Bodinnick

Bodinnick

Bodinnick from Fowey
Bodinnick

 Bodinnick shown within Cornwall
OS grid reference SX130521
Unitary authority Cornwall
Ceremonial county Cornwall
Region South West
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town FOWEY
Postcode district PL23
Dialling code 01726
Police Devon and Cornwall
Fire Cornwall
Ambulance South Western
EU Parliament South West England
UK Parliament South East Cornwall
List of places: UK • England • Cornwall

Bodinnick is a riverside village in south Cornwall, in the United Kingdom. It is a fishing village situated on the east bank of the River Fowey opposite the town of Fowey, also on the banks of the Fowey River. The ferry crossing is from Fowey to Bodinnick and the "Old Ferry Inn" is located on its bank glorified as "in the heart of Du Maurier country". This ferry terminal is said to have existed since the 13th century.[1][2][3][4]

Daphne du Maurier wrote many novels while living at "Ferryside" (a house that is stated to be still owned by her family) on the river bank at Bodinnick on the eastern shore, opposite to Fowey; she moved to Menabilly later after the publication of her novel Rebecca.[5]

Contents

Geography

Bodinnick lies in the Lanteglos-by-Fowey parish on the banks of the Fowey River. Its importance is due the fact that it was a ferry terminal for people travelling from Fowey.[6] There is an "Old Ferry Inn" close to the bank of the river here. There is a camp site about 1 mile (1.6 km) from the ferry crossing.[5] A 4 miles (6.4 km) walk from the ferry crossing at Bodinnick goes through a scenic route called the “Hall Walk” along the Polruan River. A ferry services from here also connects to Fowey.[7] Hall Walk is along the cliff which is half way up the Bodinnick hill which winds around the Pont Creek.[8] A creek, which is about 0.3 miles (0.48 km) in length joins an estuary at Pelene Point near about 0.25 miles (0.40 km) from Bodinnick. At the head of this creek there is chapel dedicated to St. Wyllow. Two miles in land to the north up another creek, on its north bank, off Bodinnick, there is the “Cell of Black Monks” from Montacute dedicated to Sa Syricus and Juliette.[4] Hermit St. Mancus’s festival is held here. St. Wyllow was a contemporary of St. Mancus and Mebbred and his tomb lies one mile away from Bodinnick, where a festival is also held in his honour.[6] There was also a chapel dedicated to St John the Baptist here.[9]

History

In August 1644, the king visited Cornwall and an attempt was made on his life with a cannonball, it missed, but was reported to have killed a fisherman nearby.[10] During the late 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, Bodinnick and the nearby villages of Fowey and Polruan were home to wealthy shipping merchants and master mariners.[11] The well known families who lived at the time were the Slades, the Salts and the Tadds. These families, for several generations, were involved in trading and transporting local China clay or imported coal with their schooners through the local ferry harbours.[11] In the 1680s, John Gandy of Exeter supplied cloth to Philippa Randle of Bodinnick, sending consignments both by barge along the coast and across the fields by pack horse.[12] A shoe maker was also known to live in the village in the 1830s.[13] Writer Daphne du Maurier lived in a house called Ferryside in Bodinnick for several years.[14][15]

Vegetation

Hypericum maculatum is seen along the roadside near the ferry crossing. A rare plant known as the Allium ursinum grows during spring as a part of hedges. Centranthus ruber plants are also seen on the old walls.[16]

Facilities

A ferry service operates between Fowey and Bodinnick and gives its name to The Old Ferry Inn,[17] a 400-year-old building on the steep lane down to the riverside.[18] A 4 miles (6.4 km) walk along the hill tops connects Bodinnick to Polruan in the south.[19]

In Bodinnick Hall Place is a Methodist chapel now in use as a shippen. Features of interest are the north doorway and a western bell turret.[20]

References

  1. ^ Luxford, George; Newman, Edward (1845). The Phytologist: a popular botanical miscellany. John van Voorst. p. 942. http://books.google.com/books?id=1GtMAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA942. Retrieved 30 December 2010. 
  2. ^ Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 200 Newquay & Bodmin ISBN 9780319229385
  3. ^ "The Old Ferry Inn". Oldferryinn.com. http://www.oldferryinn.co.uk/. Retrieved December 31, 2010. 
  4. ^ a b John Leland; John Chandler (February 1993). John Leland's itinerary: travels in Tudor England. A. Sutton. ISBN 9780862999575. http://books.google.com/books?id=XWVnAAAAMAAJ. Retrieved December 31, 2010. 
  5. ^ a b Robert Andrews (16 August 2004). The Rough Guide to Devon & Cornwall. Rough Guides. p. 15. ISBN 9781843533122. http://books.google.com/books?id=Yoll2mMLp1QC&pg=RA1-PA207. Retrieved December 31, 2010. 
  6. ^ a b Alan Thacker; Richard Sharpe (2002). Local saints and local churches in the early medieval West. Oxford University Press. p. 356. ISBN 9780198203940. http://books.google.com/books?id=8awpnzSjLC8C&pg=PA356. Retrieved December 31, 2010. 
  7. ^ Oliver Berry; Belinda Dixon (15 February 2008). Devon, Cornwall & Southwest England. Lonely Planet. p. 269. ISBN 9781741048735. http://books.google.com/books?id=tqpP0B-Hg7IC&pg=PA269. Retrieved December 31, 2010. 
  8. ^ Margaret Forster (1993). Daphne du Maurier. Chatto & Windus. http://books.google.com/books?id=-KRaAAAAMAAJ. Retrieved December 31, 2010. 
  9. ^ Samuel Lysons (1814). Magna Britannia: being a concise topographical account of the several counties of Great Britain. Containing Cornwall. Cadell. p. 185. http://books.google.com/books?id=ucU_AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA185. Retrieved December 31, 2011. 
  10. ^ Allen, John (1856). History of the Borough of Liskeard and its vicinity. Cash. p. 84. http://books.google.com/books?id=y_4VAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA84. Retrieved 30 December 2010. 
  11. ^ a b Lindy Woodhead (2003). War paint: Madame Helena Rubinstein and Miss Elizabeth Arden : their lives, their times, their rivalry. John Wiley and Sons. p. 59. ISBN 9780471487784. http://books.google.com/books?id=JmICH8OBLrcC&pg=PT59. Retrieved 30 December 2010. 
  12. ^ Overton, Mark; Dean, Darron; Whittle, Jane (1 July 2004). Production and Consumption in English Households 1600–1750. Taylor and Francis. p. 117. ISBN 9780203644775. http://books.google.com/books?id=sVKeJZrXidMC&pg=PA117. Retrieved 30 December 2010. 
  13. ^ Payton, Philip (15 April 2005). The Cornish overseas: a history of Cornwall's 'great emigration'. Dundurn Press Ltd.. p. 85. ISBN 9781904880042. http://books.google.com/books?id=9Uc4gIhnSUkC&pg=PA85. Retrieved 30 December 2010. 
  14. ^ Else, David (2003). Britain. Lonely Planet. p. 414. ISBN 9781740593380. http://books.google.com/books?id=zhJGpvZwhSIC&pg=PA414. Retrieved 30 December 2010. 
  15. ^ Forster, Margaret (1993). Daphne du Maurier. Chatto & Windus. p. 50. http://books.google.com/books?id=-KRaAAAAMAAJ. Retrieved 30 December 2010. 
  16. ^ George Luxford; Edward Newman (1845). The Phytologist: a popular botanical miscellany. John van Voorst. p. 942. http://books.google.com/books?id=1GtMAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA942. Retrieved December 31, 2010. 
  17. ^ "The Old Ferry Inn". Old Ferry Inn website. http://www.oldferryinn.co.uk. 
  18. ^ Quiller-Couch, Sir Arthur (18 September 2008). Memories and Opinions: An Unfinished Autobiography. Cambridge University Press. p. 91. ISBN 9780521736749. http://books.google.com/books?id=5EngOOEiAIkC&pg=PA91. Retrieved 30 December 2010. 
  19. ^ Berry, Oliver; Dixon, Belinda (15 February 2008). Devon, Cornwall & Southwest England. Lonely Planet. p. 269. ISBN 9781741048735. http://books.google.com/books?id=tqpP0B-Hg7IC&pg=PA269. Retrieved 30 December 2010. 
  20. ^ Pevsner, N. (1970) Cornwall; 2nd ed., revised by E. Radcliffe. Penguin; p. 40