August 2025
For our August meeting we went on an historical ‘Walk and talk’ tour of a local Cornish village – Grampound – hosted by one of our members who is a volunteer with the Grampound with Creed Heritage Project.
9 members and 2 supporting partners met in the Village Hall car park and headed off on a tour of this ancient township which is quite small but has a BIG history going back to pre-Roman times. The name Grampound derives from the Norman word for large bridge – Gran pont. The River Fal flows through Grampound which has long been a major crossing point of the river.
The recorded history runs from 1086 when Tybesta, the local manor, was recorded in the Domesday book. In 1332 a charter was granted by the Earl of Cornwall and markets could be held along with other important features that established Grampound as an important town for the next two centuries. Pre history tells us that Cornish tin was sought after and finds ona site called Carvossa, just outside the village, mean that Grampound (and the neighbouring Golden and Tregony) were all trading points.
We walked across the bridge and up Old Hill to follow the route of the Roman Road running west which goes up past Carvossa to Probus, came down to view the toll house at the entrance to the village on the route of the turnpike road from Truro and the site of the blacksmith shop, one of the tanneries and the old coaching inn. Many of the houses along Fore Steet are Grade 2 listed and the village is characterised by the burgage plots on which they are built; these two elements giving a consistency to the layout and the similar elevations of the houses. Fore Street has changed very little over the past three hundred years apart from the street furniture and traffic.
We heard about the chapels and churches in the village, the many shops that used to make it a self-contained place and the businesses that were here.
We learnt about the tanning industry which was a major influence in the borough from at least the 1700s until 2004 with associated trades supporting the community.
A welcome cuppa was provided in the Heritage Centre which is in the Town Hall – the building with the clock on it. Our hostess, Liz Fisher, showed us some slides to back up the story she had told us en-route. We also watched a short film that showed work taking place at the Manor Tannery. A lot of questions were asked and answers provided before we moved outside again. So many that Liz forgot to mention that Grampound was a ‘rotten borough’ or that titanium was discovered by a local vicar so that’s a tale or two for another visit!
We crossed the very busy road to walk through the Manor Tannery grounds to see a new housing estate that has been built where the old tannery once worked. Most of us knew nothing about the estate which is hidden behind the main street but has provided a boost for the local village school, the community shop and the many clubs and groups that exist now in this small but friendly village.