Rashleigh Almshouses - Polmear - geograph - 2103185

Polmear ( kw, Porth Meur, meaning ''great cove'') is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

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 ...

, England, UK. It is located on the A3082 road close to Par Sands and the village of Par. Part is in the civil parish of

Fowey Fowey ( ; kw, Fowydh, meaning 'Beech Trees') is a port town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Fowey in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town has been in existence since well before the Norman invasion, with the local ch ...

and part in Par and Tywardreath parish. The centre of Fowey is some distant, whilst

Par railway station Par railway station serves the villages of Par, Tywardreath and St Blazey, Cornwall, England. The station is from via . It is the junction for the Atlantic Coast Line to . The station is managed by Great Western Railway, which operates the ...

is less than away. Polmear used to be known as East Polmear and West Polmear is now known as Charlestown, and has been since Charles Rashleigh built the harbour there (1791 to 1798). The first four Rashleigh Almshouses in Polmear were originally built c. 1653 when Jonathan Rashleigh was granted leave to build housing for four poor persons from Tywardreath. Each cottage had one room with a large fireplace and a platform reached by ladder to sleep on, and they shared a water pump and a privy out the back. There are records accounting for the food and clothing given to the widows between 1745 and 1850, records of an "abstract of deeds" in the 18th century, information of the rules for 'inmates' c. 1820 and other records held at the Cornwall Records Office. William Rashleigh refurbished and extended the cottages to seven around 1819/20 and later in 1855 added "No.6" the house next door which at one time served as a small hospital ostensibly for the sardine fishermen that worked out of Polkerris. The cottages were sold by the Rashleigh Estate to the Cornwall Buildings Preservation Trust in 1977 and rebuilt by the Cornwall Buildings Preservation Trust in 1977/78, at which time the seven

almshouse An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) was charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the medieval era. They were often targeted at the poor of a locality, at those from certain ...

s were converted into three cottages, and are listed grade II, once rebuilt they were then sold on and are now each privately owned. The adjacent Ship Inn dates from the early 18th century and is still owned by the Rashleighs. Polmear is situated at the junction of two long-distance footpaths. The

South West Coast Path The South West Coast Path is England's longest waymarked long-distance footpath and a National Trail. It stretches for , running from Minehead in Somerset, along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, to Poole Harbour in Dorset. Because it rises a ...

follows the coast of south west England from

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

, and in the immediate vicinity crosses Par Sands before following the cliff tops to the nearby cove and hamlet of

Polkerris Polkerris ( kw, Pollkerys, meaning ''fortified pool'') is a small village on the south coast of Cornwall, United Kingdom. It forms part of the civil parish of Fowey. The village is part of the Rashleigh estate which is commemorated in the nam ...

. The

Saints' Way The Saints' Way ( kw, Forth an Syns) is a long-distance footpath in mid Cornwall, England, UK. History and description The footpath runs from Padstow parish church in the north via Luxulyan to Fowey parish church in the south, a distance of ...

crosses from the north coast to the south coasts of Cornwall, and takes a more direct inland route from Polmear to Fowey. The trackbed of the former Par to Fowey branch of the

Cornwall Minerals Railway The Cornwall Minerals Railway owned and operated a network of of standard gauge railway lines in central Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It started by taking over an obsolescent horse-operated tramway in 1862, and it improved and extended i ...

passes through Polmear, crossing the A3082 on a bridge. This line now serves as a private road used by trucks carrying

china clay Kaolinite ( ) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4. It is an important industrial mineral. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedral ...

from the driers at Par to the deep sea docks at Fowey.

References

{{Cornwall, state=collapsed Hamlets in Cornwall Fowey