Trowan Farm and its associated hamlet are to be found approximately one mile west of the town of St Ives and lie in the parish associated with the town.

The present day buildings are centred on an area of enclosed and improved pasture on the coastal plain and are easily reached by an adopted lane that leads from the north coast road, the B3306.

The settlement buildings are surrounded by improved pasture which gently descends through South to the North from 120 metres to around 100 metres above sea level as the farmland reached the cliff top above Trowan Cliff and Pen Enys Point.

The full extent of the land holding is approximately 55 acres which is significantly reduced from the original holding - the National Trust having purchased the cliff top and Trowan Point some twenty years ago.

The earliest place name evidence for Trowan is in 1327 when a Wille Trewoen (of Trowan) was listed in a Subsidy Roll of the parish of Lelant. Although Trowan now lies in the parish of St Ives during this period it was part of the ancient parish of Lelant - a state that existed at least until the 18 th century.

The common Cornish prefix TRE means hamlet or farming settlement and possibly having pre-Norman origins circa 500 A.D. it is not normally used later than 1100 and indicates early occupation of the site. The suffix WAUN (old Welsh) means meadow or down hence the name Trowan probably describes a settlement or habitation "in the meadow".

In essence the history of Trowan falls into four distinct areas spanning the period from the late prehistoric, Iron Age / Romano-British period through to the twentieth century.

The phases can be summarised thus:

1. Later Prehistoric:

The earliest traces of land management that can be discerned are probably late Prehistoric in date and comprise major field boundaries that now exist as ploughed out lynchets and re-used stone faced revetted walls but there are no obvious traces of domestic settlement contemporary with this period.

2. Post Prehistoric and Medieval:

This second phase is post prehistoric but pre the 1839 Tithe Map and shows a basic medieval farming landscape which whilst being essentially prehistoric in character has seen piecemeal adaptations and alterations to reflect changing farming practices and the increased dependency upon small scale arable cultivation.

The establishment of a track way leading from the now nucleated settlement at the heart of improved pasture down to the newly improved pastures on the cliff top (since abandoned and sold to the National Trust) demonstrates a strategy to exploit more comprehensively the farming potential of the whole tenement.

3. The Tithe Map period - 1839:

To view the 1839 Tithe Map, click here.

By 1839 the earlier farming landscapes of the prehistoric and medieval period were well consolidated at Trowan and were adapted for sustained multi family use over generational periods.

Although the main hamlet buildings were centralised the establishment of outlying shelter and storage buildings, remnants of which remain, signify the diverse nature of the land ownership.

4. The Modern Period:

Piecemeal modification of boundary walls brought about by the demands of modern agriculture for larger fields have caused some damage to what still remains an essentially unchanged medieval farming landscape.

Deep ploughing to improve drainage has also done much to eradicate the few above ground traces of prehistoric farming practice although this method of land improvement has ceased in recent years.

These practices have led to a dramatic landscape change in the heartland of the site with the removal of field boundaries around the remaining settlement dwellings.

Significant removal; adaptations; alterations and additions to the built environment during this period have also significantly eroded the character of this magnificent landscape, these changes coming about through the demands of mechanised farming for larger buildings out of scale with the essentially domestic nature of the former hamlet.

This process speeded up significantly over the last hundred years as a single family gradually consolidated ownership of the entire hamlet such that for the last fifty years or so the site was for the first time farmed as one unit.

The restoration of the hamlet of Trowan which has recently been commenced by Mango Homes is intended to remove the modern buildings and restore the remaining medieval and later stone cottages to re-create the original form of the remaining settlement buildings.

Further historical information is available here.