At a short distance south of the church, are some considerable remains of an antient Exchequer or Shire Hall. It was no doubt formerly a magnificent building; the walls are of great thickness, supported by massy buttresses, and the interior contains a number of gloomy apartments, ill calculated for the purpose for which it is now converted into a Stannary Prison. On the exterior are the arms of the Duchy of Cornwall with supporters, surmounted with the Prince’s plume well carved. There is also here a neat Town Hall, erected in 1740, at the expense of Richard Edgecumbe, Esq., in which the Summer Quarter Sessions for the county are held.

The weekly market is well supplied with all kinds of provision, and there are three fairs annually in this place.

About a mile and a half of Lostwithiel, on the summit of an artificial mound, stand the venerable remains of Restormel Castle,[[7]] which in former times was a place of considerable importance. History, however, is silent as to the origin of this highly interesting fortification; and as it is not even mentioned in the Doomsday Survey, it is generally supposed to have been erected by Robert, Earl of Mortaign, and was the principal residence of himself, and the subsequent Earls of Cornwall. Prior to the reign of Henry the VIII., this place is said to have been in a dilapidated state. The present remains chiefly consist of a circular area of 110 feet diameter; the walls of which are nine feet thick, secured by a deep moat, now choaked up with brambles and wild plants. The entrance, on the south side, (which had formerly a draw-bridge,) has an outer and inner arch supporting a square tower in ruins. Round the area, the foundations of three regular suites of apartments are easily traced, connected by two dark narrow stone staircases leading to the top of the ramparts. The ruins are richly overgrown with ivy, and being almost embosomed in wood, are very pleasing objects to the lovers of the picturesque. It is now the abode of owls, bats, and jackdaws; and unless disturbed by the occasional visits of the curious traveller, they have seldom reason to complain of

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