Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Chris Matthews & Sara Odeen-Isbister

Cornwall's lost village unveiled after mega heatwave and low water levels

This year's drought has led to a lost village in Cornwall - once home to a community of 14 - being uncovered again.

Outlines of buildings, old stone walls, gate posts and even roads become visible at Drift Reservoir near Penzance when water levels are particularly low, as they are now.

Cornwall, like many other parts of the country, is experiencing one of its driest summers in years, reports Cornwall Live.

Trewidden Vean, a substantial farm, and the smallholding at Nanquitho existed for hundreds of years, with a reference to the latter recorded in 1763. At one time, the community was home to 14 people.

But the people that lived there had to move, lock, stock and barrel, when the men with the concrete lorries came to build a dam.

The community was once home to 14 people (Mark Richards)

People were evacuated from 1938 when the work started to 1961 when the last family left. From planning to completion, the dam at Drift took 23 years.

Today the village exists only in photographs, in the memories of the last surviving residents and as the ruins left behind.

But the reservoir is now a hotspot for bird watching.

According to Cornwall Bird Watching and Preservation Society, Drift Reservoir is excellent for seeing gulls and wintering wildfowl. The society said more than 240 different species of birds have been recorded at the site.

Included among the site’s rarities are Squacco and Purple Heron, Lesser Yellowlegs, Solitary Sandpiper, American Golden Plover, Lesser Scaup and Booted Eagle. Ospreys are now regular passage migrants.

Evacuation of the village started in 1938 when they began building a dam (Mark Richards)
The reservoir is now popular with birdwatchers (Mark Richards)

Last month, the Mirror reported on the intricate outline of a secret garden buried almost 300 years in the grounds of a stately home and uncovered by this year's drought.

The extreme temperatures brought on by the heatwave in July dried the grass of the South Lawn at Chatsworth House, in the Peak District, exposing the remains of the lost Great Parterre.

A parterre is a feature that was seen in upper-class “formal” gardens, which was typically the part of the grounds nearest the house.

It typically consisted of symmetrical patterns, made up of plant beds, low hedges, or coloured gravels separated and connected by paths.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.