Cotehele Mill

The house was acquired by William Edgcumbe through his marriage to Hilaria, heiress of Cotehele. The house is one of the least altered of the Tudor houses in the United Kingdom. The outbuildings include a stone dovecote in a remarkable state of preservation. For centuries a second home of the Edgcumbe family, hosting a royal visit from King George III in 1788, and the Cotehele clock. The house contains many tapestries that came, along with much of the furniture, from Mount Edgcumbe House. Regrettably, some have had pieces cut out to fit them in their new locations.

The house is a Grade I listed building, having been so designated on 21 July 1951. The house was probably founded around 1300 and various alterations were made in the early fifteenth century. Sir Richard Edgcumbe seems to have been involved in the first phase of development from 1486 to 1489, with his son Sir Piers Edgcumbe taking over for the second phase, from 1489 to 1520. The grounds stretch down to a quay on the River Tamar where there is an outpost of the National Maritime Museum. There are a number of formal gardens and a richly planted area in the valley; features include a medieval dovecote, a stewpond, a Victorian summerhouse and the eighteenth century Prospect Tower. The gardens…