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Boconnoc

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The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland - 1868

"BOCONNOC, a parish in the hundred of West, in the county of Cornwall, 4 miles to the E. of Lostwithiel, its post town. Lead was procured here in small quantities in the 17th century, and traces of the works still exit. The living is a rectory consolidated with that* of Broadoak, in the diocese of Exeter, of the value of £378, in the patronage of Lady Grenville. Boconnoc House, the property of Lady Grenville, is situated in a fine park of great extent, and considered the most magnificent in Cornwall, adorned with rich old woods and well-stocked with deer. The house was originally erected by the Mohuns, who were for a long time the proprietors of the place. In 1718 it passed by purchase to Thomas Pitt, Governor of Fort St. George, who enlarged and reconstructed the mansion. It was further enlarged and improved by the first Lord Camelford. The picture gallery contains some interesting portraits, among which are those of the Duchess of Cleveland, by Lely; Governor Pitt, by Sir Godfrey Kneller; George, Lord Lyttelton, by the same artist; and William, Earl of Chatham. Here are preserved, too, a table and chair made from the material of the cradle of Queen Elizabeth. During the Civil War, in 1644, Charles I. took up his quarters at Boconnoc House for a short time, and narrowly escaped being shot in the park. At this seat was born, in 1708, the great Earl of Chatham, who was the grandson of Governor Pitt. The famous diamond brought to England by the latter weighed 433 grains, and fetched the fabulous price of £135,000. The purchaser was the Duke of Orleans, Regent of France. On an elevated spot in the park is an obelisk 123 feet in height, erected in 1771 to the memory of Sir Richard Lyttelton."