Lostwithiel Gallery

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

Restormel Castle, Lanlivery Parish, Cornwall. 1914

A man standing on the bridge over the castle moat just outside the gatehouse. Restormel Castle is a well preserved example of a circular shell keep, a rare type of fortification built during a short period in the 12th and early 13th centuries. Such castles were built by converting a wooden motte and bailey castle through replacing the external palisade with a stone wall and filling the internal bailey with domestic stone buildings, clustered around the the inside of the wall to form a defensive bailey. The buildings are curved to fit into the shell keep. Photographer: Herbert Hughes

© From the collection of the RIC

Lorry Crash Campaign, Lostwithiel, Cornwall. October 1990

Lostwithiel local councillors discuss with Robert Hicks MP the need for weight restrictions on the hill leading into the town, after many lorry crashes and deaths at the bottom of the hill. The photograph shows the group at the top of the lorry escape lane on the St Austell to Lostwithiel road. From left to right: Peter Moore, Traffic and Safety Officer Cornwall County Council; Mr Mannell, Chairman of Transportation Committee Cornwall County Council; Dennis Hutchings, Deputy Mayor, Lostwithiel; Fran Dennison, Town Clerk, Lostwithiel; John Reed, Mayor, Lostwithiel; Robert Hicks, MP South East Cornwall; Chief Inspector Smythe, Traffic Branch, Devon and Cornwall Constabulary; Ralph Keam, District Councillor. The following week new sign improvements were passed by the County Transportation Committee. Photographer: Jonathan Barker

© RIC, photographer Jonathan Barker