Lower Bore Street

From the street, the house appears to date from the 18^th century, but we suspected (and were pleased to discover) that its core is much older. This is not unusual in Bodmin, which was previously the county town of Cornwall. Lower Bore (or bar) Street led to the western bar (gate) of the medieval town.

The Trust aimed to bring the building back into use, providing a refurbished 3-4 bedroomed house with the minimum of damage to its historic fabric.  We also wanted the project to be an exemplar of good conservation practice. At the time, Bodmin was receiving European and National Lottery funding to regenerate the town centre and 20 Lower Bore Street had been identified as a target for action.

The project was carried out in two phases. To begin with, some of the fabric was carefully opened up for detailed investigation. We needed to understand how the house had developed over the years and work with our architect to decide exactly what remedial work was required. Together with North Cornwall District Council, we commissioned a specialist report on the house’s history and archaeology. A local historian found that house was first documented in 1577 and this tied in with the with one of its most interesting features – a massive fireplace in the old kitchen that the building analyst dated at around 1600. When the hard render on the front elevation was partially removed, it became apparent the 17^th core of the house had been hidden by a new 18^th century façade. Further changes in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries had included moving the main entrance doorway from the left-hand side to the centre and new windows.