Residents of the cottages since 1850 have included lodgers, visitors and evacuees. Among them a ship's carpenter, blacksmith, market gardeners and a coxswain of Newquay Lifeboat.
The final occupants were Gilbert Wilton and his mother Esther and when they left in 1966, the cottages entered heritage mode, with popular 'museum of antiquities' run first by the Crantock family and then Derek and Mary James. The turn of the century and Derek's passing brought about the rapid decline of the empty buildings and the impetus for rebirth.
It is therefore the story of two families, the Oulds and Wiltons, that dominate here with emigration being a key theme, as illustrated in the PDF below.
The final occupants were Gilbert Wilton and his mother Esther and when they left in 1966, the cottages entered heritage mode, with popular 'museum of antiquities' run first by the Crantock family and then Derek and Mary James. The turn of the century and Derek's passing brought about the rapid decline of the empty buildings and the impetus for rebirth.
It is therefore the story of two families, the Oulds and Wiltons, that dominate here with emigration being a key theme, as illustrated in the PDF below.