Cornish Inn, Gunnislake

My parents Jack and Dorothy Smale bought The Cornish Inn, Gunnislake, in the middle of 1971.  At that time it was sadly run-down and needed updating.  They set to and modernised the bar and, whilst building up the trade, my father, together with David Cutts the builder next door, did up the bedrooms and made the large function room, over the original stables, into four bedrooms with private bathrooms.  This was long before anywhere in the area was able to offer ensuite facilities.  They made part of the back garden into an overspill car park as parking in The Square at the front was limited.

But to delve into the past, The Cornish Inn has a long history, being well over 200 years old, I've been investigating it's history and give some details below:

Links found which mention The Cornish Inn:
1856 Cornish Inn - John Sanders (http://www.calstock.info/census/kellys_1856.htm#1856)
1883: Cornish Inn: George Adamson (http://www.calstock.info/census/kellys_intro.htm#1883

I've had this photo for years, showing that long ago the Cornish Inn was known at the Commercial Hotel.  From the name written on the front of this postcard and links below the photo was taken in about 1923.

Links re Commercial Hotel:

1893 Commercial Hotel and Posting House:  Abraham Bond (http://www.calstock.info/census/kellys_1893.htm#1893)

1902 Commercial Hotel, Samuel Nile: (http://www.calstock.info/census/kellys_1902.htm#1902)

1910 Commercial Hotel, Bedford Brewery Co: (http://www.calstock.info/census/kellys_1910.htm#1910) This ties in with the document reproduced below (copy of a document found at the Cornish Inn):

Cornish Inn in about 1980.

 The Cornish Inn, mid 1970s - showing Dorothy, Jack and Margaret

Copy of Menu at Cornish Inn about 1978 - 1980
(note prices - and VAT at 15%)

Taken from the Gunnislake Festival - Scarecrow Map

Years ago someone told me that at one time Gunnislake was a boom town Williamstown.   The site below bears this out and gives background history of Gunnislake:  http://www.historic-cornwall.org.uk/cisi/gunnislake/CISI_Gunnislake_report.pdf.  

From the site above: 

"In 1901 Venning’s Directory described Gunnislake as a settlement which ‘seems to have grown up rapidly without any well-defined plan; with no architectural pretensions it seems to  have been designed in a nightmare, built in a whirlwind, and is capable of being made orderly only by a succession of rythmic [sic] earthquakes’. This very astute observation helps to explain the difficulty in pinning down the centre of Gunnislake, and defining its character; this arises as much from its setting and topography as from any distinctiveness in its built fabric or townscape"