History

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Five fire facts

  • The fire started in the kitchen chimney
  • High winds caused the fire to spread rapidly
  • All but one of the servants lost all their property in the blaze
  • One female servant had to jump from a window to flee the flames
  • The Gallery escaped the flames & its Jacobean ceiling survived

Lanhydrock: Like a phoenix from the flames

Black and white artist's impression of the fire of 1881 which destroyed much of Lanhydrock © Paul Holden

Artist's impression of the 1881 fire

© Paul Holden

Cornwall's Lanhydrock House is one of the country's most interesting Victorian homes, showing the upstairs, downstairs divisions of life at the time in its kitchen rooms, servants' quarters, nursery wing and decorative formal rooms. The house's elegant Victorian interiors, designed by Richard Coad and James Mclaren, arose from the sad story of a devastating fire which destroyed much of the house and...

Tommy Agar-Robartes: a very British gentleman

Tommy Robartes and other members of the Bullingdon Club on the Christchurch steps © Lanhydrock archive

Bullingdon Club - Tommy is seated on the left of the back row

© Lanhydrock archive

Lanhydrock's charismatic heir, Tommy Agar-Robartes, seemed destined for greatness. From the Bullingdon Club to the ballot box then the battlefield, he was a high-flyer, magazine cover-star and leader of men. Sadly his life , like that of so many others, was tragically cut short in the First World War.

From high society to big society

Victorian group photograph of nine of the children in the Agar-Robartes family © Lanhydrock archive

Victorian sailors were safer at sea because of the Agar-Robartes family. The family had great wealth and privilege but also strong religious beliefs. Consequently, they used their...

How the other half lived

Corner of the bakehouse at Lanhydrock. © NTPL/Andreas von Einsiedel

Life in Victorian times was luxurious for the wealthy few, but what was it like for the servants who kept things running smoothly? When Thomas Charles remodelled the house after the...

Learn more from the Lanhydrock journals

Pen and ink drawing of Lanhydrock House © National Trust

Available for the first time online are a fascinating series of academic essays on the history of Lanhydrock and its people, written by our staff and volunteers.

Read the journals...