Untitled
Category
Boats, ships and related material
Date
1891 - 1900
Materials
Order this imageCollection
Cotehele, Cornwall
NT 348875
Summary
Billet-head from the CFH.
Provenance
The CFH was made by James Goss, who rented Calstock boatyard from William 4th Earl of Mount Edgcumbe from 1874. In 1891 there was a 'Great Blizzard' during which many of Cotehele's trees fell. It is believed that the timber used for building the CFH came from fallen oak trees. The initials CFH are thought to represent C F Hambly who has been described as a coal merchant, and a farmer; it is not certain which is correct. The billet-head was given to Cotehele by Peter Wild. In the ?1960s he came across a decaying wreck of a boat on the banks of the Severn, and salvaged its billet-head. The boat had changed names several times but he traced it back to being the CFH built at Calstock by James Goss. He refurbished it, and donated it to Cotehele in 2007.