Life at
‘East Trencreek'
The
Place
Our Cornish Farm is nestled in the ancient parish of St Veep, between Lerryn and Penpol, on the coastal side of Lostwithiel and Fowey.
Lerryn’s beauty birthed The Wind and the Willows, Fowey holds a rich maritime and literary history and Lostwithiel is the ancient seat of the Duchy of Cornwall.
It is a typical deeply rural English landscape with undulating meadows and ancient hedgerows, but with coves and creeks lingering over the hill.
Autumn and winters are ruggedly wet and damp as the sea air wrestles to maintain what is mostly a lost temperate rainforest, spring is rich in flower and the summers full of promise. It is a beautiful place to live, one that serves up the full and raw honesty of the seasons, often all in one day!
The
History
St Veep’s distant past includes the 10 mile long Iron Age earthworks of ‘Giant’s Hedge’; the local folkloric rhyme going “Jack the Giant having nothing to do, built a hedge from Lerryn to Looe.” St Veep is first formally recorded in 1236 and medieval features litter the landscape, most notably St Veep’s church of Saint Quiricus and Saint Julietta.
In 1549 the vicar, Richard Bennet, was hanged alongside other Common Prayer Book rebels angry at the imposition of english language services at the cost of Cornish ones and their more historically Catholic sensibilities.
Prior to 1150 a small priory was built beside Penpol Creek - St Cadix's Priory - of which little remains. It is likely the monks of St Veep, St Cadix and St Sampson’s (across the water) would have seen one another’s fires at prayer and heard one another’s confessions. It is a place with long spiritual roots.
The
Farmland
The land is used for the raising and rearing of South Devons, sheep, grass and some grass and crops.
South Devons are a beautiful and familiar sight across Cornwall with its distinctive, light red coat. Originating around 400 years ago, it was long a multi-purpose animal used for the plough, beef, rich milk and butter fat. Today they are more a specialist beef animal.
South Devons were trusted at key historic moments, including being aboard the Mayflower to plant a new colony in America and meeting the needs of the British Navy during the Napoleonic Wars.
The
Orchards
The house and farmyard are surrounded by three orchards of varying sizes and there is a fourth in another location. This is commonplace in Cornwall because cider is a cultural imperative!
Unfortunately, over the years they have fallen out of best health and are in need of restoration. We have embarked on a universal identification, management and replanting process. Albeit identification is a challenging process as every tree is almost a species of its own.
For now, and hopefully once restored, they play host to the regular safety and visitation of a number of roe deer that call the farm home.
Trebant
Water
One side is bound by Trebant Water, an 8km stream that runs from the creek edge of Fowey Estuary up into Boconnoc, the neighbouring estate.
It is charming and historic. Its significance tracing back centuries with Trebant Bridge, a graceful stone structure with a single round arch and granite dressings, first documented as early as 1613.
This unspoiled waterway supports a rich biodiversity, flowing through a mosaic of wooded valleys, meadows and farmland. It is a vital habitat for a plethora of species typical to Cornwall's freshwater and estuarine ecosystems.