Jamaica Inn Shirokova, Tretyakova. Located just off the A30, near the middle of Bodmin Moor close to the hamlet of Bolventor, it was built as a coaching.

Jamaica Inn

Shirokova, Tretyakova

Located just off the A30, near the middle of Bodmin Moor close to the hamlet of Bolventor, it was built as a coaching house in 1750 as a staging post for changing horses during stagecoach runs over the moor.

Location

It is often commonly thought that the inn takes its name from the smugglers who smuggled rum into the country from Jamaica and stored it at the inn. However, the name of the inn is actually said to derive from the important local Trelawney family of landowners, of which two family members served as Governors of Jamaica in the 18th century.

Name

The inn was built in 1750 and extended in 1778 with a coach house, stables and a tack room assembled in an L-shaped fashion. The inn became a smugglers' stopping

point while they used approximately 100 secret routes to move around their contraband.

History

Ghost

Many years ago a stranger stood at the bar enjoying a tankard of ale. Upon being summoned outside, he left the half-finished ale and stepped out into the night. That was the last time he was seen alive. The next morning his corpse was found on the bleak moor, but the manner of his death and the identity of his assailant still remain a mystery.

On a moonlit night, when all is still, the sound of horses' hooves and the metal rims of wheels turning on the rough cobbles can be heard in the courtyard. Yet there is nothing to be seen! Who can explain the uneasy footsteps heard pacing the corridors in the dead of night? Who is the strange man in a tricorne hat and cloak who appears and then walks through solid doors?