Toward the end of October, I visited Cotehele. Cotehele is largely a Tudor house (despite parts of the home dating from the 1300s) located in Cornwall next to the River Tamar and managed by National Trust. The house belonged to the Edgecumbe family for centuries and was visited by royalty for the past three-hundred years. The interior of the house has not changed much over the centuries, and there are gardens to explore with something interesting to be seen in every season: orchard fruit for the autumn and snowdrops in the winter.
At the bottom of the hill that the house sits on is the river, and visitors can explore Cotehele Quay along the river and walk to Cotehele Mill.
Cotehele is known for its tapestries.
The first room entered is the Great Hall with high ceilings and antique items to see. The other rooms to explore lead off of this room.
The Dining Room, also known as the Punch Room, was remodelled between the early 1500s and the mid-1600s. It was part of the Great Hall originally and is hung with tapestries. These were not original to the house and were cut to size. The tapestries are a bit faded, and with dark rooms, the staff can shine a light on the subjects in the tapestries. Some children were locating animals in each room for a quiz.
Off this room is the chapel, which dates from 1500. The chapel contains a rare Tudor clock. The clock had to be wound every day, and it still works and chimes. Someone was playing the organ when I went to visit it.
Back through the Dining Room is the next room. The Punch Room was once combined with the Dining Room to create a bigger room, the Parlour. In the 1650s, it was separated and could be known as the "Little Parlour". When King George III and Queen Charlotte visited in 1789, they called it a dressing room. The back corner has been changed to create a wine cellar. This development probably dates from the 1800s.
The White Bedroom was added onto the house around the 1550s. It includes two walk-in closests on one wall, which could be hidden by the tapestries. One of them includes a china closet. The other is just an empty room. The china closet would have been something to show off to visitors.
The Red Room and the adjoining South Room were once part of the Great Chamber or Solar in Tudor homes. It would have been a larger room for the family to retire to, but it was then split into two separate rooms.
The Old Drawing Room contains a lot of natural light and would have probably been where King George III and Queen Charlotte had their breakfast when they visited the house in 1789. The Edgecumbes entertained them, and the room contains two pillows with the names of the king and queen as they were thought to have sat on them.
Cotehele was visited by several members of the royal family up to the present time. In addition to King George III, Queen Victoria visited in 1846 and again in 1856, and the houses at Cotehele Quay may have been built for her. She was not keen on the house. Prince Edward (King Edward VIII) visited the house in 1920, and Prince Philip visited in 1985 to tour the house and to see the restored boat, 'Shamrock'. Prince Charles and Princess Anne visited in more recent times with Princess Anne visiting it last in 2008 and planted an apple tree. A small exhibition in one of the rooms contains a book signed by Prince Philip.
After exploring most of the house, the final room to explore was the kitchen, which is located off the Great Hall. The kitchen was constructed in 1539. There was a set of rules to read for the servants, and they sounded pretty strict.
After exploring the house, I went to explore the gardens, which contained some lovely views.
On the other side of the house were additional gardens, including a pond, the kitchen gardens, and orchard.
The autumn colour was showing through in the garden.
On the way home, I got a candy apple. I was a bit dubious as I've had them be too soft, but I was delighted that the apple was crisp and delicious. It has been many years since I have had one of these.
I enjoyed my visit to Cotehele. Afterwards, I explored the mill and quay.
Leave a comment