Things are going well. We have our first 'official' artist meeting tomorrow at Bosigran, the studio renovations are now nearing completion & Bosigran Arts has had positive noises from funders!
Going to spend today organising my research, visually mapping out what I've covered and what still needs to be done.
I am really interested in playing around with the idea of Bosigran Farm being a National Trust property (although not in the classic sense of stately home that we normally associate with the NT). Bosigran Farm also marks the start of the UNESCO Mining World Heritage Site – such a heavy designation.
A common local sentiment is of living in a museum… Access to housing unless you already hold a long-term tenancy, for those that work here is only ever a dream. It is a far cry from the time when a farm such as Bosigran would have been a farming hamlet with all the occupants being involved with the tenements or working at Wheal Rose mine. The 1841 census shows 12 families lived at Bosigran with a further 2 at the mine, with in excess of 52 people in total (the details of a few entries are illegible). Several 'cottages' are no longer in existance and there are remains of two others at Mill Farm. But still quite how they all fitted in I really can hardly begin to imagine with many families having five or six children…
It begs the question "what are we preserving and who are we preserving it for?"
