Prideaux Place

Prideaux PLace is one of the very brightest jewels in Cornwall's crown; one of the West Country's oldest houses remaining in habitable condition, visually and essentially Elizabethan yet with a wealth of Strawberry Hill Gothic interiors. Fourteen generations of Prideaux have lived here and each generation has added its own contribution to the house and its historic garden.

This beautiful mansion sits on the hill above the busy harbour of Padstow and the grounds boast some of the finest views over its ancient Deer Park and the Camel Estuary to Rock and Bodmin Moor beyond.

The Prideaux Family can trace their ancestry back to the 11th Century when they were Lords of Prideaux Castle at Luxulyan. The family moved to Devon for 200 years and then returned to Cornwall where Sir Nicholas Prideaux purchased the land in Padstow and built his mansion here, completed in 1592. The house is a treasure trove of Cornish life and history and contains a particularly fine collection of furniture, porcelain and paintings. It still remains very much a family home and not a museum and members of the family are very often around to greet their visitors.

Much restoration work has been done in the garden here, and now is the time to come and see the work in progress. Much of the landscaped grounds had been overtaken by laurels and sycamore saplings when Peter and Elisabeth Prideaux-Brune came here in 1988 but they are gradually being cleared and well over 300 trees have already been planted in the last year. This is part of a five year regeneration plan with Fountain Forestry.

The Victorian Formal garden has been restored, the Woodland Walks retraced for the first time in 60 years, an 80 tree Lime Avenue planted down either side of the Green Walk, new planting of magnolias, acers, rhododendrons and camellias. The grounds also contain many interesting buildings such as the beautiful gothic double dairy, 18th Century Temple, recently listed as on the West Country's most important 'Buildings at risk' and now fully restored, and the 18th Century stale courtyard has survived remarkably unchanged.

Prideaux Place is also an international television and film location, the most recent appearance being on Living TV's 'Most Haunted' and many of our most famous actors have appeared here including Joanna Lumley, Peter O'Toole, Helena Bonham Carter, Ralph Fiennes and Richard E Grant to name but a few.

The Terrace Tearoom is fully licensed and visitors can enjoy a light lunch or cream tea sitting on the terrace overlooking th Deer Park. There are often events here, open air concerts and Shakespeare plays, where people can picnic in the grounds beforehand, car rallies and art exhibitions etc.

Prideaux Place is also a well known romantic venue for Civil Weddings - we have even had Hugh Grant landing in a helicopter in the Deer Park for a wedding here in the Temple.

Opening times - Easter Sunday - 27th April, 11 May - 9 October. Sunday to Thursday (grounds and tearoom). Closed Fridays and Saturdays.

Open all year for group bookings by appointment.