Penhallam Manor, Jacobstow

In the civil parish of Jacobstow.
In the historic county of Cornwall (Modern Authority of Cornwall, 1974 county of Cornwall).

Late C12 to mid C14 moated manor house in a steep sided valley floor near Week St Mary. Visible as a sub-circular moat defining a central island which supports walls and foundation trenches of manor house complex. The surviving walls are generally 0.75m-0.8m wide and 0.5m high but they rise to 1.4m high in the north west sector. The foundation trenches recorded by excavation are now visible as modern, low, wire-framed and turf-covered earth banks which are built over their courses. The moat is flat- bottomed, from 5.5m wide and 1.5m deep on the south to 12m wide and 1m deep on the north. It contains water on the north, east and south sides. The structural complex forming the manor house is visible as four ranges of buildings. Excavations indicated that the surviving plan resulted from four main building phases. The east range contains the earliest structure and is dated to circa 1180-1200. It housed, over an undercroft, the domestic apartments of the owner. About AD 1200, a wardrobe and garderobe were added to the northern end of the domestic apartments. The third and most extensive visible phase of building took place between circa 1224 and 1236, resulting in most structures of the north, west and south ranges. This building phase included the hall, buttery, chapel and bakehouse. The fourth building phase of circa 1300 resulted in the rebuilding of the kitchens and service wing. Historical records show that the manor of Penhallam formed part of the honour of Cardinham, held by Richard fitz Turold in 1087, and by his descendants, eventually the de Cardinham family. It is Andrew de Cardinham who is considered responsible for the major third building phase. Called Ringwork in Higham.

This site has been described as a;
Fortified Manor House
Timber Castle.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Masonry footings remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SX22449740

Modern Map from Good for landscape form and features	Modern Map from Good for general location
Air Photo from	1st edition OS Map from

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape number; 436500

• Web site links
  • http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/conProperty.297
• Books
  • Emery, Anthony, 2006, Greater Medieval Houses Vol3 (Cambridge) p614-5
    Campbell, Adele (ed), 2004, Heritage Unlocked; Guide to free sites in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (English Heritage) p36-9
    Higham, Robert A., 1999, 'Castles, Fortified Houses and Fortified Towns in the Middle Ages' in Kain, R. and Ravenhill, W., Historical Atlas of South-West England (University of Exeter Press) p136-43
    Salter, Mike, 1999, The Castles of Devon and Cornwall (Malvern) p29
• Journal Articles
  • 1986, Cornish Archaeology Cornwall Archaeological Society Vol25 p135
    Beresford, Guy, 1974, 'The medieval manor of Penhallam, Jacobstow, Cornwall' Medieval Archaeology Vol18 p90-145