Silvanus Trevail
(11 November 1851 - 7 November 1903)
A leading figure in the re-invention of St Mawes was Silvanus Trevail. He was a Cornish architect who got his start in life from the Act of 1870, which made universal education available in every parish. A man of boundless energy, he boasted that he had ‘erected more schools than anyone west of Bristol.’ Both the Primary Schools in St. Mawes and St. Just are typical examples of his work.
He followed up his schools by building grand hotels for the burgeoning tourist trade. The Falmouth Hotel, the Atlantic and Headland hotels in Newquay, and King Arthur’s Castle at Tintagel, together with many smaller hotels, were all built by him. In St Mawes he built the Ship and Castle Hotel for the St Austell brewery. The hotel cost £2,900 to build plus £800 for land and £750 for furniture from Maples of London. It opened in 1901.
St. Mawes in about 1895.
The cottage on the left with a sign over the door is the original Ship and Castle inn. Note also the white hut opposite it: the bog house to which people of the village brought their slops for discharge into the harbour. Note also that what is now King’s road was a succession of quays divided up to house fishing gear and to be places for drying nets. The Watch House, then a Coastguard station, is on the beach with no road in front of it.
The new Ship and Castle Hotel at a time of national celebration between 1902 to 1906, possibly the coronation of Edward VII.
The new Ship and Castle Hotel, built to Silvanus Trevail’s design, in about 1910.
After the great building boom Silvanus continued building houses, and much of the present appearance of Truro is his work. He was active in local government and was mayor of Truro. But in contrast to the inexhaustible energy of his earlier years, he became overcome by health worries and depression and eventually killed himself.