Black and white

Acc.no: PEZPH : 2016.50.638

Identification

Item: Old Coach, Trewinnard, St Erth, Cornwall

Description: This is one of two photographs by the Gibson's taken in situ at Trewinnard of possibly the oldest surviving coach in Britain. See also 2016.50.639 and 2009.467. The main research about the coach has been completed by Cedric Appleby and this account follows his findings as summarised in "Trewinnard. A Cornish History" with an introduction by Sir John Nott. The coach seems to have been built originally for the Spanish Ambassador in London between 1680 and 1700, but was soon the property of Thomas Hawkins who brought it back with him to Trewinnard where, perhaps due to the lack of suitable roads at the time in Cornwall, it was mainly used the journeys to church. After his death, his widow, Mary Hawkins, continued this custom and because she was by birth also a Hawkins, the coat of arms on the coach shows the doubled arms of the Hawkins family. For her funeral in 1780, the chassis of the coach was used to carry her coffin pulled by four matching black horses. After that, the coach was never used again but did become a popular tourist curiosity. However, the condition of the coach gradually deteriorated as some visitors added graffiti and others took away pins, mouldings and leather as souvenirs. In 1909, the coach was donated to the Truro Museum who had it restored by J Fuller of Bristol which cost £215 3s 6d (over £23,000 in 2016 terms) and where it still remains.

Condition: Good

Description

Material: Photographic paper

Production

Method: Printed

Category: Photography

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