The Old House and studio, St. Merryn, Cornwall

Summary

Vicarage, now house. Early-C18 with earlier fabric, extended in the mid and late-C18, altered throughout the C19 and in the mid-C20. Former stables, now studio, probably late-C18 with C20 and C21 alterations.

Description

MATERIALS: both the house and studio are constructed of Cornish killas from a nearby quarry, with some areas of render and slate-hanging. The roofs are of Delabole slate laid in scantles (oak-pegged slate laid in diminishing courses and bedded in wet lime mortar) or as rag slate, with rendered red-brick chimneys to the house.

PLAN: the house has a multi-phase plan comprising an early-C18 wing to the west with a mid-C18 smaller wing to its south, and a mid to late-C18 wing to the east. Small extensions on the north and west sides are probably late-C19.

EXTERIOR: the house is mainly two-storeys with attic rooms in the east wing. It is oriented north to south, with the main entrance located on the south elevation, enclosed within a single-storey C20 sunroom. To the west of the entrance, and extending south, is a small extension (sometimes called the reading room) with a hipped roof. On the south elevation there is a many-paned C19 sash window to the first and ground floors; the ground floor opening appears to have been reduced in width. The return elevation to the east has slate-hanging to the upper floor and a further sash window to the ground floor. The south gable end of the west wing rises above the reading room. The south elevation of the east wing is three-bays wide under a hipped roof. To the right on the ground floor is a large sash window with margin lights, with two further sash windows to the first floor and a centrally-placed casement to the attic (a hipped dormer-window on the west roof-slope also lights the attic). The south wall here is thicker and is probably remnant from an earlier, possibly medieval, building. The east elevation is symmetrical with two hornless sash-windows on each floor; the first floor is rendered and there is a blocked central doorway on the ground floor. The north elevation is of exposed stone with a red-brick lintel to a sash window lighting the internal stair, above a C20 door. To the right of the window is a late-C19 narrow two-storey rendered extension with a hipped roof, and to the right again is the north gable end of the west wing, which has a small casement window to the first floor. The ground level to the west of the house is higher with steps down to the left of a single-storey late-C19 gabled extension centrally-placed on the west elevation, flanked by sash windows on the ground and first floors. To the right is the reading room extension which reduces in height to the west with a cat-slide roof and a single doorway.

INTERIOR: on the ground floor, the east wing of the house contains a single room the length (north to south) of the building. A scar in the ceiling and a blocked doorway on the east elevation are evidence that this was once two rooms with a central passage (historically aligned with the bottom of the C18 principal stair). The east windows have mid-C18 timber shutters and there is a mid to late-C18 decoratively-carved timber fire-surround at the north end. On the west side there is a deep alcove, next to which are double-doors into the entrance hall. Within this, the inserted early-C19 principal staircase has a plain square-section newel and balusters and at the north end of the hall is an arch leading to storage rooms on the north side of the house. The east wing comprises a lounge at the north end, with the main kitchen to its south with external access from the west extension. On the south wall of the kitchen is a C19 service staircase with a plain square-section newel and balusters. A door below the stairs leads to a small lobby with a slate floor, and on into the reading room which has a low ceiling and C19 cast-iron fire-surround on its north side. To the west is a small kitchen.

On the first floor, the east wing comprises two bedrooms, with further bedrooms and storage in the west part of the house; these are accessed from the principal stair. The bedroom above the reading room is accessed by the service stair and has a mid-C18 bolection-moulded timber fire-surround on the north wall. A door adjacent to the fireplace leads to a quarter-landing and a continuation of the principal stair to the attic. Within the attic there are two-panel C18 doors with HL hinges. Between the first floor and the attic, doors are set within segmental openings and there are also a range of cupboards with panelled doors. The joinery throughout the house relates to the different phases of construction, with most being early to mid-C19 in date.

STUDIO: to the north-west of the house is a two-storey three-bay building with a veranda and single-storey extension on its east side. The ground floor is used as a garage and ancillary accommodation. A staircase to the east leads up to an open-plan studio occupying the entire first floor. The studio has sash windows on the east side, large roof lights on the north and east roof slopes, a floating first-floor door to the south, and boarded timber floors.

History

The Church of St Merryn, founded in the 1250s but with mainly C15 fabric, is located in St Merryn churchtown, where the historic core also includes a public house; some C17 cottages; a mid-C16 Cornish-sports ground, now the village green; and the former vicarage, now known as The Old House. Further amenities including a school and another pub are located half-a-mile to the south-west in Shop, the historic name of the modern village of St Merryn.

A dwelling associated with the church may have occupied the site of the vicarage since the C13 or earlier. From analysis of the fabric, the earliest parts of the current building are probably the south wall of the east range which may be medieval; the west range which had a deep internal well (now covered); and a small building attached to the south of that range which is thought to have been a meeting room or church house, including accommodation for a travelling priest. The present house was primarily constructed in the C18 and incorporates this earlier fabric, with additions and remodelling over several later phases in the C19 and C20. During its C18 history, the vicarage was lived in by Jonathan Toup (1713-1785), a respected Greek scholar and critic who became vicar of St Merryn in 1776 at the age of 63. Toup was cared for in later life at the vicarage by his half-sister and nieces; he died there in 1785 and is buried beneath the church altar.

The vicarage is shown on the 1841 Tithe map along with a building to its north-west which is thought to have been the stables. The square footprint of the vicarage is shown with a small extension to the south-west corner. The owner (incumbent) of the glebe lands was Reverend John Bayley and the vicarage was occupied by the Reverend John Carlyn. The 1856 Post Office Directory notes that the residence and 27 acres of glebe land were in the gift of the Bishop of Exeter (this changed to Truro when that Diocese was formed in 1876); this included all the land between Treveglos Farm to the north of the vicarage to Shop. The 1880 Ordnance Survey (OS) shows little change to the buildings, but by the time of the 1907 OS small extensions had been added to the north and west elevations. The 1907 OS map also shows a remnant pathway aligned with the junction between the east wing and south-west extension; this is further aligned with the northern entrance to the churchyard opposite, and in turn with the north porch of the Church of St Merryn. After the First World War many parsonages, rectories and vicarages became too large for the incumbent’s needs and so were sold off in large numbers, the funds being used to build new residences. Much of the glebe land was sold off by the early 1920s. In September 1966 St Merryn Vicarage was advertised for sale in Country Life ‘by direction of the Incumbent’; by 1973 a new vicarage had been built to the south-east of the church.

In 1967 the vicarage was bought by the Op artist Bridget Riley (b1931) as a home for her parents. Obliged by the Church authorities not to use the historic name she renamed it The Old House. The purchase also included the remaining glebe land - the vicar’s vegetable garden across the road to the east - and the former stables which were then in use as a garage. From 1969 Riley used the loft of the former stables as a studio so that she could work when she visited her parents. Alterations were made in 2005-2008 including the adaptation of the roof structure and the rearrangement of windows and roof lights.

Bridget Riley’s connection with Cornwall began at an early age when her father was mobilised at the beginning of the Second World War. With her mother and sister, Riley moved from Lincolnshire to a cottage at Porthcothan - two miles south-west of St Merryn - which they shared with an aunt. They lived there for the five years of the war and moved back to Lincolnshire when Riley was in her early teens. During this time in Cornwall, Riley received little formal education but encountered the pleasures of observation and found new ways of seeing. These experiences are often documented in Riley’s writings and interviews, particularly ‘The Pleasures of Sight’ (1984) and in a personal interview with Nikki Henriques in 1988. In the year that Riley bought The Old House she produced her first stripe painting, and in 1968 she represented Great Britain in the Venice Biennale - at which she was the first British contemporary painter and also the first woman to be awarded the International Prize for painting. Bridget Riley continues to be one of Britain’s most celebrated and significant artists. Her connection to Cornwall endures: a turquoise colour introduced in her most recent work (2020-2021) reflects on life-long experiences of the Cornish landscape.

Reasons for Listing

The Old House and studio, St Merryn, Cornwall are listed at Grade II, for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:
* altered in the C19 the house retains early, possibly medieval fabric, and a good amount of C18 fabric;
* for the survival of good C18 fire surrounds and joinery, particularly in the upper rooms;
* for the use of local materials including Cornish killas, quarried nearby, in its construction, and its scantle Delabole slate roof;
* as a representative example of a rural vicarage within a historic churchtown.

Historic interest:
* for its strong association with the internationally-renowned Op artist Bridget Riley, who bought the house in 1967 and converted the former stables into a studio;
* as part of Bridget Riley’s relationship with Cornwall and its tangible and recorded influence on her paintings;
* the alignment of the entrances to the Church of St Merryn and The Old House are evidence of its historic function as a vicarage.

Group value:
* with the Grade II*-listed Church of St Merryn, for which it was once the vicarage, and other Grade II-listed buildings and structures nearby.

External Links

Historic England Listing

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