Joyce Gallery

Colliford Reservoir, St Neot, Cornwall. 1983

View of the newly constructed dam before the reservoir filled with water. The two people are thought be the photographer Charles Woolf and his wife, Phyllis. The reservoir on Bodmin Moor is an embankment construction, completed around the time this photograph was taken in 1983. The dam impounds water from the River St Neot. The reservoir supplies parts of North and South East Cornwall directly and also makes releases to the River Fowey which are treated at Restormel and distributed throughout much of Cornwall. The photograph was taken at the time of the archaeological excavation of the medieval tin works at Stuffle. Photographer: Charles Woolf / Joyce Greenham

© RIC, photographer Charles Woolf

The Old Grammar School, Queen Street, Lostwithiel, Cornwall. 18th April 1965

The photograph shows the front elevation of the Grammar School in a dilapidated condition after years of neglect. Situated on Queen Street is a granite facade on which there is the Coat of Arms of Viscount Mount Edgcumbe and Valletort (Valletort being the title inherited on the death of a relative in Plymouth). This is the only remaining part of the Old Grammar School which was built by Lord Edgcumbe in 1781. The building was erected over the former Market Hall, with the upstairs intended for an Assembly Room and Concert Hall. However, became the Grammar Schoolroom instead. The Corporation paid twenty pounds per year, which enabled it to nominate six local boys to be educated free. The Grammar School closed in 1842, but schooling on the premises continued with a Writing or Commercial School until the end of the 19th century. It has had many uses since, including balls, concerts and meetings. Soup kitchens were run from the building in 1898-1899 and again during the Depression in the 1920s-1930s. Before the town had a cinema, silent movies were shown in the upstairs room and school children were taught the art of butter-making. The Sherwood Foresters were billeted there during the First World War and the Town Band later used the building for their practice room. The forecourt was used as a garage for repairs, car hire and petrol sales for over 20 years until the Second World War when it was used to billet US soldiers. After many years of neglect and disrepair, a redevelopment scheme provided sixteen flats for local senior citizens. This development retained the old facade and opened on 15th September 1981. Photographer: Charles Woolf

© RIC, photographer Charles Woolf

Medieval Remains at Lower Greadow Farm, Luxulyan, Cornwall. 1972

Lower Greadow Farm, showing the remains of a medieval monastery building which belonged to Tywardreath Priory. The farm is in Luxulyan Parish and the parish boundary runs close to the eastern side of the farm. According to 1888 and 1908 Ordnance Survey maps it was known as Lower Gready. Two nearby farms to the east were known as Middle Gready and Higher Gready, both of these being east of the parish boundary in Lanlivery Parish. At some time since then the word Gready has been changed to Greadow. A granite stone outside Higher Greadow Farm still reads Higher Gready Farm. A young boy looks at the photographer from the doorway of the farmhouse. An aerial view from Google Maps (2019) suggests that some of the remains have since been removed. Photographer: Charles Woolf

© RIC, photographer Charles Woolf