15 Fore Street
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Just over 100 yards along Fore Street, at No. 15, is Ann’s Gallery, formerly the Town Arms. The building is a 17th century house that had become a pub by the late 18th century. It appears in George Bell Lawrance’s 1825 painting of Fore Street. It is recorded in 1830 as owned by William Hick and then, through the 1840s and 1850s, by Jospeh Stevens of St Veep. By 1861 it was in the hands of butcher Mathew Doney, who lived in Tangier (now Castle Hill). The pub continued to be run together with the butcher’s shop, with adjoining slaughterhouse, through the 1870s and early 1880s under Francis Bryant Cory. In 1899, its frontage and that of the now-closed Ivy Leaf Tearoom were altered to widen the pavement. The final owner was William Bate, who ran the pub from 1893 until its closure in 1904. The Town Arms Stables, now in residential use, can be seen in South Street.
The building was used as a tailor’s and drapery shop by George Stephens and then William Brooks; it was then taken over by William Beswetherick, who ran the shop until 1973. Its closure occurred as a result of a fire that required some rebuilding. It was in residential use until the 1980s, when it was acquired by local policeman Chris Jewells and his wife Ann as a new location for the business that Ann formerly ran in North Street.
Ann’s Gallery is a popular card and gift shop, having a large range of cards for all occasions and suiting all tastes. A wide range of craft goods, pottery, textiles, and homeware, in local designs, is complemented by a good range of wrapping paper: a one-stop shop for all celebrations and occasions, and for holiday souvenirs.
Walk a little further along Fore Street to