Former Roselyon Preparatory School, St Blazey Road, St Blaise, Cornwall - Heritage Assessment

This report presents the results of a heritage assessment that was carried out by South West Archaeology Ltd. (SWARCH) for a residential development at Former Roselyon Preparatory School, St Blazey Road, St Blaise, Cornwall. The house and the grounds are mid to late Victorian. They sit within an earlier and a contemporary 19th century industrial landscape and they are framed to the north-west by the older estate of Old Roselyon. The wider landscape to the east and to the north-west is comprised of sections of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site (Luxulyan Valley). The 17th century to 19th century industrial landscape still dominates the character of the region today and its socio-economic influence (both positive and negative) is still crucial to how we experience present day Cornwall. The estate, with its polite garden character overlying the industrial mining character, echoes the wider regional narrative of much of Cornwall. The building is an undesignated local heritage asset and it is surprisingly authentic and little altered despite its former school function. That being said, it has some significant structural issues such as water ingress due to a lack of recent maintenance and it has been a target of extreme anti-social behaviour that has led to many of the important historic features having been stolen or ripped out and damaged as well as walls and windows having been smashed. This was a building that was intended to impress and to beneficially represent its early owners, most probably Major John Polkinghorne. It is of limited but recognisable architectural value as it is quite a fine and elaborate example of its type and clearly no expense was spared on its original interior. The building has a more involved developmental history than its initial external appearance may indicate. To the south is a simple rectangular block with a long and narrow north-eastern extension that is noted on the Ordnance Survey Map 1st Edition (1880s). The building was further extended and aggrandised, most probably by Major Polkinghorne, with further service extensions to the north-west and with new bay windows. The building was turned to the south and the layout was altered to form formal entertaining spaces. There are boarded doors and blocked fireplaces as well as many existing features. A detailed study could gather more information on the structural phasing of the building and its potential early layout, form, and function, with its function possibly being associated with regionally important mining.