‘The field with the best view’
From an impeccably renovated terrace of farmworkers’ cottages to a grand old hall, Cornwall’s character and beauty are unparalleled
BOUNDED to the east by the River Tamar, which marks the boundary between Devon and Cornwall, sparsely populated North Tamerton—previously located in Devon, but now part of Cornwall— is the only parish in the county that includes land east of the Tamar. Medieval North Tamerton, ‘the town of the Tamar’, which overlooks the confluence of the great river and its tributary, the Deer, is the only village in this landscape of hamlets and farmsteads. Here, in the mid to late 1500s, Leonard Lovis (or Loveys), Elizabeth I’s treasurer for Cornwall and Devon, built his grand family seat, Ogbeare Hall.
The 1973 autumn edition of Old Cornwall, published by the Federation of Old Cornwall Societies, sets the scene: ‘Ogbeare Hall may be approached from the road at nearby Hornacott Chapel. This way winds through woodland, and the first glimpse of the Hall, set a bit below the ridge of the hill, makes it appear somewhat incongruous, as if a Victorian villa from a prosperous suburb had been placed in this somewhat remote Cornish district. The house was indeed rebuilt in Victorian times and subsequently modernised, but it still has at its heart The Great Hall, with its granite fireplace, stone mullioned windows and fine wooden roof, which remind one of Cotehele [near Saltash] or Trecarrol [Trecarrell, at nearby Launceston]. Outside, built into the walls or lying beside them, are stones from the earlier Hall in which lived Leonard Lovis.’
Kelly’s Directory of 1889 records that Ogbeare Hall had ‘recently been restored and enlarged’, presumably by Maj Joseph Holt, who was one of the principal local landowners and lived in the house at that time. According to its 1961 listing entry, Ogbeare Hall, then used as an old people’s home, was listed Grade II* and described as being ‘encased on the north, south and west sides in a late19th-century Gothic-style gabled house of two storeys with stone mullion windows and a three-storeyed tower with a pyramidal roof. The service wing of the late-19th-century house, to the west, has been demolished’.
Located 10 miles north of Launceston and 11 miles from Widemouth Bay on the wild north Cornwall coast, the Ogbeare Hall estate
has been sold many times over the years. The most recent time was in 2011, since when the hall, set in 114 acres of wonderfully private gardens, pasture and woodland in a picturesque hidden valley overlooking its 2½-acre lake, has been extensively restored and modernised. Now back on the market with Strutt & Parker (020–7591 2213) at a guide price of £2.5 million, Ogbeare Hall comes with planning consent to significantly increase its present 5,300sq ft of accommodation by extending the house to the west. Oliver Custance Baker of Strutt & Parker’s country department is handling the sale.
Red and roe deer roam the woods and otters swim in the lake
The ground floor currently offers five large reception rooms, including the impressive entrance hall with its elaborately carved wood panelling and decorative tiled floor. The Great Hall is the pièce de résistance with its grand stone fireplace, high vaulted ceiling and large stained-glass windows; the adjoining library has French doors opening out onto a courtyard and the parkland-style gardens. The spacious drawing room has shuttered sash windows and two sets of French doors leading to the gardens, and a separate sitting room enjoys southerly views towards the lake. The well-equipped kitchen/breakfast room is located at the rear of the house, with cellars and a strongroom completing the ground-floor accommodation. The hall’s six bedrooms are located on the first and second floors; the tower bedroom has spectacular far-reaching views across the estate.
Outbuildings include a shoot room, a lodge with open-plan living space on the first floor and a double garage and boat store below, and various workshops and stores. There is also an open-air swimming pool heated by solar power, with a pleasant seating and barbecue area nearby. Elsewhere on the estate, red and roe deer roam the woods and wild trout and otters swim in the lake, where mallard, teal, moorhens and Canada geese are long-standing residents. Peregrine falcons, buzzards, pheasants and woodcock can also be seen at various times of the year.
Down on the Land’s End peninsula, Falmouthbased agent Jonathan Cunliffe (01326 617447) is handling the sale of idyllic Embla Gew near the west Cornwall village of Nancledra, three miles from St Ives and five miles from Penzance. He quotes a guide price of £2.25m
for the beautifully renovated farmhouse set in 2½ acres of glorious gardens and surrounded by 200 acres of protected farmland, which has been the much-loved Cornish retreat of owner Brenda Hall and her late husband, Stephen, for almost 60 years.
Mrs Hall recalls Embla Gew’s transformation from three derelict cottages in the middle of nowhere to an enchanting oasis of peace and tranquillity: ‘In the 1960s and 1970s, Stephen and I were both working for BBC Television; he was a highly regarded film editor and I worked on a number of productions, from Doctor Who
The views from the house and garden are truly spectacular
to Monty Python and Life of Brian. Our Cornish adventure began in 1966, when Stephen bought the terrace of dilapidated 18th-century farmworkers’ cottages from the local farmer. From the 1970s onwards, we spent every summer at Embla Gew, planning and designing the house and garden, where, over many years, we planted hundreds of trees and shrubs to create a green haven for ourselves and a sanctuary for wildlife. Embla Gew means in Cornish “the field with the best view” and the unspoilt views from the house and garden are truly spectacular, as are the incredible dark skies, which allow for wonderful sunrises and moonlit nights all year round.’
In 2004, the couple commissioned the distinguished Cornish architect Joe Poynton, of Poynton Bradbury Wynter Cole in St Ives, to design plans for the extension, remodelling and renovation of Embla Gew. It was a major undertaking that included the addition of a central atrium kitchen with bespoke fittings designed and installed by George Robinson. The renovation, including a separate apartment for Mrs Hall’s mother, was completed in 2007.
Tucked away down the prettiest of country lanes and approached by a private drive that weaves through farmland, Embla Gew stands on high ground overlooking its own shallow valley within the wild and beautiful landscape of West Penwith. Discreetly equipped with all necessary ‘mod cons’, it boasts every homeworker’s dream—superfast fibre broadband linked directly to the premises. In all, it offers 3,480sq ft of impeccably designed living space, which includes, to one side of the central atrium, a delightful summer room, study, media library, cinema room and editing suite, with the principal bedroom suite and two further bedrooms on the first floor. On the opposite side is a cheerful one-bedroom apartment with a dressing room, bathroom and a large sitting room overlooking the garden.