LITERARY FOWEY
Fowey has a rich literary heritage, and the town is a particular magnet for readers of Daphne du Maurier novels, in which locations and characters were drawn from the locality, and a number of local walks take in sites from her writings.
“Many of Daphne du Maurier’s novels, as well as her play
September Tide, are set in Cornwall, and mainly in the Fowey area,” says Ann Willmore, former owner of Fowey’s bookshop, and who now runs the Daphne du Maurier website. “The story of
Frenchman’s Creek comes to Fowey when the pirate ship, with Dona on board, dressed as a cabin boy, sails from the Helford River, and moors up just beyond the mouth of the River Fowey.
“The story of My Cousin Rachel comes to the Rose and Crown in Fowey. Long ago, there was an inn called the Rose and Crown here, on the short road now known as South Street. It was located just in front of the parish church, and this is the location of the inn in Daphne’s novel. A war memorial is now on the site of the inn.”
Ann explains the connection of the house, Ferryside, with the du Mauriers and reveals a wonderful continuity with the family that extends to the present day.
“Daphne du Maurier’s mother, Muriel, bought Ferryside in 1926. Daphne’s father, Gerald, had enjoyed tremendous success with a play called The Ringer, and he and Muriel decided to use the money to buy a holiday home for the family. The house is located almost at the water’s edge, built partly into the cliff face behind it, in the village of Bodinnick, opposite Fowey and beside the ferry slip.”
Although Daphne never actually lived there, she did spend a great deal of time at Ferryside, sometimes with her sister Angela, but more often on her own, so that she could write. Her first novel, The
Loving Spirit, part of her third novel, The Progress of Julius, and some of her short stories were written there.
In 1932, Daphne married Frederick Browning, and the couple went on to have three children. “After Gerald died in 1934, Muriel sold their main family home in Hampstead and moved to Ferryside full time, with her two unmarried daughters, Angela and Jeanne. After Muriel died, Angela continued to live at Ferryside until the 1990s, when Daphne’s son and daughter-in-law, Kits and Hacker, bought the house from her. They still live at Ferryside, which the du Maurier-Browning family has now owned for 95 years.”
The association of Fowey with writers extends beyond Daphne du Maurier. Her family was friendly with many local literary greats, including novelist and literary critic Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, better known as ‘Q’, who lived with his family at The Haven in Fowey and was an active member of the local community. J M Barrie, author of
Peter Pan, visited Fowey and was part of this literary circle. The author Kenneth Grahame was also drawn to Fowey. He, too, became friends with Arthur Quiller-Couch, whose son, Bevil, was pageboy at Kenneth Grahame’s wedding to Elspeth Thompson at St Fimbarrus Church in Fowey. Elements of his enduring story The
Wind in the Willows were based on the River Fowey.