The Magic of Poldark's Cornwall

​Cornwall is the sort of place people tend to fall in love with at first sight. Windswept beaches, the restless and relentless sea, the whisper of mystery, the promise of romance and adventure capture the heart and the imagination, and there’s little wonder that this magical corner of the world had inspired Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca and The Frenchman’s Creek, as well as Poldark, Winston Graham’s epic novel.

​I visit Cornwall as often as I can. The touristic hotspots and the crowded surfers’ beaches not so much, but the secluded coves, the narrow lanes that rarely get a hint of sunlight, the small hamlets, the great houses asleep under layer upon layer of history, or the places where, if you close your eyes, you can almost hear ‘the gentlemen go by.’

​Photos © J Starnes

​This time I ventured all the way to the battered western shoreline, to the famed Tin Coast near St Just, where to this day we can still see poignant and impressive monuments to industry, ingenuity and grim determination; where people have toiled for generations, and few – the very few and very, very lucky – have made staggering fortunes.

(Click to enlarge)

Such was the case of Stephen Harvey James from Botallack Manor Farm – “a local Poldark figure”, a National Trust information board tells us. When the mine workings at Botallack had apparently become exhausted, he stepped in to try to rescue the mine. For five years this seemed a dreadfully bad investment. The mine kept emptying the shareholders’ pockets and eventually the agent reported that “he knew not where to find two penny weight of ore in the mine.” Mere days later the tributers cut a rich lode of copper which over the following 12 months yielded a profit of £24,000 (over £2,400,000 in today’s money). Two decades later there were 500 people and 11 steam engines working at the mine.
 
It’s easy to believe that this story might have inspired Winston Graham when he wrote about Capt. Poldark’s changing fortunes. And what better location for the family mines of Wheal Leisure (in real life Wheal Owles) and Grambler (Wheal Crowns)? 

Wheal Owles

Wheal Crowns

​If you have a good head for heights and aren’t particularly fazed by sheer drops you can make your way along a narrow footpath from the upper engine house of Wheal Crowns to the lower – both hanging to the cliffs in defiance of centuries of raging storms. 

Wheal Crowns, Upper Engine House

​If you’d rather have a wider stretch of ground underfoot, you can still brave the extremely picturesque coastal path, where every step along the way entices you with glimpses of romantic coves (which, by the bye, are far too dangerous for swimming. If you’re thinking of the famous swimming scene you might wish to visit Porthgwarra Beach further south, on the St Aubyn Estates).

You can find out more about the filming locations here, and then arm yourself with a camera and a pasty and go on Poldark walks.

​​Or you could visit the delightful little port of Charlestown to see the ships at anchor, stroll along the Georgian quay and treat yourself to a jolly dinner at The Rashley.

Other locations are a long way from Cornwall. Trenwith (Chavenage House) is near the Cotswolds. Some of the Truro scenes might have been filmed in Charlestown, but others were shot 150 miles away in Wiltshire, in the charming market town of Corsham, not far from 1995 Meryton, a.k.a Lacock.

I have not visited Nampara yet, nor Godolphin House, used as the home of Francis Poldark in the original series, but they're both on next summer's list. By the way, did you know that you can actually stay at Godolphin, this hugely atmospheric 17th century manor house?

​​So what do you think, are you tempted to don your best apparel and have an Early Georgian house party at Godolphin? Or is your heart forever set on the Regency and Pemberley?