232 CARMINOW OF CARMINOW. 



It is very probable, therefore, that Caer may have been Car- 

 minow of the present clay, and the actual residence of the 

 family before the conquest. 



The site is not ill-chosen for satisfying the modest wants of that 

 period. Placed at the western extremity of the parish of Mawgan 

 in Meneage, about a mile from the Carminow creek of the Loe, it 

 is sufficiently elevated above the lake and the sea for the pur^DOse 

 of defence in case of attack, whilst its distance from the sea 

 coast, also about a mile, gave it some degree of shelter from the 

 atlantic gales ; a moat, stiU unefiP aced, on the N. and S. sides, sur- 

 rounded the buildings, including the chapel, but not the burial 

 ground, whilst an abundant supply of the purest water, good 

 pasture, and wood within a stone's throw, afforded the neces- 

 saries of life ; and the lovers of the chase enjoyed the exclusive 

 right over some 1600 acres of land. One of them, indeed, Sir 

 Ralph ^ is said to have lost his life by being pulled over the 

 cliff by a brace of greyhounds. 



An extensive northern view is obtained from the old burial 

 groiind which lies outside the moat on the south side, and at an 

 elevation of a few feet above the level of the buildings, whilst 

 the distant range of western land beyond Penzance is clearly 

 seen over the Carminow creek of Loe Pool. 



The buildings were arranged around an open court of forty 

 feet square. A conduit of pure water was brought into the cotirt 

 from a neighbouring spring, supplying a trough of stone on the 

 south side, and opposite to the entrance of the Hall. A large 

 stone arched gateway of Tudor date formed the W. entrance to 

 the court, whose north and east sides were bounded by the 

 manor house. The house was planned in the form of a letter 

 L, and consisted of an entrance hall 40 feet long, having a 

 large open fireplace of granite, of early English type, in its 

 western wall, which was six feet thick, the other walls being 

 of an uniform thickness of three feet, built of the clay slate of 

 the country, except the jambs of doors and windows, which were 

 of well cut elvan. The kitchen formed the eastern wing, and two 

 large chambers, possibly subdivided by partitions of wood, 

 occupied the floor above the hall and kitchen. A tower of three 

 stories projected from the N.E. angle, the lowest story being 



*He died 1386, inqu. : p, m. 10 Eic. : II. 



