Falmouth’s Beerwolf Books created a public seating area

Beerwolf Books in Bells Court announced in March last year it had bought the area in front of its building to secure it from development and since then has cleared it and created a public seating area.

The cellar as it currently is (Image: Beerwolf Books/Cornwall Council)

An amount of work has been completed which involved the laying of stone slabs and the installation of granite setts with cast iron railings around the perimeter of a cellar uncovered there and handrail on the stairs leading into the cellar area.

It has now submitted an application for additional work as well as a retrospective planning application for a change of use of part of the land to be used for outdoor space in conjunction with Beerwolf.

The proposed works include the fitting of cast iron railings and a gate on the lower section of the unearthed cellar, thought to have been originally used as a Packet Station storage site, to match the existing, and the renovation and re-roofing of the old butcher’s shop which will serve to make the cellar area safe.

The proposal follows the completion of some significant clearing of detritus from the area as well as an amount of minor work.

The tiles in the former butcher's shop will remain (Image: Beerwolf Books/Cornwall Council)

“Overall, the works completed and proposed are likely to enhance the character and appearance of the site and protect any identified heritage values,” says the application.

“Any harm noted is balanced against the benefits the proposed scheme will bring in terms of the renovations and enabling the designated heritage asset to survive and fulfil its optimum viable use.”

The current view of the former butcher's shop from the terrace (Image: Beerwolf Books/Cornwall Council)

The site forms an informal courtyard area set centrally within Bells Court, and comprises of the footprint of the previously demolished 5 Bells Court as well as the remaining WC and storage building, the somewhat dilapidated old butchers shop building and the former cellar under a shallow brick arch that is accessed via a short staircase, in front of the Beerwolf Books entrance at 3-4 Bells Court.

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The court originally had two attached houses, and later four houses with a Captain George Bell living there in 1764.

The application says given Falmouth’s prominence as a packet connection with Captain Bell, his marriage in 1822 to Lucy Martha, daughter of the former Falmouth packet commander, T. Michael M‘Donogh, Esq., it seems probable that the site also served as a packet station or packet house and the cellar may have been used in association with any goods stored in advance of being road hauled elsewhere.

As to when the cellar was actually constructed, this is not entirely clear. The cellar has been incrementally incorporated with the former houses to create a larger single use, and previously abandoned, left completely overgrown and unseen for a significant period, the host building appears to have included the cellar as a functional space indicating that there is no clear separation between the two.