A Blog about Cornwall's Hidden Places & Untold Stories
During the winter of 1849 the whole of Falmouth was on edge. The conversation in the shops, the alehouses and on the streets was only about one thing . . . Strange sounds had been heard at night, unexplainable, frightening noises that were keeping everyone awake. Screeching Cries There were various contradictory descriptions of what […]
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Droskyn Point towers above Perranporth beach. The crashing waves of the Atlantic beat its rocky cliffs. But this spectacular headland hides an ancient secret. Hidden down a steep, narrow path is thought to be the earliest known evidence of mining in Cornwall. Beginnings . . . The origins of tin mining in Cornwall are hazy […]
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“The seashore seems to be a potent spot for ghosts. Fishermen dread to walk anywhere near where a ship has foundered. The souls of drowned sailors are said to haunt such places and the ‘calling of the dead’ has frequently been heard . . .” James Turner, The Stone Peninsula, 1975. Fishermen and sailors are […]
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The tiny fort known as Little Dennis is probably the oldest building in the Falmouth area, apart from the ruin of Arwenack Manor perhaps, it was constructed by the Tudors nearly 500 years ago. Little Dennis was built straight onto the bedrock, close to the highwater line, looking out across the sweep of Falmouth Bay […]
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For Daphne du Maurier the house known as Menabilly was a home she treasured for more than 26 years. From the first moment she saw it until the day she died the house fascinated, inspired and captivated her. After years of planning and dreaming Menabilly near Gribbin Head in Cornwall finally became Du Maurier’s family […]
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The scars left on the Cornish countryside by hundreds of years of mining were devastating. But fortunately in most places nature has reclaimed and revitalised the damaged often poisoned ground, miraculously creating some of our most peaceful and iconic landscapes. The transformation really can be astonishing. Sometimes, however, even nature can struggle to recover what’s […]
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“Down the wooded lanes, around the twisting of the Helford Creek. Between the bank smothered in primroses, up again along a steep hill with the sun slanting through the blackthorns, passed a great old walled farm with high closed gateway, and a white cat basking in the sunset at a barn door high up in […]
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Something is hiding beneath the waters of Stithians Lake. And at certain times of the year, when the level drops low enough, these wonderful artefacts, carved more than 4000 years old, reveal themselves. When Stithians Dam was completed in 1967 the shallow valley behind it was completely flooded. Nearly 300 acres of farmland and three […]
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Some place names can really create an atmosphere and evoke a feeling. They can be signpost to a place’s past. A waving flag that acknowledges some event or episode in our cultural history. Names are, after all given, given by us. And because of this for me Hangman’s Barrow near Crowan has its own particular […]
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A while back I wrote a series of posts about ruined places. Ruined churches, cottages and farms. There is something endlessly interesting, something that sparks my imagination, about broken down, forgotten buildings. How they came to be there. How they once looked. Who touched their walls, walked their halls. How they fell into disrepair. Old […]
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