Tintagel - North Devon

The Team were asked if it woud be possible to carry out an investigation of a National Trust property in Tintagel, north Devon.

This investigation took place on the 8th October 2011 at the Old Post Office.

The team were treated so kindly by the National Trust staff, Jo, Rachel and Susan during the night with endless cups of tea and coffee it was really nice and we all had a geat night.

Tintagel is located on the north Atlantic coast of Cornwall, close to the village of Boscastle. With stunning views over the sea, the town is a popular holiday destination for both walkers and those interested in the history and legend of the region.

The name Tintagel came from the Cornish word Dintagell. In Cornish, “din” means a Fort and “tagell” means a constriction. The name was given due to the limited access to the castle.

The site of the Round Table:

Tintagel Island, the home of Tintagel castle, was famously suggested by Geoffrey of Monmouth as the home of King Arthur and his round table. The legend still plays a large part in the towns life.

The Battle of Camlann, Arthur's last battle, is re-enacted every year in August and a great tourist attraction. People come from far and wide to walk through the Vale of Avalon to visit the castle, Merlin's Cave and the views from the church of St. Materiana.

The history of the Old Post Office is limited to say the list but what we do know is that the National Trust acquired the property in 1903.

Originally built as a small manor house in the 14th century, the building is a rare example of such an early domestic dwelling in the south west corner of England.

It’s life as a post office began in the 19th century, when Sir Rowland Hill’s introduction of the Penny Postage in 1840 led to the improvement of postal services in remote country places like Tintagel. Until this time, letters for the village had to be collected from Camelford, five miles away.

By 1844 the village and surrounding parish were generating 125 letters per week, and so the General Post Office decided to establish a Letter Receiving Office for the district. A room was rented from the owner of the old manor house and a Letter Receiving Office set up.

From the 1870s it was run by William Cobbledick Balkwill, who was also the local draper and grocer. In the late 19th century, tourism reached Tintagel – primarily due to the Arthurian poems written by Tennyson, who had visited Tintagel in 1848. Many of the villages old buildings were torn down, to be replaced by guest houses, shops and hotels. In 1892 the owner of the Old Post Office decided to sell it for redevelopment, and the general Post Office moved its business across the street.

By 1895 the building had become virtually derelict and was put up for auction. However, a group of local artists who had become concerned at the threat to the Old Post Office, decided to act. One of them, Catherine Johns, bought the building for £300 on the understanding that means would be found to preserve it. This was achieved through sales of prints after pictures of several well-known artists in 1896, and, shortly afterwards, the fabric of the building was repaired by the leading Arts and Crafts architect, Detmar Blow, according to the strict principles laid down by the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings.

In 1900 the National Trust agreed to buy the building from Miss Johns for a nominal £200, raised by public appeal. The purchase was subject to a lease to Miss Johns for her lifetime and the building was finally vested in the Trust in 1903.

THE OLD POST OFFICE TODAY

The building is typical of many late medieval manor houses with a central single-storey hall open to the roof, flanked by smaller service rooms and a kitchen (now the parlour) with bedrooms above.

The Old Post Office came to the National Trust empty of contents, apart from a late medieval kitchen table situated in the Hall.

The rooms have been furnished with items from farmhouses and cottages in the vicinity. One of the rooms remains as a Victorian village post office, and outside on the wall is an example of the first standard wall letter box of 1857.

Only 14 such boxes remain in existence – mostly in the south and west of England. This particular box is characterised by having no hood over the aperture and its door sited in the middle.

The Old Post Office was and maybe still home to a unique collection of historic needlework samplers dating from the mid-17th century but we didnt get to seem them on our visit to The Old Post Office or didnt notice.

The old Post Office has been at the centre of life in Tintagel for many hundreds of years. It has provided an essential service to the local community during its life as a Post Office, and now this small but unique building welcomes over 45,000 visitors each year – not to mention the many thousands of visitors who walk past it on their way to see the ruins of Tintagel Castle.