Roscarrock House (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of St Endellion.
In the historic county of Cornwall.
Modern Authority of Cornwall.
1974 county of Cornwall.
Medieval County of Cornwall.

OS Map Grid Reference: SW98588039
Latitude 50.58831° Longitude -4.84616°

Roscarrock House has been described as a probable Fortified Manor House.

There are major building remains.

This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*.

Description

House built around courtyard. Circa late C15 or early C16. Service wing possibly added or remodelled in early C19. Built for Roscarrock family. The house is built around a courtyard with the main ranges facing south east and south west, the service range facing north east and a curtain wall enclosing the fourth side on the north west with a small tower on the west. Wall of ashlar stone notable for fine quality of constrution with battlemented granite parapet. The C19 accounts of Roscarrock include those of C.S. Gilbert who decribed the house in 1817 as "a strong castellated building" of which many of the massive walls were "falling into decay". The chapel which apparently stood to the west of the house was "in great part demolished". Charles Spence's account of 1856 and Trevan's account of 1820 also describe the chapel and decay of other parts of the house. Roscarrock is one of the most important buildings in North Cornwall, comprising an interesting courtyard plan which is largely intact. The quality of the circa late C15 roofs is outstanding and a rare survival. (Listed Building Report)

A visit by CAU revealed a possible gunloop at SW 9874 8045. This was a greenstone block, pierced with a dumb-bell shaped hole. The stone was found redeposited with other stones including a granite moulding. The gunloop is similar to examples on the ground floor at Pengersick Castle and suggests that Roscarrock manor house may have been partly fortified. (Cornwall & Scilly HER)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1115088
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 431037.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 26240.01.

Books
- Emery, Anthony, 2006, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales Vol. 3 Southern England (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) p. 626
  Robertson, R. and Gilbert, G., 1979, Aspects of the Domestic Architecture of Cornwall p. 39
  Chesher, V.M. and F.J., 1968, The Cornishman's House p. 34-6
  Gilbert, C.S., 1817, An Historical Survey of the County of Cornwall Vol. 2
Periodical Articles
- Spence, Charles, 1856, 'Iter Conubiense' Transactions of the Exeter Diocesan Architectural Society Vol. 5

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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

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*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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