The Sea Blazed Gold: Virginia Woolf in St Ives

A plaque and a pamphlet to celebrate one of St Ives’ most revered authors

Virginia Woolf has long been associated with St Ives. Throughout her childhood, she spent lengthy summers at Talland House in Albert Road, and was entranced by the surrounding coast and in particular Godrevy lighthouse.

Finally, after a lengthy campaign, a commemorative plaque has been mounted on the wall of Talland House (which is now divided into private apartments). Unlike many heritage plaques, which are blue, this one is black and white to reflect the tones of the St Piran Flag.

It was unveiled during the St Ives September Festival, in the presence of Emeritus Professor Maggie Humm, vicechair of the Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain. Maggie spent four years working tirelessly to persuade St Ives Town Council to allow the plaque and to raise almost £4,000 among Woolf fans around the world.

“Talland House was hugely important to Woolf,” she says. “She once said: ‘I always feel that I am the original owner of Cornwall, and everyone else is a newcomer.’” memories of 13 glorious summers in Talland House between 1882 and 1894. Her father, Leslie Stephen, had found the house on a walking tour the year before Woolf’s birth, and was especially taken with the view overlooking Porthminster Bay towards Godrevy Lighthouse, which could be seen from the upper windows.

The young Virginia adored Talland House and St Ives. She first mentions it, aged 10, in the Stephen children's home-made newspaper Hyde Park Gate News: “The Stephens were going to St Ives very much earlier than usual. This is a heavenly prospect to the minds of the juveniles who adore St Ives.” Later in life, she would write: “I could fill pages remembering one thing after another. All together made the summer at St Ives the best beginning to a life conceivable.”

Upon arrival from Paddington, the children would run straight down to Porthminster Beach, where Virginia learned to swim. “In her memories, the summers were always hot, and she ate Cornish cream with blackberries,” says Maggie. Sadly, the family visits ended with the untimely death of Woolf’s mother, Julia, of rheumatic fever in 1895. The influence of the St Ives landscape features prominently in three major novels: Jacob’s Room (1922), The Waves (1931) and most notably To The Lighthouse (1927) - while set in the Hebrides, it is widely acknowledged to be based on Godrevy. The lighthouse is a recurring theme in Woolf’s work, as are waves breaking on the shore, silver fish dangling and sails in the wind – all stemming from her time in Talland House.

Having already campaigned successfully to prevent building on land opposite Talland House that would have obscured the treasured view of Godrevy, Maggie was undaunted in her quest to secure a heritage plaque for Woolf’s former holiday residence. She drummed up support via the local press and Woolf appreciation societies in France, Italy and the USA, lobbied the town council and enlisted the help of Derek Thomas MP – as well as appealing to celebrity Woolf fans such as Dame Eileen Atkins, who is president of the British society and has strong links to Cornwall thanks to her role in Doc Martin.

“Despite its history, St Ives does not have many plaques, which makes this a

momentous occasion in many ways,” says Maggie, whose own debut novel, Talland House, is a murder-mystery that aims to fill in some of the back story in To The Lighthouse. “It was originally called Who Killed Mrs Ramsay? But so much of the action takes place in the house, it became a character in itself.

The unveiling of the plaque at Talland House coincides with the publication of an illustrated pamphlet detailing Woolf’s passion for the town. The Sea Blazed Gold (which takes its title from a passage in The Waves) is the work of artist Louisa Albani, and the third of her pamphlets to feature Woolf; the first, A Moment In The Life Of Virginia Woolf, explored how the author created her vivid seascapes from landlocked Tavistock Square in London, while the second, The Journey to my Sister's House, focused on her time in the South Downs.

Using excerpts from Woolf's diaries, letters and novels, interwoven with her own artworks, Louisa celebrates Woolf’s time in St Ives and the impact it had on her life, as well as the mysterious power Cornwall has over those who fall under its spell. Louisa works in mixed media, including collage, metallic stitching and pen and ink. The 36-page publication is printed on her own press, harking back to the days when illustrated pamphlets were the most popular means of communication. Woolf and her husband, Leonard, launched their own publishing company, Hogarth Press, in 1917 and hand-printed books as a hobby. “I feel it’s not just the stories that are reflected in my pamphlet, but also the way they would have been told,” she says. “Print is so sensual – it's tactile and visceral, even the smell of it. It’s the experience of flicking – you enter something.”

Text contributors include Maggie Humm and Astra Bloom, whose work was included in Kit De Waal’s Common People anthology of working-class writing, and who has a particular interest in Woolf’s work.

Louisa came to St Ives eight years ago to research What We Heard From The Sea, an anthology of stories about those working on the water. “I’m embarrassed to say I didn’t know Virginia Woolf lived there, or that a large part of her inspiration had come from there – and I don’t think I’m alone in that,” she admits. “St Ives is incredibly rich in history and provenance, especially when it comes to 20th century modern art. A Virginia Woolf plaque in St Ives celebrates not only her legacy, but makes visible the inspiring power of Cornwall to important writers as well. In my eyes, she was an artist – she just happened to be a writer.” l

The Sea Blazed Gold: Virginia Woolf in St Ives costs £13 and is stocked by St Ives Bookseller.