Brooding, isolated, romantic. Just some of the words used to describe this most iconic of locations. At over 500 years old, the Jamaica Inn has both a unique atmosphere and history. It is said to be an incredibly haunted building, with the figures of a stranger sitting motionless on the wall outside, as well as a man on horseback seen on foggy nights. There is also a man in a tricorne hat and cloak who appears insode and then walks through solid doors, and the appearances are accompanied by a sudden drop in temperature. There are several reports of auditory phenomena that include the sounds of footsteps, disembodied voices talking in un usual language and the “clatter of horses hooves on cobbled ground heard in the depths of night”.

 

The renowned novelist, Daphne du Maurier, was a former resident. She chose Bolventor as the setting for her novel about Cornish smugglers titled, naturally, Jamaica Inn. The inn has stood beside the main road through the village since 1547. It is now regarded as a tourist attraction for both its literary and ghostly reputation.

The churchyard is reputedly haunted by a “Kergrim” (ghoul).

 

There is also a strange belief in that if a man has a stiff neck he should go to the churchyard on the dates of 1st-3rd May, locate the grave of the last woman to be buried then pass his hand from the head to the bottom of it collecting any dew as he does so. He should apply the dew to the neck. For a woman, they should do the same, but at the grave of the most recent buried man.