Pawton Palace

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

Medieval manor house, chapel and deer park owned by the Bishops of Exeter. The deer park was enclosed circa 1258. The buildings are now used as a farm and include an early C17 tithe barn. (PastScape)
At Pawton the Bishops of Exeter had a manor house, chapel and park during the Middle Ages. It is now a large farm. "There are two large barns which contain ancient masonry. One of these was probably the tithe barn and the other may have been the chapel - it lies East and West, and there are remains of a spiral stone staircase in a square newel projecting from the South wall. A field on the North of the farm called the 'Graveyard'..has never yet been ploughed. There being no carved stone fragments it is very difficult to determine the date of the buildings....... the deer park fields remain" (Henderson, 1953). "...very little of the Old Manor House remains but the old mediaeval tithe barn can still be seen." (Garland). The double walls and fences of the deer park are still extant on the Barton. Pawton deer park was enclosed c 1258. (Henderson, 1963) The tithe barn at SW 95887006 is in good condition though not outstanding. It incorporates the stone staircase leading to an upper floor. There is no separate barn which can be identified as a chapel (this would probably have been incorporated within the manor house). The extent of the deer park cannot be deduced from the present hedges and the field called the 'Graveyard' is not known to the present owners. The farmhouse is modern (Field Investigators Comments–F1 NVQ 27-FEB-72). (PastScape)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SW958700

Air Photo from Air Photo and general mapping	1st edition OS Map from Mid to late 19th century maps
Modern Map from Landscape form and features	Modern Map from General location and route planning
Geograph British Isles occasionally has photos of the site and will usually give an idea of the surrounding landscape.

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number is 430949
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.

• Books
  • Emery, Anthony, 2006, Greater Medieval Houses Vol3 (Cambridge) p549-51
    Thompson, M.W., 1998, Medieval bishops' houses in England and Wales (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing) p177
    Longden, Preb. A,, 1968, Church and Parish of St Breoke with additions by Francis Hodges
    Henderson, Charles (edited by Rowse, A.L. and Henderson, M.I.), 1963 [original written 1935], Essays in Cornish history (Clarendon Press) p157
    Elliott-Binns, L.E., 1955, Medieval Cornwall p302-5
    Lake, J., 1872 [reprinted 1974], Parochial History of the County of Cornwall
• Journal Articles
  • Reed, J., 1971, ' 'Parochial Check-Lists of Antiquities' Cornish Archaeology Vol10 p107
    Garland, M., 1961-67, 'St Breock Parish' Old Cornwall Vol6 p454
    Henderson, C., 1953-6, 'Ecclesiastical History' Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall Vol2 p41-3
• Other sources, 'grey' literature, unpublished works, etc. (Theses, in-house reports and other such)
  • Payne, Naomi, 2003, The medieval residences of the bishops of Bath and Wells, and Salisbury (PhD Thesis University of Bristol) Appendix B: List of Medieval Bishop's Palaces in England and Wales [available via http://ethos.bl.uk ]