News Release #5 - June 2013

Perhaps the Webmaster might chose to make this look a bit more efficient and call this the July update. I suppose it is “What we did in June – reported in July”.

If there is one thing for sure, it is that research into the past can be an ever-changing task, for experts and amateurs alike, and it makes little difference if it is recent Victorian history or ancient archaeology; if there is no-one alive to set the record straight then it all comes down to what is found on the ground or in documents. This is becoming all too clear to the various members working on the Trevaylor project, slogging away at documents from the very early 1600’s some of which are in Latin some in Olde Englishe, and some in both! We have documents, being studied, listing the Trevanion family of Caerhays as selling the Manor of Trevaylor (often given as ‘Trevayler’) to the Veale family in 1647, now that was a surprise! In fact even the mill at Trevaylor, keeps throwing up surprises. We have recently learned from Mrs Ann Lawry, formerly farming Trevaylor Barton in the 1940s to 60s, that the mill was a corn mill and that the water wheel in Trevaylor woods did indeed pump water up to the house and farm until the 1960s (surely someone out there has a photograph of this?). It is interesting to discover the level of industry of Trevaylor manor and farm, but also its love of leisure as we hear of granite built summerhouses, tennis courts, fishponds and extensive gardens.

We are still out and about looking into other projects, tracing the families and talking to people with memories of the area. My mill studies keep changing with new details but I am presently looking at Pendrea Estate, Gulval, quite closely. There are two mills here, situated fairly close to one another. All that remains are the leats, the weirs along the stream and the documentation. Anyone interested in seeing the wheel mount in Trevaylor wood needs to take a walk down the lane and look at the point where the stream splits. Its more visible now as I’ve cleared it for photos.

Finally, there needs to be mention of the sad news about Mick Aston of Time Team. His death after a long illness is a loss for us all. Stuart Emmett