A couple of weeks ago - and how remote it seems now! - we made our way along the southwest peninsula to east Cornwall, and specifically to Whiteford Temple, a little Landmark between Callington and Launceston. Its history is a little obscure but it was related to a now-vanished big house down at the bottom of the hill and probably dates to the very late 1700s or early 1800s. When Landmark took it on in 1997 it had been used as a cattle shed and was ruinous; the way it appears now is, more than usual, a rather imaginative reconstruction of what Landmark's architects think it may have been intended to look like.
The Temple sits at the end of a rough track from the lane negotiating which is a diverting experience, and has its own little turf temenos which had just been strimmed before we arrived meaning that you couldn't venture outside without your shoes being instantly and irretrievably coated in grass clippings. The building occupies the brow of a hill and the wind and rain sweeps across it, given that this is Cornwall, most of the time. It did clear up occasionally, though.
Inside the building has an appropriately Georgian elegance. The logbooks contain regular complaints about the cold, the difficulties lighting the fire, and the blue tinge to the water, none of which we had any problem with at all!
Very interesting thank you, and we have decided to go there when it is warmer!
ReplyDeleteHowever, ours is a car with ordinary ground clearance- 6 inches, I found out - and fat rear tyres. You mention the rough track, and Landmark state it has pot-holes. Do oyu think an ordinary car can make it, or were you using something more off-road? Thank you, Terry
Sorry, I've only just noticed this comment! My car is a perfectly ordinary Renault Clio - you just have to be a bit careful and steady about negotiating the track.
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