Prideaux Place is a grade I listed Elizabethan country house in the parish of Padstow, Cornwall, England. It has been the home of the Prideaux family for over 400 years. The house was built in 1592 by Sir Nicholas Prideaux (1550–1627), a distinguished lawyer, and was enlarged and modified by successive generations, most notably by his great-great-grandson Edmund Prideaux (1693–1745) and by the latter's grandson Rev. Charles Prideaux-Brune (1760–1833). The present building, containing 81 rooms, combines the traditional E-shape of Elizabethan architecture with the 18th-century exuberance of Horace Walpole’s Strawberry Hill Gothic.
The house contains a fine collection of works of art, including royal and family portraits, fine furniture and the Prideaux Porcelain Collection. The recently uncovered ceiling in the Great Chamber is a masterpiece of the art of the Elizabethan plasterer. In 1968 the estate comprised about 3,500 acres, excluding the St Breock estate situated about ten miles away, also in the family's ownership, inherited from the Viell family in the 17th century. The deer park is one of the most ancient in England, containing in 1968 about 100 fallow deer, increased from only about six in 1946 following World War II.
History
Until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century, the manor of Padstow, within which was later established the manor of Prideaux Place, was held by Bodmin Priory. Having foreseen King Henry VIII's intention to dissolve religious houses, Prior Thomas Mundy, a son of Sir John Mundy (died 1537) Lord Mayor of London in 1522, made plans to place the assets of his priory beyond the king's reach, which he did by granting to his friends and relations at nominal ground-rents long leases of the priory's possessions. The manor of Padstow he leased for 99 years at an annual rent of £10 to his niece Johanna Mundy and her husband, William Prideaux (died 1564) of Trevose, St Merryn, Cornwall, a younger son of Humphrey Prideaux (1487–1550) of Theuborough, the latter who together with his lawyer brother Nicholas Prideaux (died 1560), had acted as business adviser to the prior. Bodmin Priory was surrendered to the crown by the prior in 1539.
The freehold of Padstow was obtained by Nicholas Prideaux (died 1560), by the artificial transaction of William Prideaux (died 1564) conveying the lease to a third party, John Pope of London, for the sum of £1,550, who then obtained a royal licence to alienate it to Nicholas Prideaux (died 1560), for sum unstated in the deed of sale. By tradition it is said that the Prideaux family viewed their obtaining of the estate at a favourable price as compensation for "an unpleasant wife", namely the prior's niece.
Prideaux
The Prideaux family is believed to be of Norman origin and to have first settled in England at some time after the Norman Conquest of 1066 at Prideaux Castle, near Fowey, in Cornwall. It abandoned that seat and moved to Devon, where it spread out in various branches.
William Prideaux (died 1564) of Trevose, St Meryn, Cornwall
On 20 October 1537 he received a 99-year lease of the manor of Padstow from his uncle by marriage Thomas Munday, the last Prior of Bodmin. He was the second son of Humphrey Prideaux (1487–1550) of Theuborough in the parish of Sutcombe, by his first wife Joane Fowell, daughter of Richard Fowell of Fowell's Combe. His father had acquired for him the marriage of Johanna Munday (died 1561), daughter of John Munday of Rialton, the niece of the last Prior of Bodmin, Thomas Mundey, and he married Johanna Munday in 1537. The couple resided at Trevose for as yet no grand manor house existed at Padstow. His son John Prideaux (born 1547) received a lease in 1583 of premises in Padstow from Oliver Polwhele, and his own son John Prideaux (died 1633) was buried in Padstow. The paternal estate of Theuborough was inherited by William's eldest brother Richard Prideaux (1520–1603), of Theuborough.
Nicholas Prideaux (died 1560) Uncle of William Prideaux (died 1564), obtained the freehold of the manor of Padstow, together with the remainder of the 99-year lease, which his nephew William had sold to a third party, perhaps as a related transaction. He also acquired the estate of Soldon near Holsworthy in Devon. He died childless and selected as his heir his nephew Roger Prideaux (died 1582) of Soldon, the younger brother of William Prideaux (died 1564), the former leaseholder of Padstow.