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Built
in 1750, Jamaica Inn was a coaching inn - a bit like our modern
day service station. Weary travellers using the turnpike between
Launceston and Bodmin would stay at the Inn after having crossed
the wild and treacherous moor.
Some
of the travellers were a little less respectable than most
and used the Inn to hide away the contraband that had been
smuggled ashore. It is estimated that half of the brandy and
a quarter of all tea being smuggled into the UK was landed
along the Cornish and Devon coasts.
Jamaica Inn was remote and isolated so it was an excellent
stopping place on the way to Devon and onward. It is also
thought that the Inn may have got its name because it did
a considerable trade in rum!
In 1778
the Inn was extended to include a coach house, stables and
a tack room creating the l-shaped main part of the building
as it is today.
You can
relive the smugglers’ experience at Daphne du Maurier’s
Smugglers at Jamaica Inn. We have one of the finest and most
extensive collections of smuggling artefacts in the UK and
you can experience in sound and light Daphne du Maurier’s
novel, Jamaica Inn.
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