Pencarrow through the ages

09/07/2026

30/04/2026

A bit of very early history

The name Pencarrow in Cornish means “head of the valley” or “high fort” and it certainly occupies an excellent site. Some form of large house has stood on the site for centuries.
Earlier it had belonged to the ancient families of Stapleton and Sergiaux then by a family who took their name from the estate, the de Pencarrows, whose head of the household , after an abortive Cornish uprising in 1497 against an unjust levy on tin, found himself accused of treason!!
The lands were taken over by Henry, 1st Lord Marley from Colquite then taken over by his heirs , the Walkers who then sold it to John Molesworth around 1560.

09/04/2026

Remember our dear old Steiff bear who had the wonderful nose surgery and spa treatment by the lovely Rita?

Well we have chosen a name for him from the many fabulous names that you sent into us.

His name is now Guy Bearington and this was chosen by Angela who will be joining us next week for a guided tour and a cream tea and to meet "Guy" in person of course! As he is now on display everyone who has one of our guided tours will also be able to say hello to him as they walk past. He's now a very happy bear!

Guy Molesworth is the younger brother of John Molesworth (the 14th Baronet of Pencarrow). He was known affectionately in the family as "Uncle Mouse" by the current family as he was a very quiet man.

You can see him in the photos as the youngest child and this Molesworth family were living at Pencarrow at the time of our dear bear Guy (around 1913). If only we can find a photo with young Guy carrying his bear.........

08/04/2026

Mary Ford was the sister of our Victorian Baronet, Sir William Molesworth. She loved Pencarrow as much as her brother William did.

William died at the age of 45 in 1855 and in his will stipulated that his widow, Andalusia could live out the rest of her life at Pencarrow. Andalusia did spend many seasons here at Pencarrow and it became her "party" house with many famous guests, however her main residence was at Eaton Place in London.

Mary and Andalusia didn't speak for 15 years after the death of William (Mary blamed Andalusia for not fetching a doctor sooner) but on hearing that Andalusia was very ill she did travel to visit her sister-in-law to make amends. The two became friends again and Andalusia recovered. However a year later Andalusia became seriously ill and died on the 16th May 1888. There was no date of birth for Andalusia, she never revealed it to anyone!

And so Pencarrow passed back to Mary Ford to live out her days here, although Andalusia's wealth and jewels were bequeathed to George Master Byng, 9th Viscount Torrington (more of this later!)

You will see a diary entry from Mary on her return to Pencarrow as she rode in her carriage from Bodmin through to Washaway and Pencarrow once again. She is buried in St Conan's churchyard in Washaway but managed to spend another 22 years at Pencarrow as she died at the age of 95.

The magnificent Beech tree at the top of the meadow was planted by Mary Ford in 1900.