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A Brief History of Woolstone Manor Farm

Woolstone Manor was a very important estate in North Cornwall and is recorded in the Doomsday Book as being owned by Saewulf before 1066. A 1993 archaeological survey records a medieval motte, a chapel of St George and a Holy Well. We have found a few pieces of the chapel but we need "Time Team" to tell us where it was.

Woolstone has seen many notorious owners in past centuries. Perhaps the most villainous was John Beville who in 1358 was tried for murder and only his position in society saved him. His speciality was kidnapping wealthy merchants and imprisoning them until a ransom was paid. The grandson of a later Beville, John Wydeslade, organised the rebellion against the introduction of the English prayer book in 1549. He was defeated at the Battle of Cliftondown and was executed at Tyburn.

In 1576 Woolstone was sold to Sir Richard Grenville whose father, Roger Grenville, was Captain of the famous ship the "Mary Rose," when it sank off Portsmouth watched by King Henry VIII. Later in the 17th century the Grenvilles fought valiantly for the Royalists in the English Civil War but defeat brought destruction of their manor houses, unfortunately Woolstone amongst them.

From the remains of the derelict manor, the present farmhouse was built around 1680. After being owned by a famous Cornish tin mining family, the Bassets of Tehidy, it eventually passed to Edward Mucklow in 1875 (sorry Edward we can't name a cottage after you!). In our cottage conversions of today we have retained many of Mucklow's architectural additions to the door openings and gate posts.

Throughout the 20th century four generations of the Bluett family have owned Woolstone but gradually the old medieval buildings became unsuitable for modern farming and fell into disrepair. We hope we have now given them a new lease on life for your pleasure in the new Millennium.

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