Go Visiting, Godolphin

I know I drive Paul mad but I can't sit still for too long, and generally suffer from an irritating form of  "ants-in-my-pants" syndrome, so instead of ignoring the impending showery weather I booked a visiting slot to tour one of the local National Trust properties - Godolphin Estate.  Because of the current restrictions the house is not open, but we spent a pleasant hour or so wandering the grounds and sheltering from the short-lived but fairly frequent rainy spells.

Poldark: 1975 & 2019

Fun Fact:  

​In the 1970s the BBC’s dramatisation of Winston Graham’s Poldark, Godolphin House near Helston, was used as Trenwith, the home of Francis Poldark and other family members.

Godolphin Estate near Helston contains a 16th-century garden, one of the most important historic gardens in Europe, is now under the ownership of the National Trust but it has a long history:
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• The estate which dates back to the 13th century was built by a family called Godolgan as a house with a wall or a moat for protection
• In the late 15th century the family name changed to Godolphin and tin and copper lodes beneath the land brought them wealth and position in the local community
• The former seat of the Dukes of Leeds (created 1694) and the Earls of Godolphin (created in 1706 for Sidney Godolphin, 1st Baron Godolphin, the Lord High Treasurer)

Godolphin estate contains:

• A Tudor/Stuart mansion, complete with early formal gardens (dating from circa 1500), and…
• Elizabethan stables (circa 1600)

• The present house is remnant of a larger mansion, and from 1786 it was owned by the Dukes of Leeds – but they never lived there.
• In 1920 the 10th Duke of Leeds sold it to the sitting tenant Peter Quintrell Treloar, and it changed ownership a number of times until…
• The house and gardens were acquired by the National Trust in August 2007

Having scratched the 'let's do something' itch, I can now endeavour to relax.  I am about to start my third book of the week, and intend to enjoy some reading whilst also watching the dramatic cloud formations and turbulent seas from this cliff-top house.