Evening walk at Cotehele

Day 2 of Lockdown V2 and off we went to Cotehele Quay for a late afternoon constitutional. This route is one of our favourites.

Our route, around 2 miles, started and ended at Cotehele Quay, and took us up past Cotehele Mill, on to Cotehele House and then back to the Quay on the riverside walk. A mix of woodland, river, stream and a mediaeval manor house. What's not to like?

The ebbing tide of the Tamar, looking downstream.

Looking across to Cotehele Mill, with its overshot water wheel. It's not known exactly when the first mill was established at Cotehele, but there was almost certainly a mill here in the medieval period. The current mill dates to the 19th century and has changed very little since the 1930s. Around 2010 a small-scale hydroelectric scheme was introduced, harnessing the power of the Morden stream used  to drive the mill wheel. A leat runs from a weir and brings water to a turbine house where generators produce electricity. Any unused electricity is fed back into the National Grid.

 

The Morden stream in full spate after the recent rains. I can't remember ever seeing it as full as this.

The weir on Morden stream. At the back, to the left is the beginning of the leat that feeds the mill water wheel. Hard to believe that just a few months ago, we were here with three grandchildren and they were playing underneath the overflow.

Cotehele House. The first manor here was begun by Sir Richard Edgecumbe in 1490, though it was left to one of his sons to complete the house in 1520. It is reputed to be one of the least changed Tudor manor houses in the country. It may very well be but it's a special place to visit, whatever the time of year.

Interesting Sign #26. What has caused the mystery hole? Tudor moles?

Looking down into the Himalayan Glade, out-of-bounds at the moment and has been for a long time. A combination of storm damage and Covid.

An almost cliched view of Calstock Viaduct. We like Calstock. We wouldn't want to live there but we like it. A two counties view: Devon to the right and Cornwall to the left, separated by the Tamar.

The very rare Cotehele Wood Lion. The disguise is superb. So superb that many people jsut take it for a few logs of wood. But we know better, don't we?

The 'Chapel in the Woods', or, more properly, the Chapel of SS George and Thomas Becket, was erected by Sir Richard Edgecumbe, the builder of Cotehele House. The story behind these bald facts is as exciting as any modern thriller. In 1483 Sir Richard joined a rebellion against King Richard III. The rebellion was quashed, and the king's men under Sir Henry Trenowth of Bodrugan pursued Edgecumbe through the woods. He must have thought the end was near, but, thinking quickly, Sir Richard threw his hat upon the waters of the river that runs through the woods, and hid in the trees. His enemies saw the floating hat and assumed that Sir Richard had been drowned while trying to cross the water. They left, and Sir Richard was able to complete his escape and make his way to safety in Brittany. A few years later, Henry Tudor defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth and took the throne as Henry VII. Sir Richard was able to return from exile and reclaim his estate at Cotehele.Sir Richard wanted to give thanks for his escape so, sometime between 1485 and 1490 he built this small single-cell chapel at the spot where he had cast his hat into the river.