After my slightly disappointing visit to Tintagel Castle, I hitched a ride up the hill on the mini bus they provide (thank heavens, one less Cornwall hill to negotiate) to the village. While waiting for a bus to take me back to Port Isaac (I was never quite sure, while in Cornwall, whether or not a bus was going to come), I wandered up the main street and came to a 14th century medieval hall house. It has the most gorgeous undulating roof and walls, and I absolutely had to go in for a look.
It’s been named The Old Post Office, because for a short time during the 19th century, one of its rooms was used as a ‘letter receiving station’, the forerunner of a village post office.
Medieval hall houses were built for yeomen, men holding and cultivating small landed estates. It was renovated in the 16th century, its thatched roof replaced with slate tiles, and bedrooms and fireplaces added. The National Trust have taken it over, adding 16th century furniture and bit and bobs to recreate how it would have been for the families living here.
I just love those old winding stone stair cases, with their wide window sills and tiny windows.
The bedrooms are extremely comfortable-looking, large and with fireplaces to keep them warm and cosy.
An interesting discovery was a set of slate steps leading to a sleeping platform. This is where the unmarried women and girls slept, to separate them from the men and keep them safe. This is where we get the saying, ‘left on the shelf’, once the girls were thought to be too old to marry.
I sat for a while in the cottage garden and soaked up the serenity, before heading up to the bus stop.
A bus did come, eventually, only it was 10 minutes late and so by the time we reached the depot at Wadebridge (you have to go to Wadebridge, even if your town is just down the road), I’d missed the connecting bus to Port Isaac. The bus driver was also upset because he was heading home and had missed his connection, as well.
After lengthy discussion and various phone calls, it was decided the same driver would take me (by this stage I was the only passenger) the rest of the way to Port Isaac. All in all, it took two hours to go eleven miles and was dark by the time I got back.
I was exhausted, not to mention wet from walking down the hill in the rain, but it was good because I decided, for the first time ever, to forego my first night in Penzance and stay in Port Isaac for another day, which was exactly what I needed.
Planning to the Nth 
Wow another diamond in your travels. I would have been in heaven wandering around this beautiful place . Once again for painting your word pictures and following up with photos.
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Thanks so much, Pen.
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What a wonderful find. Thank you for sharing it.
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It looks idyllic – I haven’t been there since I was a child. Interesting to learn how the adage ‘Left on the shelf’ was derived from.
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Yes, it was so interesting, especially the bit about the girls having to be kept safe from the men.
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I love old places like this! Your pictures and descriptions were perfect! I would have spent a good amount of time there imagining what life would have been like back then.
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I love that too, Darlene. I often wonder how these houses stay standing for hundreds of years, when our modern buildings seem to start leaking and cracking almost straight away.
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Neat house! But I’m afraid fireplaces aren’t very good at keeping rooms warm and cosy. Much of the heat goes up the chimney, and the rest only warms the area right in front. That’s why wing chairs were invented…. And why the man of the house used to stand in front of the fireplace.
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I guess so. I grew up with fires in different rooms and it certainly made them cosy-looking but you’re right. There were spots in the corners that didn’t get the heat.
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Enjoy reading about your travels they sound like amazing adventures 🙂
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Thanks so much. Cheers, Coral.
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Lovely little place…really enjoyed reading about it & will be adding to my to visit list for next year. I went to port Isaac too, lovely place…working on a post about it at the moment..thanks
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Will be so interested in someone else’s experience of it. Cheers.
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Yes…it’s good to know what others think
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Very interesting Coral, I didn’t know about the shelf fact! I love old houses too, you don’t get too many in Australia over 100 years old.
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You certainly don’t, Alison, not still standing, anyway. Thanks for reading.
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