Scorrier House

Scorrier House, located near the village of Scorrier, Cornwall, England, UK, is a country house and the seat of the Williams family. Scorrier House is also home to an important Cornish garden and Scorrier House Stud.

Scorrier House was built in 1778 by John Williams the 3rd (1753 – 1841), the first son of Michael Williams the 1st (1730 – 1775) and Susanna Harris (died 1814). John Williams was described in 1868 as "one of the most extensive and most successful managers of mines, as well as adventurers, the county ever produced". He pioneered many industry innovations, including the construction of the Great County Adit and the Portreath Tramway which was the first such railway of its time and now forms the Portreath – Devoran Coast to Coast Mineral Tramway Trail.

After Michael Williams, John's second son, made a fortune from speculating on the price of tin in 1845, he significantly enlarged Scorrier House, building the stately east façade overlooking the park. Parts of this enlargement were gutted during a fire in 1908, but it was rebuilt in that same year with the introduction of much teak and concrete as further precautions against fire.

Through his interest in mining and geology, John Williams amassed a famous mineral collection at Scorrier House. The Scorrier House mineral collection has been described by authors and travellers as one of the most important collections of Cornish minerals ever assembled, and the most valuable variety of mineral specimens of any house in Europe. Among the collection’s admirers who visited Scorrier House were two princes who afterwards became Louis XVIII and Charles X Kings of France. Today the collection is on display at Caerhays Castle and at the Natural History Museum, London.

During a national currency shortage in the early 19th century, John Williams took the initiative to pay workers in his own Cornish currency mined from his own mines. The Scorrier Penny was issued in 1811 and 1812 and bore the quotation, "PAYABLE IN CASH NOTES AT SCORRIER HOUSE". Many of the 'tokens' are now on display at the Royal Cornwall Museum.

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