The story of the real Jamaica Inn
A look at the real Jamaica Inn, including its history, culture and how it became the inspiration for du Maurier's famous novel.
Don’t forget: the book club discussion will take place this Sunday 1st December (tomorrow!) in the Substack chat. 7pm GMT/2pm ET.
I hope that you’ve enjoyed delving into the bleak and haunting world of Daphne du Maurier’s Jamaica Inn as much as I have this November! While the fictional version of Jamaica Inn is enthralling, its real-life counterpart is just as fascinating, steeped in its own rich and mysterious history.
The real Jamaica Inn
The real Jamaica Inn is located in a remote spot in the middle of Bodmin Moor and is recognised as one of the most famous inns in England, thanks in part to du Maurier’s novel. The true story of Jamaica Inn is different to the ship-wrecking and smuggling story of the novel, but it remains a landmark for part of Cornwall’s extensive and fascinating history.
Located between the Cornish towns of Launceston and Bodmin, Jamaica Inn was constructed in what was once an empty moorland. It became a coaching inn during the mid-1700s, providing a resting stop for travellers on horseback or those travelling by public coach or wagon. The trip over the moor was especially arduous, with the inn making travel across it progressively easier.
Jamaica Inn played an important role in developing the route between Exeter (a city in Devon) and the port of Falmouth (where Charles Darwin returned from his expedition to the Galapagos). Because the inn is located exactly in the middle of the moor, it also meant the Royal mail could dispatch riders across the route, as opposed to the much longer but safer route to the north of Bodmin. This development meant that international mail to and from countries in the Americas and southern Europe could travel to the south of England far more easily.
In the 1800s, the owners of the moors around the inn developed soil-improvement schemes which began the process of converting untamed moorland into space for farming. As farming communities grew, with Jamaica Inn as its focal point, other infrastructure such as new houses, a church and a school were erected. This created the hamlet now known as Bolventor.
Unfortunately for the inn, and for Cornwall, the development of railways in England meant that the Royal Mail moved its primary shipping location from Falmouth to Southampton. The new location, far closer to London, meant that the traffic across Bodmin Moor would gradually decrease, with the last Royal mail coach visiting Jamaica Inn in 1851, at which point business for the inn would collapse.