The Pencarrow Christmas Fair is held on the fourth weekend in November and the event is a Christmas cracker in every sense of the word! Pencarrow House, which is situated in Bodmin, Cornwall is a breathtaking place to visit any time throughout the year, but when it is transformed into a winter wonderland for the Pencarrow Christmas Fair, it is truly magical.
If you are a lover of the highly popular TV drama, Downton Abbey, this place will certainly remind you of life “in the big house”. If you are looking for some Christmas inspiration to start your shopping, then this is the event for you.
Pencarrow Christmas Fair is a little bit different
There are countless Christmas fairs taking place up and down the county at this time of the year with many of them being nothing more than an excuse to sell all sorts of overpriced tat at highly inflated prices. However, the Pencarrow Christmas Fair is different because it seems that quality is the watchword for everything to do with this high-class event, which has become the crème de la crème of Christmas fairs in Cornwall.
Visit the Peacock Café for some Cornish refreshments
This event starts at 10:30 in the morning, finishing around 4:30pm on each of the two days. There is a modest entrance fee of £2. Make sure you give yourself plenty of time to browse the sumptuous collection of high quality gifts and mouthwatering foods in the fantastic food hall. You will probably want to stop and look at every stall and admire the many handmade gifts for sale by local craft producers.
If you can avoid the nibbles and samples as you shop you can indulge in the treats at the superb Peacock Café which is situated at Pencarrow House. It serves an excellent array of snacks and drinks within one of the original 17th century estate cottages.
As you might expect, this place has a superb reputation and is open for the duration of the event. The food is all sourced locally, the surroundings are out of this world and if ever there was an ideal time for a bowl of soup and a chunk of crusty bread, then this is it.
As the house is usually closed to visitors between the end of September and the beginning of April, this is a real opportunity to see Pencarrow House at this time of year. Even though a full tour is not available, the Pencarrow Christmas Fair will give you an ideal opportunity to see what the house has to offer and perhaps tempt you to pay it a visit when it opens to visitors next spring.
Do you know of any other country houses which really pull the stops out when it comes to celebrating Christmas and which offer visitors an experience which really is something to look forward to at this time of the year?
Born in Cheshire, Gillian Birch moved to Cornwall at her earliest opportunity and never looked back. After 20 years, her ongoing discovery of popular attractions, quiet footpaths and local eateries has made her a fount of knowledge as she entertains readers with her informative articles on the hidden gems of Devon & Cornwall from a local point-of-view.