Falmouth and Pendennis Castle

 Looking across the River Fal

We crossed the Fal in May 2014, but didn't really have much time to explore Falmouth. Today we saw a bit more starting in the administrative centre with the fine Municipal Buildings on one side of the square known as the Moor.  The foundation stone was laid in 1894 and opened in 1896. The council chamber and the municipal offices were in the wing on the left, the free library was in the central section and the science and art school was in the wing on the right. The Council offices later moved to separate location and the building now houses just the Library and the Art Gallery.

Facing the Library across the square is the rather grand Methodist Church. The original building on the site dated back to 1791. This was followed by a further building in 1837, with the basis of the existing building completed in 1876, before major reconstruction during the Second World War when it was bombed.

In 2021 the church announced that the problems with the chapel roof were "beyond us" and that the church would look to move out of the current building and sell it. The roof was damaged in gale back in 2008, which also revealed other repairs that needed to be done.

To the left as you look at the Library is this interesting structure, which turns out to be the 19th century Market Fountain.

 

I headed towards the harbourside and walked along Market Street passing the wonderful St George's Arcade. It was built in 1912 as a cinema.

Further along on the left was this interesting tableau.

Market Street runs into Church St where the Church of King Charles the Martyr stands at the top of a hill. It was originally built in 1661-5 by Sir Peter Killigrew and partly funded by Charles II. All sorts of changes were made subsequently, especially by John Sedding in the 19th century.

I should probably have continued along this route, to see more of the town, but we also wanted to see Pendennis Castle which we had skirted in 2014. We drove to the castle site and parked, but were disappointed to find that the castle was closed. All we could do was circumnavigate the high walls. This is the entrance.

On the way round the scale of the walls - brick covered with grass - became clearer.

Towards the end of the circuit some buildings poked up above the walls.

 

 

 If we are ever this way again we will be sure to get inside the castle precincts!

Glendurgan

 More lovely Rhododendrons

Soon after seeing Trebah, we moved on to nearby Glendurgan, a National Trust garden.  The garden was laid out by Alfred Fox in the 1820s and 1830s. It has the same character as Trebah in that two loosely parallel paths lead downhill through a valley to the Helford River. 

The feature which is distinctively different is the Maze. The original maze was laid out in 1833 to keep the Fox children amused.

 

More recently a major restoration of the Maze has been completed. The steps and paths were improved to make them more robust. The 173 steps within the maze were replaced with durable stone alternatives.  The wet Cornish climate and well-trodden paths were causing water to build up and floods in places, these areas of the path were restored to cope with the 80,000+ visitors each year. 

We naturally tried the maze but found it to be very challenging and neither of us could find the way to the middle (the circular hut in the photo above). We didn't notice any other adult do it either, but we did see two young kids complete the maze - somehow following instructions from their father who was standing in a strategic position outside the maze.

We headed on downhill, passing these intriguing shoots ...

... to briefly leave the grounds of Glendurgan and reach the Helford River and the hamlet of Durgan.

We had been this way before in 2014 when we were doing the Falmouth to Helford Passage section of the Coast Path. I couldn't resist taking the same picture of the Old School House that I took in 2014.

After a short while on the beach we headed back into Glendurgan and follow the other path uphill. We were delighted to our first Peacock butterfly of the year.

 

This is the view as we neared the Maze with the Manor House in the background.

Trebah

 The initial view of Trebah

Trebah is a 26-acre sub-tropical garden, near Glendurgan Garden (see separate post) and above the Helford River. The Helford River is a large estuary which nestles snugly between the western edge of Falmouth Bay and eastern side of the Lizard Peninsula. Once you enter the garden you see the mansion house ...

... and a sloping site which descends to sea level on two distinct paths, right hand and left hand. We decided that the right hand path was the more appealing and off we set quickly being overtaken by dense exotic foliage ...

... such as these delightful Tree Ferns.

As you go further downhill the left hand path comes into view with an extremely rich gathering of XX flowers.

At the bottom there is a lake with Koi Carp and a pretty bridge across the narrow end of the lake.

You leave the bottom of the site to visit the small but attractive beach and to take refreshments. Then back into the site to this time follow the opposite path, now on your right. Now it possible to see the XX flowers in all their glory.

It remained only to amble back uphill to the inevitable plant shop.

Trengwainton

 

Yesterday we got to grips with St Ives. Today we are going to see Trengwainton, the first of several of the Gardens which Cornwall is so well known for. Trengwainton is located in Madron, near Penzance and is owned by the National Trust.

You can either choose the shady path of the tree-lined Long Walk or make the most of any sun on the carriage drive which opens onto a colourful stream border and meadows. 

We have decided to follow the Long Walk outwards and the Carriage Drive on the way back.  It is a very pleasant stroll emerging beside the Big House,  which is inevitably out of bounds.

 

It gradually becomes clear that the Carriage Drive houses the most dramatic plants, especially Rhododendrons, Camellias and Azalias.

 

This beautiful white shrub is Prunus Mount Fuji.

And this one is Rhodendron "Hinomayo".

We headed back towards St Ives, almost immediately stumbling on a hitherto unnoticed set of Almshouses, the Gulval Almhouses. They were built by Richard Foster Bolitho in 1903, but surprisingly are not referred to in Pevsner. Here is a rather rough and ready photo.

St Ives

The town and harbour with The Island in the background

This is our first trip away from home since our visit to Guernsey last September. We are staying in an excellent small hotel on the south side of the town, next to the bus station. There is a wonderful view over the Harbour. 

Smeeton's Pier, built in 1767-70 to replace a smaller medieval pier, is over on the right hand side and to its left is the green hill known as The Island - though actually just a headland.

Round to our right is the quiet Porthminster Beach.

 

We head into the town, collecting a map from the Library, and soon coming to the interesting Market House with its curved ends, located in the tiny Market Place. It is dated 1832.

To the right is the imposing church of St Ia. St Ia is said to be an Irish evangelist and preacher who came to Cornwall and was martyred by pagans. Papal approval for the construction of the church dates from 1410 and it was consecrated in 1434. The tall tower is very impressive, but the better view is to seaward where the nave and aisles are imposing.

St Ives is of course famous for its galleries and now we made our planned visit to the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Gallery, once the artist's home. You go into a small building and emerge into the beautiful gardens with numerous modernist scupltures scattered across it.

We continued along Fore Street, the main street, to reach Norway Square where the austere church dates only from 1903-5. It was never completed and is now an art gallery.

We headed through a maze of small streets to emerge at the base of The Island and then climbed up to get a closer look at St Nicholas Chapel. The original small medieval chapel was demolished by the War Office - and then rebuilt again in 1911. The plaque on the right of the chapel comments that 1911 was the occasion of the Coronation of George V. The interior was restored in 1971, although the chapel was closed when we were there. (The uneven picture is accounted for people thoughtlessly leaning against the the left hand side of the chapel.)

We didn't make the final pilgrimage to the Tate St Ives at the back of Portmeor Beach as we had already done that when we were doing this section of the Coast Path in 2014.

Conditions: bright and sunny.

It was lovely to see more of the town than on our previous visit.

Almshouses of Cornwall

 

 

 

We start this review of Cornish Almshouses in the eastern end of the county at Saltash. The Buller Almshouses were erected at Burraton Coombe in1726 by James Buller and rebuilt in 1860 by John Francis Buller Esqr, of Morval House, Great Great Grandson of the founder. Unfortunately I have not been able to locate a non-copyright photo, other than this dedication stone. The Almshouses are near the Post Office and look very plain.

 

Now to St Germans where Sir William Moyles's Almshouses were founded in 1583. They were restored and converted to four apartments in the late 20th century. Pevsner describes them as the most arresting buildings in the village.

 

Nearby are the former Almshouses known as the Maid's House.

A little further west is the Poad's Trust Almshouses in Menheniot. The cottages were built in 1840 and acquired by Henry Poad who left the cottages in his will to the poor and deserving people of Menheniot. They have been upgraded several times since then.

Moving on to Polmear near Fowey, the first eight Rashleigh Almhouses were founded before 1626 by John Rashleigh, with others being added in 1663 by Jonathan Rashleigh in 1663. The later ones were in thanksgiving for surviving the Civil War, according to Pevsner. They seem to have been subject to numerous alterations thereafter.

A later generation of Rashleighs were responsible for the Charlestown, the nearby port, established in the 18th century by Charles Rashleigh. It was originally built to facilitate the transport of copper from nearby mines.

On the other side of Cornwall are the Padstow Almshouses in Middle Street. They were built in 1875 in red brick English bond (which is unusual in Cornwall).

The plaque over the archway reveals that the Almshouses were built in 1875 in memory of John Tredwyn who died in 1870.

Further to the south and west, in Tregony, are Hugh Boscawen's Almshouses erected in 1696, but extensively rebuilt in 1895 by the wonderfully named Sylvanus Trevail.

Truro has a surprising lack of Almshouses, given that it is a city. The only reference I have been able to find was a reference to Williams’Almhouses. "This group of low buildings surrounding a central courtyard were built in 1631 at the bequest of Henry Williams. All that remains of the complex now is the foundation stones which were once part of the arched almshouses’ gateway and now lie forlorn in the gardens of a modern bungalow nearby" Thanks to https://cornishbirdblog.com/truros-forgotten-past-our-citys-hidden-secrets/ for this information. 

South West of Truro is Mr Lanyon's Almshouses, built in 1726. Pevsner describes it as "a remarkable survival of almshouses in their original function".

 

In the village of Gulval, not far from Falmouth are the Gulval Almshouses built by Richard Foster Bolitho in 1903.

 

Next, in Falmouth, is Earle's Retreat, almshouses of 1869 by Alexander Lauder for George Earle. Pevsner describes it as "a stylish exercise in the Gothic Revival".

And near the western tip of Cornwall is Hutchens Almshouse in Paul, near Mousehole. It dates from 1709 and is now known as Hutchens House.

Note: I believe this is a full set of Almshouses in Cornwall, but additional information or errors to be corrected would be most welcome. Click on the Comments option at the bottom of the post.