22nd November 2020
[4] The next book in the Daphne Du Maurier series is 'The House On The Strand'. It was published in 1969 and has been called a Gothic tale. It involves a sinister potion which enables the central character to escape the constraints of his dreary married life by travelling back through time. The narrator agrees to test a drug that transports him back to 14th century Cornwall and becomes absorbed in the lives of people he meets there, to the extent that the two worlds he is living in start to merge.
Daphne Du Maurier wrote this when she was living at Kilmarth in Tywardreath. Tywardreath was recorded in the Doomsday Book in 1086. A Benedictine priory was established at around the time of the Norman conquest. By the early 1400s the house was poor and devoid of monks. It went through a slow revival of fortunes but in 1536 it was suppressed by the Crown. Nothing of the priory remains today apart from a few carved stones.
Who else has read the book and imagined the scenes when walking around Tywardreath today?
![Series Post - The House on the Strand [1]](https://kernowgoth.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Post-The-House-on-the-Strand-1.jpg "Post - The House on the Strand [1]")
![Series Post - The House on the Strand [2]](https://kernowgoth.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Post-The-House-on-the-Strand-2.jpg "Post - The House on the Strand [2]")
![Series Post - The House on the Strand [3]](https://kernowgoth.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Post-The-House-on-the-Strand-3.jpg "Post - The House on the Strand [3]")
![Series Post - The House on the Strand [4]](https://kernowgoth.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Post-The-House-on-the-Strand-4.jpg "Post - The House on the Strand [4]")
8th November 2020
[3] 'Rebecca' is the next in the series of Daphne Du Maurier books. "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.' This is a classic with a mystery at the heart of it. It poses so many questions - particularly about Mrs Danvers! 'Manderley' is based on Menabilly where Daphne Du Maurier lived for 26 years. She leased it from the Rashleigh family. The land on which Menabilly was built has been owned by the Rashleigh family since 1560s.
Philip Rashleigh (1729–1811) landscaped the gardens and planted the woodland. Jonathon Rashleigh (1820–1905), the cricketer, improved and extended the gardens and grounds. John Rashleigh, grandson of Jonathan, succeeded in 1905 but rarely lived at Menabilly. It fell fell into serious decay. In 1943 it was discovered in a dilapidated state by the new tenant, Daphne du Maurier, who set about restoring it and made it her home before returning it to the Rashleighs in 1969.
Menabilly is hidden from view surrounded by woods. Have you ever walked down to Polridmouth? Have you ever pictured scenes from 'Rebecca' taking place on the little beach there?
![Series Post - Rebecca [1]](https://kernowgoth.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Series-Post-Rebecca-1.jpg "Series Post - Rebecca [1]")
![Series Post - Rebecca [2]](https://kernowgoth.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Series-Post-Rebecca-2.jpg "Series Post - Rebecca [2]")
![Series Post - Rebecca [3]](https://kernowgoth.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Series-Post-Rebecca-3.jpg "Series Post - Rebecca [3]")
![Series Post - Rebecca [4]](https://kernowgoth.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Series-Post-Rebecca-4.jpg "Series Post - Rebecca [4]")
27th October 2020
[2] Continuing the series based on the books by Daphne Du Maurier. Here we look at 'Frenchman’s Creek'. The book was published in 1941 and tells the story of Lady Dona St Columb who retreats to her husbands Cornish estate where she meets a French pirate. Together they embark on a quest full of danger and glory.
I have read this book a number of times – the writing is captivating. Quite a lot of the action takes place in Fowey –‘…there is a fort at the entrance to the haven, which is manned, and there are two castles, one either side of the channel.’
The two blockhouses were built during the Hundred Years War and are positioned at Fowey and on the opposite side, in Polruan. There were internal gun positions, but unfortunately they couldn’t stop a French attack in 1457. As a result the defences were upgraded with a boom barrier – a thick chain that blocked the access to enemy ships.
Henry VIII upgraded fortifications and built St Catherine’s Castle. Thomas Treffry oversaw the construction of the castle.
![Series Post - Frenchman's Creek [1]](https://kernowgoth.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Series-Post-Frenchmans-Creek-1.jpg "Series Post - Frenchman's Creek [1]")
![Series Post - Frenchman's Creek [2]](https://kernowgoth.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Series-Post-Frenchmans-Creek-2.jpg "Series Post - Frenchman's Creek [2]")
![Series Post - Frenchman's Creek [3]](https://kernowgoth.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Series-Post-Frenchmans-Creek-3.jpg "Series Post - Frenchman's Creek [3]")
![Series Post - Frenchman's Creek [4]](https://kernowgoth.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Series-Post-Frenchmans-Creek-4-300x186.jpg "Series Post - Frenchman's Creek [4]")
15th October 2020
[1] A short series based on some of the books by Daphne Du Maurier. Beginning with her first book 'The Loving Spirit' based on the 'Jane Slade' that was built at Bodinnick in 1920 by the Slades of Polruan.
The book was published in 1931 and was written at the Du Maurier's holiday home, Ferryside, in Bodinnick. The figurehead on the boat was a carving of the real Jane Slade, who ran a successful boat business. She was also the first landlady of The Russell Inn on West Street in Polruan. A copy of the figurehead is attached to the side of Ferryside. The original is preserved inside the house.
The photos of the figurehead and the ship are from The Jane Slade Project, Fowey.
![Series Post - The Loving Spirit [2]](https://kernowgoth.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Post-The-Loving-Spirit-2.jpg "Post - The Loving Spirit [2]")
![Series Post - The Loving Spirit [1]](https://kernowgoth.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Post-The-Loving-Spirit-1.jpg "Series Post - The Loving Spirit [1]")
![Series Post - The Loving Spirit [3]](https://kernowgoth.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Post-The-Loving-Spirit-3.jpg "Post - The Loving Spirit [3]")
![Series Post - The Loving Spirit [4]](https://kernowgoth.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Post-The-Loving-Spirit-4.jpg "Post - The Loving Spirit [4]")