Here at Buttervilla B&B we exist in a bubble of peacefulness, just a short drive from the South Cornish coast and the fishing villages of Cawsand, Kingsand, Looe, Polperro and Fowey. With a wealth of glorious beaches, great walking, historic houses, fine restaurants, interesting towns and quaint fishing villages on our doorstep Buttervilla is the perfect place to relax and eat well We have fifteen idyllic acres with great views over some exceptionally beautiful rolling countryside. Buttervilla an eco-friendly, Soil Association Certified organic farm, fully equipped with modern conveniences is a very special place to stay.
Just beyond the River Tamar is a little-known corner of Cornwall little known, that is, to motorists negotiating a tricky stretch of the A38 between Plymouth and Liskeard but familiar to rail travellers on the Paddington to Penzance line. St Germans is the gateway to a web of tidal rivers that meander down to the trail of beaches and headlands west of the Tamar Estuary.
It is only a short drive from the village to the gloriously uncrowded beaches of Whitsand Bay, a five-mile stretch of creamy sand and cliff-top walks with views across Plymouth Sound to the lovely, lonely Rame Head, at the tip of southeast Cornwall. At Kingsand-Cawsand, you can wander the narrow streets of what was once two fishing villages, on either side of the Devon-Cornwall border.
From St Germans station, you can also catch a train south west to the fishing quays of nearby Looe change at Liskeard for the scenic Looe Valley branch line.
But you need only walk through St Germans to discover one of the highlights of the area - Port Eliot, on the banks of the Lynher Estuary. It is the gloriously eccentric home of Peregine Eliot, the 10th Earl of St Germans. Lined with faded Georgian wallpapers and crammed with treasures, the Grade I listed mansion was open to the public for the first time last year, and one month into its second season continues to provide a peek into the history of the family, who took possession of the former monastery in 1565.
Do not miss the elegant staterooms remodelled by Sir John Soane in 1805, and the Eliots collection of portraits by Sir Joshua Reynolds. It is also possible to explore some of the estates 1,000 acres of parkland, much of it laid out by Humphrey Repton in the 1790s.
The house and gardens are open from now until the end of June, but there will be another opportunity to visit during the Port Eliot Festival July 24-26, the annual celebration of the arts that has helped to put this forgotten corner on the map.
More of Reptons handiwork can be seen at the National Trusts early 18th-century Antony House nearby and more Reynolds paintings are on show at Mount Edgcumbe, the council-owned Tudor mansion, set at
the head of the Tamar Estuary. The latters vast seaside estate takes in miles of woodland footpaths, a deer park, and the National Camellia Collection - all free.
If you want to stay nearby, Buttervilla Farm, at Polbathic, is an eco-luxe B&B offering comfortable rooms with solar-heated power showers in a stone-built farmhouse, set in 15 acres on the southern rim of the Port Eliot estate. Gill and Robert Hocking, the owners, grow organic salad vegetables for Jamie Olivers Fifteen Cornwall at Watergate Bay.
