Godolphin

Today we visited a National Trust estate near Helston called Godolphin., a very atmospheric place.  Tin and copper were mined in the area from at least 2000BC, the whole landscape is riddled with abandoned mines.  The original Godolphin family came over with William the Conqueror and were given thousands of arcres which made them very wealthy.  The earliest wing of the surviving house dates from 1470.  Another wing is late 17th century.  But most of the house was demolished when the family moved to London, and tenant farmers used the stones from the Great Hall etc to built magnificent barns.  An artist bought the romantic ruin in the early 20th century and eventually it was left to the National Trust who have spent million on it, just to keep it standing.  It's open one week a month (we were lucky) and the rest of the time it's an upmarket AirBNB, you and your closest 12 friends could stay there!

We joined a guided walk up Godolphin Hill looking at ancient mine workings and engine houses.  On a clear day you can see St Ives Bay to the north and St Michael's Mount to the south, but not today.  Again we were lucky that we completed the walk, had lunch in the courtyard, and it didn't start raining until we finished the tour of the house.