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Ince Castle
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Ince Castle and Gardens




OS Grid ref:-


Ince Castle is situated three miles (5 km) from the town of Saltash. The brick manor house was built in 1642, at the start of the Civil War.

The house stands on a peninsula by the River Lynher, from which its name derives from the Cornish enys, meaning island, it faces Antony House. The first house to occupy the site was possibly built by the Courtenay family in the late fourteenth century. It later came into the possession of the Killigrews who totally remodelled the house. Ince Castle is laid out as a rectangle with four square corner towers each four storeys high. Local legend states that Henry Killigrew, the Royalist MP for West Looe, kept four wives, one in each tower, each unknown to the others.

During the Civil War the house held out for the Royalists. In August 1646 it was besieged by Parliamentary forces under Colonel Ralph Welden. Due to its light fortification it was surrendered in just a few hours.

When the Civil War ended the house was sold to Edward Nosworthy, after his death his estates were disputed in the courts until the early eighteenth century when it came into the ownership of John Hobart, 1st Earl of Buckinghamshire. From the Hobart family it passed through a number of hands until it was eventually let out as a farm during the late nineteenth century.

In 1918 Sir Montague Eliot, 8th Earl of St Germains, purchased Ince Castle. It was at this time in a poor state of repair. Montague undertook a programme of renovation and extension at the castle. The south facade was rebuilt and another storey was added to the building.

In 1960 the house was bought by Patricia, Viscountess Boyd, (daughter of Rupert Guinness, 2nd Earl of Iveagh), wife of the former Colonial Secretary, Alan Lennox-Boyd, 1st Viscount Boyd of Merton. About this time, the lower floor French windows were installed to bring more light into the house and the service wing was extended. A disastrous fire in 1988 was followed by rebuilding of the roof and a second kitchen was added. The present owner, Simon Lennox-Boyd, 2nd Viscount Boyd of Merton moved in in 1994.

The house is approached up a straight drive lined with daffodils in the spring which are followed by flocks of white cow parsley. The gardens, which cover about 5 acres, were created in the 1960s by Lady Patricia Boyd. She added the formal gardens on the south side of the castle along with an area of woodland., The gardens contain camellias, magnolias etc and masses of bulbs and hellebores in early spring and more formal mixed beds and borders near the house, there also an orchard with more bulbs and shrubs. There is a charming shell house which was constructed in 1964 by the present owner's parents. Beautiful river views can be seen from all parts of the garden.

Historic Buildings in Cornwall

Cornish Gardens