Willy Wilcox Cottage and Charlie Wilcox Cottage, Polperro, Cornwall

Summary

Two cottages, probably of a mid-C19 date.

Description

Two cottages, probably of a mid-C19 date.

The cottages are constructed of rendered stone rubble, with a slate roof with rubble chimney stacks at each end to Willy Wilcox Cottage; and a tiled roof with a rendered rubble stack at its south end to Charlie Wilcox Cottage. The cottages step down from north to south, Charlie Wilcox Cottage at the north being of three storeys, two bays wide; and Willy Wilcox Cottage to the south being two-storeys with the main cottage of two bays, and a former store to the south (converted to residential) of two further bays. The ground floor of the cottages abuts the solid rock on the hill behind. Both are of single-depth plan, with Willy Wilcox Cottage having small C20 extensions to the rear.

Charlie Wilcox Cottage has an asymmetrical window front, the ground and first floor having two 12-pane sashes and the second floor two two-light casements. The former store to Willy Wilcox Cottage has a two twelve-panes sashes on each storey and those to the ground floor have late-C20 timber shutters. The entrance is placed left of centre to the main cottage, with a late-C20 six-light casement beneath a slate hood on the ground floor and a pair of twelve-pane sashes above.

Internally Willy Wilcox Cottage comprises a living area and three bedrooms in the original cottage, with a bathroom extension to the rear. The living room has exposed ceiling joists with evidence of partitioning, and a C20 canted stone fireplace on the north wall where a connecting door to Charlie Wilcox Cottage was located until 2010. On the west wall is a C20 glazed archway revealing the rock face at the rear of the cottage. A kitchen, further bedroom and utility room are located in the former store; these rooms have C20 fittings and finishes. A staircase leads up from the front entrance to a narrow hallway on the first floor. The first floor has exposed ceiling beams and trusses, some with scratch or carpenter’s marks.

Charlie Wilcox Cottage has a kitchen and bedroom on the lower ground floor, accessed from a staircase from ground floor level. The main entrance is at the rear of the ground floor, leading into a sitting and dining room, which has a fireplace at the south end and exposed ceiling joists. A further dog-leg staircase leads to two further bedrooms, one with a fireplace, and a bathroom on the first floor.

History

Polperro, on the south coast of Cornwall, was not established as a village until the C13 when the patronage of the Huish family led to the expansion of the fishing industry. The natural harbour located at the end of a long valley helped to establish the settlement and provided a safe haven from south-westerly gales. Money had to be paid for landing fish, on goods going in or out, and for anchorage and moorings, so by the late C14 the village was prosperous and this continued into the C18. In the early C19 many properties in the village were sold under the Philips Estate Act of 1813, many to Zephaniah Job, who also bought the harbour in 1814. Polperro’s first pier was built in the late C17, and a second defence in 1740. Following several severe storms, the harbour was rebuilt with the addition of the Duke of Cornwall’s pier, in 1861. The principal catch landed in Polperro harbour was pilchards, with fish cellars (pallaces) located around the harbour, supplemented by net stores, warehouses, and small fishermen’s cottages. Most of Polperro’s buildings date from the C17 and C18, with alterations and improvements in the C19, when many of the churches and public building were also constructed. The decline of the fishing and mining industries in the late C19 resulted in many people leaving Polperro to find employment elsewhere. In the interwar years tourists started to arrive, and the closely packed buildings on the narrow streets contribute to Polperro’s current character.

Willy Wilcox Cottage and Charlie Wilcox Cottage are located immediately to the west of the arm of the 1740 pier, and they were probably constructed around the time of its rebuilding which was completed in 1861. The Tithe map of 1840 does not clearly show any buildings in the location of the cottages. However, they are shown on the 1880s and 1907 Ordnance Survey maps (1:2500) with the structure comprising three sections: two cottages and a slightly smaller structure to the south which was a store. This can also be seen in late-C19 photographs, which show the two cottages almost as they survive today, with the store to the far left. Early-C20 photographs show that both cottages had a single sash or casement on the ground floor, and Willy Wilcox Cottage appears to have had roof lights. The store to Willy Wilcox Cottage had a steeply-pitched roof and no fenestration.

By the 1960s, or possibly earlier, both cottages had two windows on the ground floor, and Willy Wilcox Cottage had shutters to all windows, the roof lights having been removed and the store converted. A six-light casement replaced the two ground-floor windows at Willy Wilcox Cottage after 1960. Charlie Wilcox Cottage was also previously known as Quay Cottage.

To the east of the cottages, and south of the pier, is Willy Wilcox Hole, a cave which extends underneath Willy Wilcox Cottage and is said to stretch as far as Lanaviddy. Local folklore claims that a C18 fisherman (or smuggler) from the village named Willy Wilcox tried to test this theory (or was on the run), but was drowned.

Reasons for Listing

Willy Wilcox Cottage and Charlie Wilcox Cottage, dating from the early-C19, are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as good examples of early-C19 cottages using local materials and traditions;
* for their contribution to the local distinctiveness and character of Polperro.

Historic interest:

* as part of the early-C19 development of Polperro, and their relationship to the fishing industry.

Group value:

* with several nearby Grade II-listed cottages and the Grade II-listed walls, quays and piers to Polperro Harbour.

External Links

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