Battered eagles
Two battered eagles perch on the gate posts of Trewince – a link with the past to the Hobbs family who had eagles in their coat of arms and had connections here. The ancient manor overlooks both Froe Creek, leading to the Percuil river, and the sea, and stands on a wooded spur with woods of beech and pine leading to a small quay which belongs to the house. A field called Pardon Bank is just below Trewince, and it is here that Henry VIII is said to have pardoned all political offenders in the area.John Collett Thomas was a draper in London who retired to Trewince and he was the next to last squire in residence. The title of squire of Gerrans was generally held by the tenants of Trewince. Local people still remember the last of the squires and the time when people would touch their hats as the coach & horses rode through the village; there is a spot in the woods where the squire would sit and where the servants used to deliver his afternoon tea.
In the early 19th century the squire hunted regularly and Carew, in his “Survey of Cornwall”, describes the Cornish gentry gathering in each others’ houses, feasting and dancing, gambling and drinking. Last century Trewince was the place for the annual Sunday School treat. “They had a carriage and pair and servants in livery. We had splits and Saffron buns, and each took our own mug. We had games on the beach!!” (from “Accounts of the memories and reminiscences of a number of people of the parish of Gerrans”, collected by Sam Marsden, former rector of Gerrans).
The painting of the front gates with their eagles is by Stephen Bradbury from Mullion, Cornwall – known for his book cover illustrations.