Such as wandering near their sacred bower, Molest their ancient solitary reign.—
_Restormel House_, the residence of John Hext, Esq. is a low embattled structure, said to have been erected on the site of an antient chapel. The demesne attached thereto, is now the property of the Earl of Mount Edgecumbe. The valley in which Restormel House is built, with the castle on the eminence, form for the artist a very pleasing picture, and have often been admired.
_Boconnoc House_, formerly the seat of the late Lord Camelford, is now the property of the Right Hon. Lord Grenville. It is a large plain building, situated about three miles east of Lostwithiel, in a richly wooded park well stocked with deer. The interior contains many handsome suites of apartments, a good library, and among other works of art, a fine bust of the late Earl of Chatham, on which the following panegyric lines have been written:
“Here trophies faded, and revers’d her spear, See England’s genius bend o’er CHATHAM’S bier, Her sails no more in every clime unfurl’d Proclaim her dictates to th’ admiring world. No more shall accents nervous, bold and strong Flow in full periods from his patriot tongue. Yet shall th’ historic and poetic page, Thy name, great Shade, devolve from Age to Age; Thine and thy Country’s fate, congenial tell, By thee she triumph’d, and by thee she fell.”—
On a commanding eminence, a short distance from the house, stands an elegant-proportioned obelisk, 123 feet in height, with the following inscription carved on the pedestal.
In gratitude and Affection To the Memory of Sir Richard Lyttleton, And to perpetuate the Remembrance which rendered him The delight of his own age, And worthy the Veneration of Posterity. 1771.
The country between Lostwithiel and St. Austell is pleasing, and most delightful views of the ocean occasionally present themselves.
On approaching the village of ST. BLAZEY, about half a mile to the right, is _Prideaux Place_, at present the residence of David Howell, Esq.; but what perhaps engrosses the particular attention of the traveller, is a very fine bold promontory, nearly opposite the house, and the lands about it are ornamented with young plantations. The _Church_ is a small antient fabric, standing on an eminence close to the mail road. From hence to St. Austell the distance is four miles.