Spencer and his wife Sarah (they have subsequently changed their surname to Coryton). In 2009, Pentillie was the subject of a Channel 4 programme presented by hotelier Ruth Watson as part of her Country House Rescue series.
Today, Pentillie Castle is available for hire for weddings, civil partnerships, corporate events and private parties. Accommodation at the castle is also available. In addition, the estates gardens are being restored and are scheduled to be open to the public on specific open days from September 2009.
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