150-year-old photographs emerge showing unchanged Cornish towns

 

150-year-old photographs have emerged showing Cornish seaside towns, close to our own caravan parks, largely unchanged to the present day.

The black and white seaside shots were photographed by Francis Bedford, Francis Frith and James Valentine, who went on to bring the postcard to Britain. Dated between 1860 and 1880, they represent some of the earliest ever depictions of the county.

The pictures were sold in books, to people who had no other way of seeing other regions of the country. These albums will now go on sale at Dominic Winter Auctions and are valued at around £500.

Those who spend their caravan holidays in Cornwall will recognise the iconic image of St Michael's Mount below. The tidal island, located close to Kenegie Manor in Penzance, proves how time has seemingly stood still.

150-Year-Old Cornwall Photographs | John Fowler Caravan Holidays

Auctioneer Chris Albury said: "Francis Frith and Francis Bedford were two of the great British pioneers of commercial British landscape photography."

"In the decades before the picture postcard, the coastlines, villages and local people of Devon and Cornwall presented these photographers with endless possibilities to practise their art and to make money."

"Their documentation of the changing Victorian scene formed an invaluable record and it is striking for us now to see what has changed and what has stayed the same."

Trying my upmost not to reveal my age, I've been visiting Cornwall for a number of years and I agree that the region has remained largely unchanged. But it's great that even when you go back as far as 150 years, the area still remains unspoilt.

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