History of Kenegie
The Manor has a rich and exciting history having grown and prospered with changing family fortunes throughout the centuries.
Kenegie and the Manor of Lanisley, has for nearly a thousand years formed the principle of land holding bounding the South eastern flank of Penzance and Mount’s Bay. Originally under the control of the Bishops of Exeter, the house has grown and flourished reflecting the changing fortunes of its occupants.
The Kenegie’s and Tripconey’s held the house for many years but became embroiled in the Cornish rebellion against King Henry VII. Tripconey was executed and the house confiscated by the Crown.
The Harris family flourished under Elizabeth I and greatly expanded the house. They were appointed Lieutenants of the County by Sir Walter Raleigh with responsibility for defending St Michael’s Mount in an age against Spain and France and later Harris was convicted for Royalists activities by Oliver Cromwell’s Parliamentary Forces. Other members of the family became Sheriffs and Members of Parliament.
A branch of the Arundel family owned the Estate and built the East Wing during the 1780’s.
Subsequently, Sir Rose Price, with extensive estates in the West Indies began introducing sub-tropical plants into the gardens.
The Industrial Revolution saw the ascendance of the merchants and bankers in Cornwall. The Bolitho’s founded their fortune on tin and copper mining and did much to rebuild the house. Gulval village bears witness to the paternalism of the Victorian Age with its Almshouses and Church. The Church holds much interest on the successive occupants of Kenegie and archeological finds dating back some 2000 years have been uncovered.
Kenegie Manor, now painstakingly and sympathetically restored, by a notable English architect, is another major landmark in the history of this wonderful Tudor house.
