The House

Prideaux Place is set in an endlessly beautiful part of North Cornwall and stands above the pretty old fishing port of Padstow.

Apart from the appeal of its architecture, notably a remarkable plaster ceiling, and the glorious views across its ancient deer park to the distant outlines of Brown Willy and Roughtor on Bodmin Moor, Prideaux Place is much prized as  an Elizabethan manor house still lived in by the family for whom it was built.

The Prideaux family acquired the estate, previously owned by the Prior of Bodmin, at the time of the Dissolution of the Monastries. The present house was completed in 1592 by Sir Nicholas Prideaux. Two major additions have been made to the house, first in the 17th century by Edmund Prideaux on his return from the Grand Tour and later by the Rev Charles Prideaux who was much influenced by Strawberry Hill Gothic.

Like the real family home it is, Prideaux Place is an engaging mixture of different periods and pieces. Exquisite Italian paintings jostle with family portraits and photographs, porcelain and antiques sit unselfconsciously next to comfortable furniture and assorted Prideaux-Brune memorabilia, every one of which evokes a nostalgic anecdote.

From ghost stories to Teddy Bears and England’s oldest cast iron canon, which you will find in the Armoury Prideaux Place is a house of living history and a treasure trove of Cornish life.

We look forward to sharing with you the stories and treasures of this fine house.