Rezare, Cornwall
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Photo supplied by a guest,
taken from Kit Hill, 5 miles away
It is a peaceful and relaxed environment which, although within easy reach of the main roads which connect to wherever you wish to go, is far enough from the rush of modern life to allow you to instantly forget that it exists, and is the ideal, restful base to return to after your days out exploring.
On clear days both Bodmin Moor and Dartmoor are visible from many points around the hamlet, with Kit Hill dominating the view from most bedrooms and the dining room / guests' lounge. A short walk away is the River Tamar, its wooded valley meandering down towards Plymouth, passing on its way many beautiful and interesting areas to visit, including Gunnislake, Cotehele, Buckland Abbey, The Garden House, Endsleigh Gardens, Calstock, Morwellham Quay and Mount Edgcumbe to name just a few.
Recent History
Rezare is a hamlet of about twenty houses that until fairly recently contained seven working farms; Rezare Farmhouse ceased to be a working farm in the early 1960’s. We understand that the house and land was once owned by a distant cousin of the Edgcumbes who built Cotehele House a few miles downstream, and then Edgcumbe House, on the Rame Peninsula.
The hamlet and much of the surrounding area, particularly the Devon side of the River Tamar, later formed part of the Duke of Bedford’s estate until the late 1950’s, when significant portions of the estate were sold to pay a large inheritance tax bill. The Duke owned Endsleigh House, on the opposite bank of the River Tamar, and his hunting lodge was located in the woods above the river, just along the track opposite at Carthamartha. Remains of small rest huts, built for the Duke's hunting and fishing parties to take shelter and refreshment in, are littered throughout the woods.
Ancient History
The word 'Rezare' could mean either 'Place of the Ford' or 'Place of the Fort'. Both are equally likely. In the distant past, the original settlement, around the time of Christ, was located nearer to where the River Inny runs into the River Tamar, where there are remains of an old fort. Innyfoot, the point at which the two rivers meet, was the lowest point on the Tamar fordable at most seasons and the highest point reachable by boat from the sea, so it was a main entry point into Cornwall.
It has been suggested that this settlement is Tamara, the principal trading point in Cornwall, mentioned by Ptolemy ( a second century Egyptian Greek who lived at the same time as Hadrian ) in his Geographica. This would make it the real capital of Cornwall !
Regardless of whether this is true, the hamlet stands on a very old crossroads, where the ancient East-West and North-South roads meet ( these two roads have long since been superceded by the B3362 and A388 ), and so would have held an important position.
Alternatively, it is possible that the letter 't' was dropped from the front of the word at some point in the past. Many place names in Cornwall start with 'Tre', which means 'farm', 'settlement' or 'dwelling place' etc, with the letters following often spelling the owner's name.
M & P Burwood, Sittingbourne, UK
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