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Property market
Penny Churchill
TODAY sees the launch onto the market in COUNTRY L IFE of historic, Grade IIlisted Trenarth Manor, which sits in 120 acres of rolling pasture and woodland on the north bank of the lovely Helford River in south Cornwall, two miles from the village of Constantine and five miles south-west of Falmouth. The sale of Trenarth, for the first time in more than 30 years, is being handled by Falmouth-based Jonathan Cunliffe (01326 617447) and James Toogood of Savills Country Department (020–7016 3822), who quote a guide price of £4.5 million for the idyllic small country estate.
For more than 800 years, Trenarth has been home to owners who lived, worked and farmed on its fertile, south-facing slopes and probably chose the site for its proximity to the river, abundant woodland for fuel and grazing and readily available stone for building.
In one of these beautiful waterside properties of the West Country, a conversation inspired Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe Castaway
In the 17th century, Trenarth was the seat of the Trenerth family and passed, in 1661, to Henry Trefusis of Treviades, after his marriage to heiress Anne Trenerth in 1658. In the early 18th century, Trenarth went from the Trefusises to the Nicholas family, who owned it until 1842.
In his A History of the Parish of Constantine in Cornwall (1937), Cornish historian Charles Henderson describes the manor as ‘an interesting building consisting of an Elizabethan courtyard to which a large square block was added at the end of the 18th century. The Court is entered from the farm road by a massive archway of granite, seven feet high. The building on the right hand or northern side of it was the main part of the Elizabethan mansion, but, since the erection of the Georgian block, has been used for a kitchen or servants’ quarters… The Georgian wing
has a plain but dignified front facing South West. It contains pleasant lofty rooms. In one of these is a good “Adam” mantelpiece’.
A range of outbuildings was incorporated into the main structure in the later 19th century. A modern garden room, added in 2002, completes the internal layout of the house, set at 300ft above sea level with uninterrupted views over its fields, woods and streams, which lead down to Port Navas creek and the Helford River.
The present dynamic owner, Lucie Nottingham, was looking for a holiday home in Cornwall, when, in 1992, she happened on Trenarth and was immediately smitten. Since then, she has overseen the renovation of the 5,900sq ft manor house, which offers an entrance hall, five reception rooms, kitchen/breakfast room, 17th-century refectory, grand principalbedroom suite, two further bedrooms, three
Historic Trenarth Manor is the focal point of a 120-acre country estate on the north bank of the Helford River in south Cornwall. £4.5m
bathrooms and a one-bedroom ‘granny wing’. Its adjoining, one-bedroom East Cottage, currently arranged as a self-contained apartment, could easily be restored to the main house to provide two additional bedrooms.
To the rear of the house, a collection of charming converted barns, comprising five letting cottages, are arranged around a former farm courtyard to provide a further 4,900sq ft of living space. Nearby, up a separate drive, stands a derelict bungalow in a delightful setting, which has planning consent to rebuild as a four-bedroom family home.
The mild climate enables ambitious planting and ensures year-round colour
Historically focused on practical horticulture, Trenarth’s 18th-century garden walls once enclosed vegetable and fruit gardens, with three orchards noted on a 19th-century estate map. Early landscaping features include a lone Monterey pine and remnants of a 19th-century avenue. By the 1950s, the estate supported a gardening business producing cut flowers and traces of greenhouses are still evident in the restored potting shed. In the 1960s, a large orchard, yew-hedged garden ‘rooms’, terrace walls and shelterbelts were introduced and, over the past 28 years, the gardens have been expanded to cover three to four acres, retaining a strong framework of hedges and walls. Today, the gardens are wonderfully diverse and feature a sheltered 16th-century courtyard,
formal walled gardens, an orchard and a vegetable patch. The mild climate enables ambitious planting and ensures year-round colour and variety. Recent additions include a gravel garden with granite and palms, a bog garden and a beech walk. Trenarth’s gardens are well described in Tim Hubbard’s Secret Gardens of Cornwall (2023) and have been open for many years in aid of the National Garden Scheme, Cornwall Wildlife Trust, Cornwall Hospice Care and Cornwall Heritage Trust. With its ancient oak forests and many hidden creeks that cut inland along this stretch of the south Cornish coast, the Helford River estuary is one of the most beautiful and unspoilt areas within the Cornwall National Landscape, with
much of the land surrounding the estuary owned by the National Trust. The sailing facilities here are first class, with the Helford River, Falmouth Bay and the Fal estuary offering some of the finest day-sailing waters in the UK. Jonathan Cunliffe (01326 617447) is also handling the sale of Boswodegh on exclusive Bar Road, Helford Passage, a few miles east of Trenarth on the north bank of the Helford River, 1½ miles from Mawnan Smith and seven miles from Falmouth. He quotes a guide price of £3.5m for the house and its acre of outstanding gardens, both of which were extensively remodelled by the owners in 2014–15, with input from interior designer Kathryn Tyler for the house and Chelsea Gold medallist Geraldine Hood-Leeder for the gardens.
Approached through electric gates from Bar Road, Boswodegh boasts ‘mesmerising’ views over the gardens to the Helford River, Dennis Head, Nare Point and Falmouth Bay. Some 5,250sq ft of light-filled living space centres on the state-of-the-art, open-plan ‘live-in’ kitchen/dining room with a snug/sitting room off and sliding glass doors leading to a wide terrace overlooking the gardens and the river below. To one side of the kitchen are a laundry room and an impressive principal bedroom suite, with doors leading onto the terrace. The west wing of the house comprises two more bedrooms and a bathroom. Upstairs is a wonderfully light, spacious sitting room with a his-‘n’-hers study/office area and a bedroom suite to each side of the reception room. Across the county border in Devon, the River Avon, also known as the River Aune, rises in the southern half of Dartmoor National Park and passes through South Brent, Avonwick
Trenarth Manor has evolved from its 16th-century origins into a modern country house
Boswodegh at Helford Passage in Cornwall is blessed with ‘mesmerising’ views. £3.5m
Property market
and Aveton Gifford before flowing into the sea at Bigbury-on-Sea; the estuary lies within the South Devon National Landscape and is part of the South Devon Heritage Coast.
Chris Clifford of Savills in Exeter (01392 455743) is handling the sale, for the first time ever, of the imposing and wonderfully private Villa Crusoe, which stands in more than four acres of gardens and woodland on the banks of the River Avon, nearly two miles from
Villa Crusoe enjoys direct water access and moorings, as well as a private beach
Bigbury-on-Sea and half a mile from Bantham by boat. It enjoys direct water access, a boathouse, quay, slipway and moorings, as well as a private beach. The house faces almost due south and enjoys far-reaching views over the tidal reaches of the Avon to the neighbouring Bantham estate. Mr Clifford quotes a guide price of £3.3m for the handsome 1920s villa, built by the Wade family of Nailsea Court, Somerset, who entertained many interesting guests there over the years. Among them was Daniel Defoe, who met there Alexander Selkirk, a rebellious former naval officer and
castaway whose adventures were the inspiration for Defoe’s novel Robinson Crusoe, published in 1719, and, ultimately, for the name of the house, Villa Crusoe.
Although now in need of what Mr Clifford describes as ‘a generational makeover’, in its present configuration Villa Crusoe provides some 3,150sq ft of comfortable and characterful accommodation on three floors, including a reception hall, three south-facing reception rooms and a large kitchen with Aga on the ground floor; a principal bedroom suite, four guest bedrooms and three bath/shower rooms
on the first floor; and a further bedroom suite on the second floor. Planning consent has been granted for a modern extension that would add a further 2,148sq ft of accommodation, details of which are available on request.
In addition to the accommodation in the main house, there is a series of outbuildings, including garaging, workshops and stores, and, in an elevated woodland setting behind the house, a splendid guest suite complete with woodburner, en-suite bathroom and terrace— sure to meet the requirements of even the most demanding of castaways.
Above: Villa Crusoe on the banks of the Avon near Bigbury-on-Sea in Devon. £3.3m. Below: The drawing room overlooking the gardens
Property comment
Keeping the faith
Lucy
Denton examines how best to help former church buildings thrive as times move on and property changes hands
LAST year’s news that the Church of Scotland was to sell dozens of its churches—and halls and manses— might have come as a revelation. However, shrinking congregations and growing secularism lead to drastic measures as costs go up and revenue comes down. Citing an almighty drop in members and minister numbers, especially over the past 20 years, a spokesperson points out that pruning property assets ‘is believed to be necessary in order to deliver sustainable and realistic new expressions of ministry and church and to ensure all of our buildings are suitable for the needs of mission in the 21st century’.
The upshot is a sale portfolio endowed with architectural works of art
The upshot is a sale portfolio endowed with architectural works of art. Right now, that includes the pinkish harled façades and elegant pinnacles of Drumoak Parish Church, Aberdeenshire, which was built in the 1830s to designs by Archibald Simpson, and the pared-back Classicism of Alves Church, set in a rustic spot halfway between Elgin and Forres. The Grade A-listed Old High Church at Inverness, on the market again for offers over £150,000 after a sale fell through, is of immense significance as the oldest church in the city, standing on a riverside site with an even more ancient provenance. Deeply entwined with Scotland’s past, fragments of its structure, most of which was rebuilt in the 1770s, date to the 14th century. As attractive as most might be, ‘churches have a unique buyer type,’ observes Tom Stewart-Moore, head of Knight Frank rural agency, Scotland, ‘who see the conversion
Edited by Annunciata Elwes
With lofty ceilings and stained glass, former churches can be transformed into striking homes, for those prepared to deal with heritage, maintenance and planning concerns
of a historical building such as this as a project of passion. Some buyers may be fortunate enough to have deep pockets, but others will very much have a budget to work to. It might seem as if the asking prices are low, but, with higher building costs, the heritage and planning implications, and, of course, the general state of repair of the building at the point of purchase, there is a lot for a buyer to think about’.
Annabel Blackett, associate in the countryhouse department at Strutt & Parker, covering Scotland and the North of England,
concurs. ‘Acquiring a church can be risky and expensive. Most are in rural areas and gone are the days of the more commercial ventures,’ she says, ‘but it does give communities an opportunity to purchase churches for their own use. Buyers from abroad are especially interested in domestic conversion.’
These landmark structures, once at the heart of their communities, can be rehabilitated as unusual homes, rousing architectural ingeniousness in layout and interiors: the former church at Avoch on the Black Isle, a Scotland Home of the Year contender,
Property comment
now boasts triple-height rooms. Others might lend themselves to renewal as libraries, cafés, theatres and cinemas, offices, cultural hubs, Arts and music venues and even as extensions to existing hospitality businesses. In 2024, the owners of the luxury Fife Arms Hotel in Aberdeenshire bought Braemar’s village ‘Kirk’, an 1860s Gothic rendition in stark, snecked granite. Conversion comes with caveats, however. John Sanders, partner at Simpson & Brown Architects in Edinburgh, points out that there are practicalities to heed when adapting churches for different uses: ‘Scottish
Building Regulations and planning requirements make better insulation and specific thermal properties a necessity—difficult to install in Victorian buildings with high ceilings. Removal of pews is almost inevitable, together with changes to the floor and stripping of plaster from walls. Dormers or rooflights will probably be needed to accommodate upper floors. Churches now have real estate rather than heritage value and high costs of renovation might mean the outright loss of some.’
The discarding of surplus ecclesiastical buildings might be seen as a short-term
Things to consider when converting a church
• Take advice from professionals right at the start and think about approaching architects with a track record in producing successful church conversions
• Commission appropriate surveys to understand the state of the building; church roofs are more likely to be in bad condition and water ingress and damp may be present. Comprehensively explore available records relating to past repairs, restoration and maintenance and find out for how long churches have been redundant or unused—and the possible structural or decorative damage incurred as a result
• Be aware of constraints relating to planning and heritage status; many churches are designated Grades A, B or C. Others
will not be listed, but might historically have been part of urban expansion and provision for working-class communities. Planners should be consulted about any changes to the Use Class
• Church architecture is distinctive, usually with high ceilings, and influences what adaptations can be made. Consider what to do with the organ, for example—can it be taken on by another church or sold? Think responsibly about what should be done with all the fittings: ‘At the moment, there is no formal process to deal with them,’ points out John Sanders at Simpson & Brown Architects
strategy and will no doubt be distressing for many in the parishes they once served, but the fading of the national church offers opportunities for regional renaissance. ‘Although we are not directly involved or consulted on decisions religious bodies make about which buildings are selected for disposal,’ affirms a spokesperson for Historic Environment Scotland, ‘we want to support positive outcomes for these buildings—and their local communities—in a way that ensures their cultural significance is protected.’ For those with ready money, the spire’s the limit. Visit www.churchofscotland.org.uk
• Take into account the location of the church and the local population density and demographics; rural buildings are broadly better suited to residential conversion, whereas town and city-centre churches might be adapted for use as nightclubs, restaurants and libraries. There are potential benefits to restoring these beautiful, historic buildings, including providing public access
• Many churches are conventionally situated next to a graveyard, which usually won’t form part of any property purchase. Following an agreement of 1925, burial grounds are instead maintained by local authorities
Left: The Old High Church in Inverness, ancient in site and stone. Offers over £150,000. Above: William Wallace indicates landmark St Marks Church in Aberdeen. £390,000
Robert Sanderson/Future Publishing Ltd; Alamy; Getty
