Court Farm, Camping , St Stephen, St Austell, Cornwall

‘The Manor of Court’ was built by Richard the Lionheart’ for his son – the then Earl of Cornwall – in 1261.   It is referred to in the Domesday book – and features on an ancient map which is on display in the castle on St. Michael’s Mount.

When the Roundheads defeated the Royalists at the Battle of Braddock (near Lostwithiel)  - Court ‘s farmhouse was razed to the ground. When the Civil War ended – the farmhouse was rebuilt  – only to be burned down again (by accident) – in 1880!  The smaller end of the house (opposite the office)  is the only remaining part of that second -build.

Between approximately 1400 and 1600 – the house was occupied by the Tanner family.  When the house was rebuilt the second time, 8 ft long coffins were found in the crypt beneath the house!

As Bill Truscott, the present owner, is classed as a ‘Cornish giant’ at 6ft. 8ins tall – he is trying to find if there is a link between the Tanner and Truscott families. The Truscott family have occupied the house for the past 250 years – Bill being the third generation – and proud of the fact that he now sleeps in the same bedroom in which he was born!.
Sole ownership of the farm passed to the Truscott family from the Fortescues  (who owned much land in Cornwall until the last century) in the early 1960’s.

An agricultural engineering business operated in various sheds along the driveway for many years in the 1970s. The farm has diminished in size over the years, due to the decline in farming viability, and in 1989, when Bill’s father, H.L. Truscott died, more land had to be sold in order to settle family inheritances.

Bill still farms the land as pasture for sheep, and silage and hay. The business is now a family affair, with Bill, Ann, and son-in law Simon ‘running the show!