Clowance is an estate  at the centre of Crowan Parish, which it is claimed  was mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086 as “Clunewic”. However there does not appear to be an entry for a manor of that name. This manor belonged to Turstin who was the Sheriff of Cornwall which was under the control of Robert, Count of Mortain, and William the Conqueror’s half-brother. The only local settlement which has been identified by the "The Domesday Settlements of Cornwall", a study undertaken by the Cornwall Branch of the Historical Association is Binnerton. The entry reads “The King holds Bernartone there are eight hides, but it was taxed for four hides in the time of King Edward: the arable land is sixty carucates: of it there is in Domain half a hide; and there are three ploughs, and ten bond servants, and thirty-two villains and twenty-five borderers, with fifteen ploughs: there are two acres of meadow; pasture two miles long and the same in breadth ; wood one mile long and half a mile broad: it returns 10 pounds”.

The St Aubyn family owned Clowance for many years and six of them were also Sheriffs of Cornwall. In 1380 Geoffrey St Aubyn was married and some time afterwards was granted a licence for a chapel at Clowance. The St Aubyns also owned St Michael’s Mount, which they bought  from the Bassett family who had to raise money to pay fines after the Civil War. A chapel is mentioned again in documents dated 1667 but has long since been lost. These documents also refer to deer park at Clowance and the estate must have been quite grand.

Clowance in 1905 - Argall postcard

Sir John St Aubyn married Catherine Morice in 1725 and her dowry of £10,000 is supposed to have been taken to Clowance in half crown pieces in two carts. This must have taken some time because Cornish roads were notoriously bad. This Sir John was MP for Cornwall and was regarded as being incorruptible. His son John, the fourth baronet had an equally good reputation, but after he died at the age of 46 his son John, the fifth baronet, seems to have been a bit of a rake. He is supposed to have had one illegitimate child in Italy and then lived with Martha Nicholls at Clowance and had a further five children with her. His excuse for his spendthrift and unconventional ways was that he had been educated by a depraved clergyman! His life-style seems to have suited him because he died in London  in 1839 at the age of 81. His funeral was very elaborate and as it left London consisted  of at least a couple of dozen porters, The undertaker  and two mutes on horses, a hearse drawn by six horses  with feathers and velvet, seven mourning coaches, Sir John's own coach, plus a further 12 gentlemen's  carriages. When the procession arrived at  Devonport it was greeted by a crowd of 30,000.

There have been two major fires at Clowance, in 1836 and again in 1843. These destroyed much of the old, house, parts of which were said in newspaper reports at the time to date back to 1615. As a result of the fire a room at the back of the house ,which  was supposed to be haunted and which had been locked for 100 years, was broken open. It contained a lot  of old-fashioned glassware which presumably no  one had wanted but the ghost!. Quite a lot of the furniture and valuables were saved from these fires, but most of the library was destroyed including estate records.

The present house was designed by James Piers St Aubyn (1815 – 1895) who was a fellow of the RIBA. He also rebuilt the school in Praze, made alterations at St Michael’s Mount and restored many parish churches including Crowan and Marazion.  Unfortunately his restoration of Crowan church swept away a 17th century arcade, old roofs and wooden carvings and  some of the plaques and now virtually all that remain are St Aubyn family  memorials

Clowance is at the centre of a wooded landscape unusual for west Cornwall.  The existing park around Clowance has changed a great deal over the years. From its early days as a deer park it would have been redesigned to suit new fashions. The present landscape of woodlands and sweeping picturesque views down to the lake probably owes a lot to John Nicholls, Martha’s father, who was a landscape gardener in the style of Capability Brown. This lake was referred to in a newspaper report of a procession to Crowan Church and banquet to mark Sir John’s fiftieth year a Provincial Grand Master of the Freemasons a month before the fire in 1836.

Recent changes have seen the building of holiday chalets in clearings created in much of the woodland, which has caused significant local controversy.  Crenver Grove and Fox Grove on the edge of the old Clowance estate are now owned by the Dandelion Trust and are being managed for conservation and for public benefit.