A Cottage in Steeple Lane St Ives
Most of you are familiar with the many old cottages here in the West: two up and two down and a leanto at the back.
It is uncertain when mine was built; probably by miners working nearby on Trelyon Downs. Tithe records show it was certainly there in the early 1800’s. The fireplaces in both downstairs rooms have huge granite lintels which must have taken a lot of effort to move into position!
Before Ordinance Survey maps it is difficult to find reliable information on properties. Until then maps were hand drawn and not always very detailed. Even within larger estates, humble homesteads were often not individually named, usually referred to as “The Cottage”.
Tithe records are a good source of information and I found, recorded in 1840 – ‘Tregenna Downs, 22 perches, cottage and courtiledge – owned by Henry Lewis Stephens Esq’. John Tyacke resided there as lessee. He paid a tithe of 4p per year to the vicar of St Ives (whose total receipt that year was £185.)
A second tithe was paid, another 4p, to the Lay Impropriator, a certain Honourable William Pole Tylney Long Wellesley Esq (Duke of Mornington), a nephew of the famous Duke of Wellington. This character warrants a story all of his own! He was known as ‘Wicked William’ as he was dissolute and completely disreputable. He bought the St Ives borough constituency for £500.00 and was its MP between 1812 and 1818 and again in 1830. He hardly ever attended; only at the assizes. Incidentally his receipt of tithes for 1840 was £175.00.
By the end of the C19th a man by the name of John Phillips occupied the house and garden. The property was now owned by the Bolitho Estate and a person named Thomas Grenfell Phillips was paying the rates of the cottage at this time, but he may have been a relative of John Phillips.
In 1903 Mr Samuel Geen commenced the tenancy. ”Granfer Geen” had a chicken farm. Brian Stevens of St Ives tells a good story of a man exploring the underground mine workings, up from Carbis Bay, finding feathers floating down the subterranean waterway
When Mr Geen’s time at the property came to an end the tenancy was taken by my husband’s grandmother, Mary Ann Peters.
And so began 100 years of the Peter’s family in the cottage.
Mary Ann had 3 sons.
At the end of W.W.1 William Peters (Bill) returned after serving in Thessalonica and France to live with his mother and brother in the cottage. I believe he worked as a miner in Wheal Kitty until it closed.
In due course Bill’s attention was taken by a young children’s nanny as she walked her charges up the lane past the cottage. She was Winifred Harris, whose father, she said, drove the charabancs for the Porthminster Hotel. In a short time a marriage took place: Granny and brother moved out and Bill and Winnie started a new family, a girl and three boys.
Well, this generation grew away, went to school, played on the downs, found jobs and married.
I arrived in 1956. It was springtime and I was instantly bewitched! Even as I was taken in my smart suit and high heels along the rough muddy lane, I was charmed to see the bluebells, primroses and sparkling sea. Oh the quaintness of it all!
It was a while before I realised that cold water from a tap 100 yards down the lane, partial electricity and an earth closet up the garden had its drawbacks!
Father in law would make no improvements because, he said, they would put up the rent, which stood at £3.00 per year. My father-in-law was quite a character. During the Second World War there was a drive to collect metal for the war effort. Bill heard the councilman coming up the lane removing gates and railings. He went to the gate with a hammer and cleated over the hinges so that the gate could not be lifted off! Even though the railings around Knill’s Steeple were sacrificed we still have our gate!
I married the youngest son, Ted, in 1957, a member of the Cornish Police Force. He served all over Cornwall and Devon, and was very happy to eventually come back to his home town as a Police sergeant before retiring permanently to the cottage.
In 1961 we bought the rather dilapidated cottage from Bolitho Estates. In time, after a great deal of effort, the humble cottage became a comfortable home for us and our three boys.
Four bedrooms, a modern kitchen with electricity, gas and running water, all under a good roof. The bramble field became a garden and we didn’t forget the loo!
So, 5 generations, 100 years, only a little story but our story.
Written by Linda Peters. January 2020
