The Gatehouse website record for Lostwithiel Duchy Palace

In the civil parish of Lostwithiel. In the historic county of Cornwall (Modern Authority of Cornwall, 1974 county of Cornwall).

Edmund, Earl of Cornwall built a great range of buildings, c 1290, "to accommodate the county court and stannary offices. There was a county hall, a 'coinage' hall ... a prison ... and an exchequer." The buildings were kept in good repair until the 17th c when they were apparently allowed to fall into decay. "Buck's view of 1734 shows them in ruins, and when the Duchy offices were removed from the town in 1874, they were sold and further mutilated. The remains of the coinage hall were converted into a Freemasons' Lodge in 1878, and are still used for this purpose." The remains of walls and archways built into adjacent houses show in some measure the great extent of the whole". (HKW, Henderson) The extent of the Duchy Palace is accurately delineated on the OS 25" 1905 and since then, except for some demolition in the extreme SW corner, there have been few alterations to the property. It has been adapted to use as dwellings and warehouses, and the coinage hall is still the Masonic Lodge. The premises are all of two storey height, constructed of coursed killas with numerous granite doorways, window frames etc. Evidently most of the walling is medieval to C17, if not of C13. Glossed over by Pevsner with the apt remark that "the remains of the Stannary Court .. have not been sufficiently investigated." (Field Investigators Comments F1 NVQ 18-SEP-70). (PastScape)
Although called the Duchy Palace this was the administrative centre of the Duchy. The Dukes residence in the area was Restormel Castle. Restormel was an almost pure pleasure palace for hunting, with some slight agricutural role whereas the Duchy Palace had the court house and jail and was where taxes were collected and also probably had the military function of munitions store and base for what few soldiers there were in the area.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SX104596

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number is 432153
Further information may be available from the holder of the county Historic Environment Record. In particular 'grey' literature, such as watching brief reports, held by H.E.R.s is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded in this website, or elsewhere.

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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

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*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.