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THIS OBJECT IS PART OF THE PROJECT 'A HISTORY OF CORNWALL IN 100 OBJECTS'.

ST MICHAEL'S MOUNT. Not so much what the butler saw as what he did. Henry Lee was butler at the Mount in the 1930s and spent 49 years working on this model. He carved it from champagne corks. Champagne was then considered the ideal drink to go with fish dishes. This model celebrates Cornish hospitality as well as depicting one of Cornwall's most iconic places.

St Michael's Mount has been an abbey, fortress, and for many years now an unusual family home. Cut off from the mainland at high tide, the harbour which dates back to the 1420s was shared between the Mount and Marazion. The Mount was attacked on several occasions, most notably during the Wars of the Roses in 1473 when the Earl of Oxford took and held it for a time. The St Aubyns originally came from Clowance in Crowan parish. They bought St Michael's Mount from the Bassets of Tehidy at the end of the Civil War.