The Grove, seat of the Crowder family of Charlestown.

Reconsidering the Origins of The Grove

Some earlier Charlestown historians have written that the residence known as The Grove, number 181 Charlestown Road,  later called Charlestown Hill, was built by either the Crowder or Lovering family as a private home. Although it was certainly a grand house, I believe that interpretation is mistaken.

The Crowder family did not move to The Grove until well after the Second World War, so they cannot have been its original builders or first occupants. Just as importantly, the surroundings in the mid-19th century were very different from the attractive setting seen today.

Charlestown Hill, aka The Grove.

The Industrial Setting in the 1850s

In 1854, The Grove stood directly in front of a tin smelting plant and a blowing house operated by John Taylor and Company. The works processed tin from Charles Rashleigh’s former Tin mine at Polgooth, as well as from South Polmear Mine in Charlestown. At that time, the area was heavily industrial, producing an average of around 800 blocks of coined tin each year. The business was later taken over by a Dutchman named Endhoven before closing in 1884.

Mill Lane, situated just above the house, would have seen constant traffic from carts and wagons serving the works. Nearby, at the entrance to Mill Lane, stood the Naphthalene works. Naphthalene was used both in tablet form as a moth repellent and as a fuel for flares, while gunpowder was also produced there for the mining industry. The site was powered by a waterwheel driven by the Charlestown leat, as well as by a coal-fired furnace that would have sent black smoke into the air throughout the day.

Given those surroundings, it is difficult to imagine The Grove as an especially desirable home for a wealthy London family at that time.

1970s Aerial. The Grove at the bottom of the photo

The Crowders and the Earliest Known Occupants

The Crowder family lived at The Grove from 1951 until 1986. Before moving there, for a few short months, they lived nearby in the old corn mill at the end of the lane, in the house now known as The Old Mill, number 183 Charlestown Road. This property stood further away from the industrial site at the entrance to Charlestown Road, which helps explain the origin of the lane’s name. Next to it stood the old vicarage, number 187 Charlestown Road, now the home of Robin Davis, former owner of the port and director of the now-defunct Square Sail shipyard.

The earliest builder and occupant of The Grove that I have been able to identify is Samuel Kernick, who lived there with his family in the early 1850s. Kernick managed the neighbouring blowing house, served as a lieutenant in the Battery Volunteers, and was also a ship owner. He commissioned Charlestown shipyard owner Anthony Luke to build a schooner for him. The R.T.K. Kernick died of heart failure in 1869.

It appears that Mr Coode and his family lived at The Grove for several years afterwards. He was known for regularly entertaining children from the St Austell Union Workhouse and for hosting fetes and other social events. During their time at the house, however, the family suffered a terrible tragedy.

Their gardener, Thomas Coombe, lived in the adjoining Grove Cottage, number 185 Charlestown Road. His daughter Leonora, aged just 20 months, was playing near Charlestown Mill while an older sister was indoors boiling milk. One pan had been removed from the stove and placed on the floor while another was being put on the fire. In that brief moment, Leonora ran in, fell backwards into the hot milk, and was severely scalded. At the inquest, it was said that her death resulted from a “shock to the system.”

Under the Loverings

According to my records, The Grove was taken over in 1881 by Colonel W. Thomas Lovering, a descendant of the St Austell family closely associated with the china clay industry. The initials ECLP stood for English Clays, Lovering and Pochin. After the First World War, Colonel Lovering established the Grove Stud Company at the house, where horses were bred, and cattle, along with a few riding horses, were kept in the surrounding fields.

The Loverings were a wealthy family and employed numerous servants, some of whom lived in the adjacent staff cottage, Grove Cottage. The household staff included May Dear, daughter of the master mariner Abraham ‘Durable’ Dear, and Arthur Halls, who worked as the Loverings’ chauffeur. The two fell in love and were later married at Charlestown Church.

 Each New Year’s Eve, the family held a fancy-dress ball for staff and trade suppliers. The Loverings’ association with The Grove ended with the death of Maria Louisa Lovering on 16 June 1931. She was greatly respected in the village, particularly by the church community. On the day of her funeral, she made her final journey from The Grove to St Paul’s in a horse-drawn hearse, followed by a cortège of family cars. The horses were adorned with black plumage, and she was buried at the south-east corner of the church, beside the vestry.

Col Lovering's staff at the Grove

 

 

Later Occupants

Major Arthur McDougall moved into The Grove with his family in 1932, using it as a summer residence. He was a keen huntsman and kept horses in the stables adjoining the house. At the outbreak of the Second World War, he addressed the village population, but in 1940, the family left the property after it suffered bomb damage.

Major McDougall was also remembered locally for a more colourful incident: when caught drink driving, he reportedly told the constable, “I’m a Major in the King’s Army, you know!” It made no difference, and he was still banned from driving.

Charlestown was, remarkably, the second place in Cornwall to be bombed during the Second World War, after Falmouth, which was attacked around three hours earlier. The raid took place on 5 July 1940. Although The Grove suffered damage, repairs were carried out quickly, and the house was soon converted into a sick bay for evacuee children known as the Children’s Nightingale.

A contemporary description presented the house in warmly appreciative terms: “In a charming setting at the end of a tree-flanked drive, The Grove, Charlestown, once the home of the late Mr William Lovering and more recently the residence of Major Arthur McDougall, has been converted into a sick bay hospital at the request of the Ministry of Health. From the windows of the wards, upstairs and down, there are delightful views of the coastline on either side of Charlestown Bay and of the sea, and the whole place is so pleasant that patients will surely be encouraged by the beauty of the scene to get well, unless, indeed, the place is so agreeable that they will have hardly any desire to do anything but linger there!”

The house and grounds, with their spacious sloping and terraced lawns, were requisitioned by St Austell Urban District Council. The council surveyor, Mr E. D. Groves, and the newly appointed matron gave visitors a tour of the property once the conversion work was underway.

Wartime.

At 10:11 am on 5 July 1940, a Heinkel 88 bomber dropped three high-explosive bombs over Charlestown. Two fell in a wheat field, while the third landed on the lawn of Major McDougall’s residence, The Grove. At the time, the house was being used as the Children’s Nightingale, a temporary wartime nursery or hospital for children.

The sky was intermittently cloudy, leaving no time to sound the air raid siren before the attack. By 10:13 am, the ARP warden had seen the bombs falling from the aircraft.

The explosion shattered windows, brought down ceilings, tore through the building with shrapnel, and damaged the roof, scattering slates across the ground. Inside The Grove were several evacuee children, two women from London, and domestic staff. Many of the children clung to their carers as dust settled around them. Remarkably, no one inside the house was injured, although the shock of the blast left everyone badly shaken. The only casualty was a gardener’s assistant in the grounds, who was struck in the back by shrapnel.

By 10:27 am, a rescue party had arrived and begun clearing the damage. The initial clean-up was completed by 11:45 am, an impressive display of speed and organisation. The blast also caused the electricity substation at nearby Mount Charles to blow a fuse, briefly cutting power to the area. An ambulance arrived from St Austell at 1:12 pm, but fortunately its services were not needed.

The Grove after the bomb damage from the air raid on the 5^th of July 1940.

The Children’s Nightingale During the Second World War

During the Second World War, The Grove was converted into a sick bay known as the Children’s Nightingale. The wards were arranged on the south side of the house, where they overlooked the sea and received as much sunshine as possible. Trees sheltered the building from the north and east winds, while the protected gardens gave the house a calm and restorative atmosphere. Even early in the New Year, a rhododendron near the house was said to be in bloom, its deep wine-red flowers suggesting the first signs of spring in the south-west.

Layout and Facilities

The house appears to have been carefully adapted for its new purpose. Its main features included:

·         a staff dining and rest room to the right of the main entrance, decorated and equipped in a modern style;

·         a children’s ward on the opposite side, with five cots and a collection of dolls and toys ready for the first young patients;

·         additional rooms providing 15 more beds for adults and older children;

·         a large former lounge converted into the main ward, containing eight beds with fine views from the windows;

·         an upstairs day nursery near a bright resting corner for convalescent patients;

·         further upstairs bedrooms converted into wards, one with five beds and another with two;

·         a dispensary at the far end of the corridor, with the matron’s room next door.

Contemporary descriptions emphasised how attractive and welcoming the interior remained. A vase of freshly cut roses stood on the mantelpiece of the red-brick fireplace, while the gardens around St Austell were still said to be blooming despite the winter season.

The matron, Miss Kitney, had come from Newquay and was supported by a fully qualified nurse, a ward maid, and domestic staff. She remarked that all she was waiting for was the arrival of the first patient or patients, adding that she did not expect to wait long.

One account concluded that, if a person had to be ill, they could hardly have been treated in a more charming setting. It also noted that the cost of the sick bay did not fall on local rates, as the Ministry of Health funded it. Nursing staff were paid between £30 and £35 per year on a live-in basis, depending on experience, with laundry included.

Evacuees’ Experience

Some evacuees were deeply struck by the kindness and hospitality they received at The Grove. One wrote:

“Sir. As a London evacuee, I would like to say how happy I have been since I have been in Cornwall. I wish to thank Mrs Treffry of the WVS, who has been kindness itself and has done everything possible. And also the matron at The Grove, Charlestown. I could not have received better treatment anywhere, and I was well looked after and very happy during my stay there. I have no home to which to return, but I am quite satisfied to stay in Cornwall. A CONTENTED EVACUEE. St. Austell.”

The sick bay remained in operation until 1947, when it was finally closed.

The Crowder Family and the Final Years of The Grove

The next occupants of the grand house were the Crowder family, who moved to The Grove from the neighbouring Old Mill. The household comprised:

·         Sir John Ellenborough Crowder

·         Lady Florence Gertrude Crowder (née Petre)

·         their daughter, Ann

·         their son, Petre

Lady Florence Gertrude Crowder, born Florence Gertrude Petre in Wandsworth on 20 February 1893, married Captain Sir John Frederick Ellenborough Crowder at Westminster Abbey on 30 April 1918. She remained at The Grove until her death in St Austell on 17 August 1981, aged 88.

Ann later married George Smyth-Osbourne and moved to Pond House, 161 Charlestown Road, also known locally as Bulteel’s.

Lady Florence Crowder in 1917. I spoke to her on many occasions. She was a delightful lady.

Sir John Crowder’s Public Career

John Crowder had a distinguished career in public life. A shipping underwriter, he became a member of Lloyd’s in 1920 and entered Parliament in 1935 as MP for Finchley. In 1940, he served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Sir John Simon when Simon was Chancellor of the Exchequer.

His military service spanned both world wars. During the First World War, he served in the Royal Horse Guards and on the staff; during the Second World War, he served as a staff captain and Army welfare officer.

He also had a long record in local government, serving on Hampshire County Council from 1931 to 1946 and on Fleet Urban District Council from 1933 to 1946. An active churchman, he was churchwarden of St Margaret’s, Westminster. In December 1951, he was appointed Second Church Estates Commissioner, a role that made him, along with two fellow commissioners, responsible for managing Church estates and steering Church measures through the House of Commons.

Petre Crowder and the End of The Grove

His son, Petre, also entered public life and had represented the Ruislip-Northwood division in Parliament since 1950. He later studied law and, as a QC, became widely known for his defence work in several high-profile criminal cases, including those involving the Kray twins. He later served as Recorder of Colchester from 1967 to 1991.

In 1952, John Crowder was knighted in the Queen’s Birthday Honours, becoming Sir John Crowder. He died in 1961. Lady Florence Gertrude Crowder continued to live at The Grove until she died in 1981. A few years later, in 1986, their son Petre put the house and the village up for sale.

A "new" Grove rises like a phoenix from the ashes.

Research Notes and Occupancy Timeline

Early References and Possible First Occupants

·         Thomas Menear died aged 67 on 29 July 1830. The St Austell OPC record may connect him with The Grove, though this remains uncertain.

·         In the 1830s, Samuel Kernick was manager of the naphtha and tin-smelting works in Mill Lane.

·         The 1856 Post Office Directory lists Samuel Kernick at The Grove.

·         The 1861 census records Samuel Kernick, aged 62, living there with his wife Ann, also 62, their son Richard, 21, a tin assayer, and two servants: Grace Bunney, 21, and Sidonia Pearce, 18.

Arthur Coode and Family

·         The 1871 census lists Arthur Coode, aged 27, banker and landowner, with his wife Louisa C., aged 29, their infant daughter Louisa M., and four servants: Mary Daniel, cook; Ellin Rose, housemaid; Emily Roberts, nurse; and Samuel Passmore, groom.

·         The 1873 Post Office Directory records Arthur Coode JP at The Grove.

·         Kelly’s Directory for 1883 again lists Mr Arthur Coode JP and family, noting that he regularly entertained children from the St Austell Union Workhouse.

·         A separate 1870 note mentions Colonel Mainwaring, though his connection with The Grove is not yet clear.

The Lovering Years

·         The 1881 census records William Lovering, aged 29, clay merchant, with his wife Maria Louisa, 28, and two servants: Maria A. Secombe, 25, and Martha Roskilly, 16.

·         An 1887 reference notes Colonel William Lovering, his wife Louisa, and family at The Grove. They kept cattle and horses in the surrounding fields and held an annual New Year’s Eve party for employees. William’s father lived at Caprera on Truro Road.

·         The 1891 census also lists William Lovering.

·         In the 1901 census, Maria Lovering, aged 49, appears with visitor Ethel Gumerow, 40, cook Melinda Bate, 22, and housekeeper Kate Butny, 22.

·         Kelly’s Directory for 1902 again records William Lovering.

·         The 1911 census lists William Thomas Lovering, 59, and Maria Louisa Lovering, 58, with visitor Walter Joseph Leeman, 57, stockbroker, cook Gertrude Hore, 30, and housemaid Ellen Hoskin, 24.

·         Kelly’s Directory for 1914 repeats the same entry.

·         The 1921 census records William Thomas and Louise Maria Lovering at The Grove.

·         The electoral registers for 1927 and 1928 also list Mr William Thomas and Mrs Louise Maria Lovering.

·         The 1931 electoral register records William Thomas Lovering, Olive Stephens, Nora Kathleen Warren, and Ellen Louise Vennard.

Major McDougall and Wartime Use

·         On 3 June 1937, Major Arthur McDougall is recorded as using The Grove as a summer residence. He was described as a keen huntsman who kept horses in the stables beside the house. The annual rent was £120.

·         The 1939 census lists Arthur McDougall, described as independent, with Doris E. Renals of Yettlands, maid; Constance Bone, kitchen maid; and Dorothy L. Thompson, cook and housekeeper.

·         A note asks whether the Baker family may also have been connected with the house, but this remains unconfirmed.

·         On 5 July 1940, bombs fell in front of the house and in the gardens. The house and trees were damaged, and ceilings and windows were brought down in many village dwellings. The Grove later became a sick bay for evacuee children known as the Children’s Nightingale, with Mrs Kitney as matron.

The Crowder Family

·         By 1950, John Ellenborough Crowder, his wife Florence, and their children Ann and Petre were living at The Grove.

·         John Crowder was knighted in 1952.

·         Petre Crowder later became a well-known London QC and defended the Kray twins at trial.

RESEARCHED AND WRITTEN BY LYNDON ALLEN