Books

... "Pentillie Castle"

Pentillie Castle is famous for its dramatic position high above the river Tamar. Described as an ‘elegant and beautifully situated mansion on a commanding eminence above the river’, it has attracted a mystique for being both magnificent from the river and also private, with acres of garden, valleys and hills of park and woodland. To the north is a partly hidden three storey tower on the top of a hill, which is the mausoleum of the castle’s builder, Sir James Tillie. Not only does the castle’s position mean that it's been admired for some 300 years but ‘wondrous stories’ have accumulated to create a curious respect and reputation.

Pentillie Castle was the creation of one man, Sir James Tillie, and has been the home of the Coryton family through most of its history. It was never actually a castle but built as a country house intended to give Sir James status and a home for the family dynasty he still hoped to found. Sir James Tillie married into the Coryton family, who still live in the building that was part of Sir James Tillie's original 'palace'. This ‘palace’, much rebuilt over the last 300 years, is now going through a period of restoration and new energy after long decline.

Pentillie Castle has gardens of about 55 acres and a parkland landscape with a further 200 acres. The gardens are the site of one of the early gardens of Cornwall. Not only can Sir James Tillie’s designs still be traced, but later alterations were designed by Humphrey Repton, Lewis Kennedy and Victorian and Edwardian plant collectors. The garden, described around 1820 as one of the most important in the county, is now being restored. It promises to be one of the most fascinating and interesting great gardens of the south west.

Pentillie Castle therefore provides the most dramatic, romantic and scenic of landscapes, combined with a fascinating architectural history with important, interesting gardens.