Category Archives: History

The Lost Gardeners of Heligan – U3A update


U3AlogoThe speaker at the May meeting was Peter Lavis who talked about the Lost Gardeners of Heligan, a social history project of WW1.

Heligan was owned by the Tremaynes for about 450 years. In 1914 the squire was Jack Tremayne who employed 23 garden staff. The house itself was turned over to the Royal Flying Corps to be used as a convalescent home for WW1 victims. By June 1917 only eight gardeners were left, the rest lost in the WW1 fighting. Jack found he could not live with the ghosts of Heligan and in 1921 left to live in Italy.

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Parish Roads Backalong


A Historical Perspective

UnevenSurfaceIf you think the state of our roads is bad at the moment, spare a thought for those who had to negotiate the lanes of South Hill in the past.  It was not until 1894 that local councils became responsible for maintaining minor roads, such as those which criss cross our parish, and even then local roads were not surfaced with tarmac.  Before the 1890s, only the main ‘turnpike roads’ between towns would have been maintained in a condition which would have enabled wheeled carts or coaches to travel along them. South Hill parish contained no turnpike roads.

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