King Arthur's Great Halls, Tintagel, Cornwall

Summary

House, built in the 1860s for JD Cook utilising the cellar of a C17 building; altered and extended in the late C19. Altered and extended again 1927-33 by Frederick Thomas Glasscock as King Arthur’s Great Halls, the headquarters for the Fellowship of the Knights of the Round Table.

Description

MATERIALS: roughly-coursed slate stone with granite and red-brick dressings. The rear extension is rendered with ashlar markings. The roofs are slate, with slate-stone stacks with moulded caps to the gable ends. The south-facing dormers are slate-hung. Internally, a variety of Cornish building stones and granite are extensively used in the Great Exhibition Hall.

PLAN: the building is orientated north-south and has three principal sections. The southern part is two storeys with a basement and attic, a central ground-floor entrance, and staircases up to the west and down to the east. The central section is a double-height open rectangular space, leading to a single-storey corridor (‘the galleries’) which wraps around three sides of the double-height rectangular hall to the north.

The names of the different sections of the building are often used interchangeably. For clarity, here the southern section is referred to as the former house; the central part as King Arthur’s Hall; and the large hall at the north as the Great Exhibition Hall.

EXTERIOR: the south elevation comprises two storeys plus an attic, and has a symmetrical three-bay front with a central two-storey canted bay within which is the main entrance. This is flanked on the ground floor by canted bay-windows with parapets and mullions and transoms, each with a four-light mullion and transom window above. The attic has two full-dormer windows with hipped roofs either side of a central corbelled gable with a two-light window, below which is a carved stone Masonic shield. The central entrance has an arched doorway between two lancet windows with a moulded drip course above. The east elevation is of two storeys, to the south defined by the two gable ends of the former house and King Arthur’s Hall, and to the north by the lower extension of the Great Exhibition Hall. The part to King Arthur’s Hall has irregular fenestration and two blocked openings, all with brick lintels. The Great Exhibition Hall elevation comprises a projecting block with a ground-floor of coursed slate-stone set with arches containing two doors flanking two lunette windows and all separated by granite shields; the rest of this block is rendered with three further windows and four shields to the first floor, rising to a modillioned eaves cornice. To the north of this, the ground-floor projects and has inset lunette windows and a hipped roof, rising to further windows at the upper-level of the hall. The west elevation is joined to the Wharncliffe Hotel and otherwise inaccessible. The projecting ground-floor wraps around the north elevation where there are central double doors. Above this are the three large windows to the Great Exhibition Hall; the gable end has granite ashlar quoins rising to kneelers.

INTERIOR
FORMER HOUSE: a small lobby from the front entrance gives access through a later-C20 door to the ground floor. This is all one space and is currently used as a gift shop. Either-side of the entrance is a semi-circular arch springing from columns in front of the bay window, which have timber-panelled reveals. To the east, two arched doorways lead to a cupboard and the basement stairs. To the west, an archway leads to the main staircase which has an open arch on one side. On the north wall are two large blocked arches and a central arched-doorway flanked by timber and wrought-iron sconces; studded timber double-doors lead to King Arthur’s Hall. The space is lit by two simple brass-wrought chandeliers, which probably date to around 1927.

The stone basement stairs lead to a three-cell space comprising the cellar to the old market house. The walls are rubble stone and the floors slate flags. The timber ceiling-structure probably dates to the 1860s when Trevena house was built by Cook. The central bay has corbelled stone vaulting running north-south, cut by a through passage. The resulting two compartments, north and south, appear to have once had doors.

The staircase to the first floor (which appears to have been repositioned) leads to one open space, used as a dining hall with a small, modern kitchen partitioned-off at the east end. This partition cuts through an ovolo-moulded timber lintel above the south-facing window. The attic comprises multiple small rooms above the former house and King Arthur’s Hall. Three attic rooms have fireplaces with stone surrounds set with cast-iron grates, and the staircases retain C19 joinery. Some other joinery including moulded architraves and panelled doors, alongside moulded plaster cornices, survives in the former house. The floors are boarded throughout.

KING ARTHUR’S HALL: the space is double height and encompasses the rear part of the former house. The walls are an internal timber skin, set at the east and west ends with arched windows with leaded lights with blue fleur-de-lys. The space is spanned by a barrel-vaulted and panelled timber ceiling, with moulded-oak ribs and drop pendants. To the north and south are double-doors with leaded lights and blue coloured fleur-de-lys to their panels and fan light above. At the east end steps lead to a raised dais which is flanked by curved screens and a hood above. At the west end is a further curved screen and hood, topped with a dragon; mounted on the screen within fixed frames are four of ten paintings attributed to William Hatherell which tell the story of King Arthur and his Knights. The other six are within fixed frames on the north and south walls of the hall. The north and south walls and the double-doors are covered with a red and gold patterned wallpaper fabric, and the grey carpet with a darker-grey circle representing the location of the timber round-table is said to be from 1927. All elements of the hall are decorated with ‘medieval-style’ motifs such as Gothic crosses and fleur-de-lys. Flags, shields and pennants with the arms of the Knights, and a replica anvil and sword are also fixed decorative features from 1927.

GREAT EXHIBITION HALL AND GALLERIES: on the north side of King Arthur’s Hall slate steps lead to a corridor and lobby which in turn leads to the outer galleries (or corridors) surrounding the Great Exhibition Hall. The gallery walls are of coursed Tintagel stone, the floors slate, and the timber barrel-vaulted ceiling continues here. Within the lobby, which has a panelled timber ceiling, is an arched doorway to the galleries, a side entrance, and a stone dog-leg staircase with a metal handrail up to a mezzanine where WCs are located. On the south and east walls are small lunette stained-glass windows by Veronica Whall, which include depictions of the badge of the Fellowship and rosemary; the latter is a symbol of remembrance to past members of the Fellowship. In the lobby and throughout the galleries, plain granite shields are inset into the walls and there are further wall-sconces on decorative iron brackets. To the west the corridor has been enclosed as a storage area; there are two further lunette windows by Whall in this space. The galleries wrap around the Great Exhibition Hall and on their outside walls are 49 further lunette windows by Whall. Each has a different central heraldic device surrounded by panes of wave-pattered acid-etched flash glass. The windows in the west gallery which are adjacent to the neighbouring building are lit by bulbs, designed with one hinged-pane for maintenance. In the north gallery two of the windows contain scripts representing the promises required to be welcomed into the Fellowship, and here there is also an arched doorway with later-C20 external double-doors. At the south end of the west gallery a slate ramp has been inserted to provide alternative access via the gift shop to the halls.

The main entrance to the Great Exhibition Hall is at the south-west end of the east gallery through an arched doorway. There is a further doorway at the north-west end, with doorways opposite each on the west side of the hall. The double-height hall is nine bays north to south. The walls are faced with Polyphant stone above a dado of coursed Tintagel stone which is also used for dressings. The ceiling is waggon-vaulted and the same design as that in King Arthur’s Hall. Decorative pendant-lights hang in two rows from the ceiling. The floor is laid with Polyphant stone with inlaid circular roundels signifying the Round Table in red mottled porphyry, and crosses of the Knights in white elvan. On the east and west walls at high level are 18 lunette windows with imagery of the virtues by Veronica Whall. Below each of these are sets of four shields, each carved from a different Cornish stone. At the ends of the hall are three large windows by Veronica Whall; these represent the worldly quest of the Knights of the Round Table at the south end, and their spiritual quest and the discovery of the Holy Grail by Sir Galahad at the north end. At the north end of the hall steps lead up to a large throne carved with a Celtic cross, surrounded by a colonnade of nine piers and topped with a canopy; each pier is carved from a different Cornish granite. On top of the canopy are a rough granite block, anvil and sword. In front of the throne complex on a roundel of red porphyry is a granite Round Table measuring eight-feet in diameter, with Doric-column legs. The two end bays at the north and south of the hall are partitioned by curtains. Further timber sconces on decorative iron brackets are fixed to the walls. The original bronze light-switches survive and are neatly recessed into the Polyphant walls.

History

Located on the north-Cornwall coast, the village of Trevena is the main settlement in Tintagel parish. In the early-C20 the name Trevena was changed to Tintagel, the name now synonymous with the legend of King Arthur. Place and legend have been linked since 1136 when Geoffrey of Monmouth made Tintagel headland the birthplace of Arthur in his ‘History of the Kings of Britain’. Richard of Cornwall built his castle on the headland from the C13; even when it was abandoned and ruinous it attracted travellers such as Leland in 1540 and Norden in the early-C17. The naming of the headland as ‘King Arthur’s Castle’ on the first large-scale map of Cornwall in 1699 stimulated a flow of visitors throughout the C18. In the C19 Tintagel became a significant ingredient in the growing tourism industry in Cornwall, and the publication of Tennyson’s poem ‘The Idylls of the King’ between 1859 and 1869 brought the Arthurian legend to a wider audience.

The material changes taking place in Tintagel as it became a tourist destination were slow and it retained the character of a small market town into the mid-C19, when the weekly market ceased to be held. The market was held at the junction of Molesworth Street and Fore Street outside the market house and town hall. These neighbouring buildings were probably built in the C17; the market house was the first to be demolished in the early 1860s, followed by the town hall in 1871 as part of public improvements under Lord Wharncliffe.

Following the demolition of the market house, a new residence, Trevena, was constructed on its footprint by John Douglas Cook (1808-1868). Cook was the editor of the Morning Chronicle and founder-editor of the Saturday Review. The nineteen-room house was mainly used by Cook for entertaining friends, including the poet Coleridge. On Cook’s death in 1868, the house was acquired by Sir Arthur Hayter (1835-1917) and Lady Hayter as their holiday home and it is thought that they added the front window-bays, entrance and dormer windows. Historic Ordnance Survey (OS) maps from this time (1880s and 1907) show the bays and entrance on the building, and that it had an almost-square plan to the street frontage, with various ancillary buildings attached to the north. The Hayters also had eminent friends, and William Gladstone visited in 1888 when campaigning for proposals in Ireland.

In around 1926 Trevena house was bought by Frederick Thomas Glasscock (1871-1934). Glasscock was the founding partner of Monk & Glass, a custard powder and jelly business, which he ran with John Monkhouse (1862-1938) until the end of the C19 when the business and brand were sold to Bird’s Custard. Frederick and his wife, Esther, regularly holidayed in Tintagel, and the attraction of the Arthurian legend was Glasscock’s apparent motive for making Tintagel his permanent residence. In 1927 he founded the Fellowship of the Knights of the Round Table and converted Trevena house as its headquarters. The Fellowship was based on world-wide principles similar to that of Freemasonry but was ultimately focused on Glasscock’s desire to bring the principles of the C14 Order of the Knights of the Round Table of knighthood, chivalry and honour into the C20. By the early 1930s membership had reached 17,000 and Glasscock worked hard creating chapters and cells both in Britain and abroad. He also wrote abundantly on the functions of the Fellowship.

As such, the symbolism and ideals of the Arthurian tradition were intrinsic to Glasscock’s vision of creating a council chamber for the Fellowship at Trevena House. To do this he removed all the internal walls and floors in the rear part of the house and inserted a new double-height timber structure complete with a barrel-vaulted ceiling. In 1928 he commissioned ten paintings for the walls of the chamber from William Hatherell (1855-1928), telling the story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Hatherell had become established as a painter and illustrator in the late C19 and was also the chief staff artist for The Graphic. He died whilst delivering Glasscock’s commission and some of the paintings may have been completed by another artist from Hatherell’s preparatory sketches.

Connected to the north side of the chamber Glasscock built the new Hall of Chivalry (today more often known as the Great Exhibition Hall). This large space was constructed as the theatre of the Fellowship and was conceived to reflect the symbolism of the Arthurian tradition. Internally it was designed to give the impression of walking from the darkness at the south end, to the light at the north end where knighting ceremonies took place. The walls of the Hall were set with 72 shields made from different polished granites and stones, coloured dark to light, from over 50 Cornish quarries. The floor was laid with Polyphant stone from near Launceston, and at the north end of the hall was a throne complex carved in different Cornish granites and weighing over twenty tonnes. In front of the throne was a granite Round Table, weighing another tonne. In around 1930 Glasscock commissioned Veronica Whall (1887-1967) to create two sets of triptych stained-glass windows for the north and south ends of the hall. It is unknown how Whall, the daughter of the Arts & Crafts stained-glass artist Christopher Whall, was known to Glasscock, but he liked the six windows so much that in 1933 he commissioned a further 49 windows for the galleries around the Hall featuring the heraldic devices of the Knights of the Round Table, and 18 for the Hall itself representing the virtues of the Fellowship. The latter were installed on the east and west sides of the Hall: their colours corresponded to that of the rainbow, from purple in the south representing the less-spiritual virtues (obedience, justice etc), to golden red at the north symbolising the more spiritual (love, faith, loyalty etc), and creating a further impression of moving from the darkness to the light. Glasscock initially refused to pay Whall for her additional work; the case went to High Court but was settled before any appearances. Apart from the stained-glass windows, the entire building was constructed and crafted by Cornish workmen.

The Hall of Chivalry officially opened on Monday 5 June 1933 with great ceremony and lengthy reports in the national and local press. On 26 July 1934 Glasscock died of a heart attack on the Cunard liner ‘Scythia’, and was buried at sea. His wife and secretary returned to Tintagel that August when his death was announced. In November 1936 the Fellowship Council voted to wind-up the Fellowship and passed the building and its contents to Mrs Glasscock, who took over on 1 January 1937. Little is known about what happened in the building in the years until it was acquired by the Freemasons of Tintagel and consecrated as a lodge in April 1952. They have looked after the building ever since, and it is still an active lodge. In 1993 the Fellowship of the Knights of the Round Table was revived and continues to accept prospective members. The Halls are also opened as a tourist attraction and on a commercial basis.

Reasons for Listing

King Arthur’s Great Halls, a mid-C19 house altered and extended from 1927-33 by Frederick Thomas Glasscock as the headquarters for the Fellowship of the Knights of the Round Table, is listed at Grade II*, for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:
* designed as the purpose-built headquarters for the Fellowship of the Knights of the Round Table, King Arthur’s Great Halls wholly embody its principles of knighthood, chivalry and honour through its architecture, fittings and decoration;
* the building was constructed over three principal phases, each with its own levels of interest, and all of which can still be read;
* for the survival of the cellar of the C17 market house;
* the construction of the building was entirely by Cornish builders and craftspeople, which adds to its distinctiveness.
* Artistic interest: * the 73 stained-glass windows by Veronica Whall add to the Arthurian symbolism of the Halls. They are also the largest collection of her work in the country; her only known secular work; and are widely-considered to be the finest examples of their type and date; * the paintings by William Hatherall also add to the Arthurian symbolism, and enhance the special interest of the building through their completeness as a group and their competence; * for the remarkable intactness of the historicist decorative schemes and fittings in King Arthur’s Hall.
* Materials: * the extensive use of Cornish stones and granite in the virtues shields and throne ensemble, as well as in the structure and finishes of the Great Exhibition Hall, is a remarkable representation of Cornwall’s geological distinctiveness.

Historic interest:
* for its association with Frederick Thomas Glasscock and the Fellowship of the Knights of the Round Table which he founded in 1927, and which continues today;
* for its association with the prominent figures of JD Cook and Sir Arthur Hayter;
* as a major contributor to the part played by the legend of King Arthur in the development of tourism, culture and the Celtic revival both in Cornwall and nationally.

External Links

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