大象传媒

Alan Dein visits the tiny Cornish village of Trevalga, recently put up for sale by Marlborough College.

The village of Trevalga sits on the north Cornish coast between the tourist magnets of Boscastle and Tintagel. It has no pub, no shops and no second homes. Virtually every villager pays rent, and homes are permanently occupied.

For the last fifty years, the villagers of Trevalga have paid rents to their landlord; a trust set up by the former owner of the village, Gerald Curgenven. In his will, Curgenven stipulated that the village be preserved and maintained by a trust, with any monies from rents left over to go to his former school, Marlborough College in Wiltshire.

Earlier this year, the college took legal advice which convinced them that the trust was invalid, and that they were actually the outright owners of the village and wider estate of Trevalga. They decided to sell and, as properties were measured and glossy brochures produced, Trevalgans reeled as their cosy existence was threatened for the first time in living memory.

The villagers organised, and sought their own legal advice, which flatly contradicted that given to the College. They were told that the trust was indeed valid, and that the village was not Marlborough's to sell.

Until the question of ownership is resolved, the future of this tiny, fragile community remains unclear. Alan meets the tenant farmers, artists, childminders and gravediggers of Trevalga, trying to plan for an uncertain future.

Producer : John Byrne.