Hawker's Hut, Vicarage Cliff, Morwenstow - geograph

Hawker's Hut is an historic hut at

Morwenstow Morwenstow ( kw, Logmorwenna) is a civil parish in north Cornwall, UK. The parish abuts the west coast, about six miles (10 km) north of Bude and within the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Morwenstow is the most norther ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

originally built by the eccentric clergyman, poet and

antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...

Robert Stephen Hawker Robert Stephen Hawker (1803–1875) was a British Anglican priest, poet, antiquarian and reputed eccentric, known to his parishioners as Parson Hawker. He is best known as the writer of "The Song of the Western Men" with its chorus line of "An ...

(1803 – 1875), close to Higher Sharpnose Point. The hut is located approximately 1 mile from Morwenstow Church. The hut is mainly of timber construction and is partially built into the hillside (earth sheltered) with a turf roof. It was originally built from driftwood and timber retrieved from shipwrecks by the eccentric vicar and poet. Parson Hawker spent many hours in the hut writing poems and smoking

opium Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which i ...

, perhaps inspired by the views of the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

Ocean. Visitors to the hut during Hawker's time there included

Alfred Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his ...

in 1848 (with whom Hawker toured Tintagel) and

Charles Kingsley Charles Kingsley (12 June 1819 – 23 January 1875) was a broad church priest of the Church of England, a university professor, social reformer, historian, novelist and poet. He is particularly associated with Christian socialism, the working ...

. Today the hut is accessible on foot from the coastal footpath via a short set of steps. Hawker's hut has been maintained since its original construction although some of the original elements are still present. It is currently the smallest property belonging to the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

Gallery

File:Robert Stephen Hawker 1864.jpg, Robert Stephen Hawker (1864) File:View from Hawker's Hut.jpg, West-nor-west view from Hawker's Hut straight down the cliff File:View N-W from Hawker's Hut - geograph.org.uk - 412056.jpg, Nor-west view with gorse File:View W-S-W from Hawker's Hut - geograph.org.uk - 412030.jpg, West-south-west view down to a wave-cut platform and a small headland File:Vicarage Cliff, site of Hawker's Hut, across The Tidna - geograph.org.uk - 412192.jpg, The hut is at the top of this cliff, but is not visible in this photo File:View from Hawker's Hut 2019-06-08.jpg, View from inside Hawker's Hut

Notes

External links

'Hawker's Hut' at RobertStephenHawker.co.uk
* Grade II listed buildings in Cornwall Houses in Cornwall National Trust properties in Cornwall Grade II listed houses Morwenstow Huts {{Cornwall-struct-stub