Port Eliot
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Port Eliot in St Germans, Cornwall, England is the seat of the Eliot family, the head of which is titled Lord Eliot, Earl of St Germans. It comprises a large house and a 6,000 acre estate which stretches from St Germans into the neighbouring villages of Tideford, Trerulefoot and Polbathic.
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[edit] History
Believed to be the longest continually inhabited dwelling in the UK, people have lived on the site for over 1,500 years. Originally built as a monastery for the adjoining St Germans Priory Church (the former Cathedral for Cornwall), parts of the house date back to the twelfth century. It was substantially altered and remodelled in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries by noted architects including Sir John Soane.
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the Eliot family invested heavily in the estate, building numerous farmhouses, fisherman's cottages and other dwellings across the land. Many of these remain as part of the estate today and are rented out to local residents and to friends of the family. Some properties, mainly lying remote from the estate, have been sold off in recent years.
[edit] Festivals
In the 1980s, the Eliot family opened the grounds of the house to the public for an annual 'Elephant Fayre', so named after the elephants on the Eliot family crest. In 2003, the late Jago Eliot launched the Port Eliot Literature Festival which has continued each July, even after his death.
[edit] Public access
Other than for festivals, the Eliot family have kept the house and its grounds private. Large signs across the estate perimeter read "Port Eliot Estate: Please Do Not Intrude". However, from March to June 2008, the house and grounds will be open to the public for the first time. The house contains priceless works of art by artists including Sir Joshua Reynolds, John Hoppner, and Robert Lenkiewicz.
[edit] External links
- Port Eliot Official Website
- Port Eliot Literary Festival - LitFest
- Port Eliot LitFest Archive
- BBC News article on the Elephant Fayre
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