TINTAGEL OLD POST OFFICE

Story Of The Old Post Office & Details Of Centenary Celebrations Issued By The National Trust May 2003 THE OLD POST OFFICE, TINTAGEL The Old Post Office situated in the North Cornwall village of Tintagel was acquired by the National Trust in 1903. One hundred years later, the Trust is celebrating the centenary of the acquisition of this unique and extraordinary building HISTORY 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.

BACK TO PHOTOGRAPHS PAGE

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 is also home to a unique collection of historic needlework samplers dating from the mid-17th century. 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.