Country Gallery

Ince Castle, Elm Gate, St Stephens by Saltash, Cornwall. 1961

The main facade of Ince Castle, seen under scaffolding, during alteration work which included the addition of French windows to allow more light to the dark ground floor and extension of the service wing. The Grade I listed mansion house is thought to be the earliest brick house in Cornwall and overlooks the River Lynher, near Saltash. It was built by Henry Killigrew, Member of Parliament for West Looe, in the mid 17th century. The house was then bought by Truro merchant Edward Norsworthy in 1652. In 1722 the house was owned by John Hobart, 1st Earl of Buckinghamshire, before being sold to Pendock Neale, husband of Harriot Eliot of St Germans. In 1805, Ince was sold to Edward Smith. The house was inherited by his stepdaughter, Mary Smith, who lived there with her husband, Captain Henry Crease of the Royal Navy, and family until the 1850s. The house became rundown until it was bought and substantially remodelled by Montague Eliot (later to become 8th Earl of St Germans) in 1918. Between 1922 and 1937, Ince was owned by H.R. Somerset (known as Bobby), a well known yachtsman and founder member of the Royal Ocean Racing Club. His yacht, Jolie Brise, was the first winner of the Fastnet Race and was housed in the boathouse at Ince. Mr and Mrs James Bryce Allen owned the house between 1937 and 1960 when it was sold to Patricia, Viscountess Boyd, who was married to former Colonial Secretary Alan Lennox-Boyd, 1st Viscount Boyd of Merton. The gardens were created in the 1960s by Patricia, Lady Boyd, a keen plantswoman and vice-president of Cornwall Garden Society. Their son, Simon Lennox-Boyd, 2nd Viscount Boyd of Merton, and daughter in law, Alice, Lady Boyd, lived in the house between 1994 and 2018. Photographer: Charles Woolf .

© RIC, photographer Charles Woolf

Tregothnan Lodge, Churchtown, St Michael Penkivel, Cornwall. Probably early 1900s

A view of the gate house, Churchtown. Four young girls are standing hand-in-hand looking at the camera and a man is walking along the drive towards the lodge. Tregothnan has been home to the Boscawen family since 1334. The house was rebuilt by Edward Boscawen (1787-1841), fourth Viscount and First Earl of Falmouth, near the site of an older mansion. Tregothnan has the largest historic garden in Cornwall. It is open to the public for one weekend every year. Photographer: Arthur William Jordan.

© From the collection of the RIC

Godolphin House, Breage, Cornwall. Around 1925

The main facade; a collonade of massive granite pillars leads into the quadrangle through an old Jacobean doorway with carved oak doors. Glass lantern slide from a lecture, entitled 'Some Historic Cornish Beauty Spots', given by Cornishman and amateur photographer, Major Arthur William Gill, in around 1925. He was well known in Cornwall and elsewhere during the 1920s and 1930s for his presentations of stills and cine film to many groups including The Royal Institution of Cornwall, Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society and the London Cornish Society. The quarter plate slides which he took prolifically with his 'ordinary camera' are, in many cases, colour. These were painted by his own hand to great effect.

© From the collection of the RIC