Following the centenary of Squires Field in Fowey, Cornwall, historian Barry West is asking residents and former families to help uncover the story behind a Treffry memorial stone near Fowey Library.

Photos

Barry West, The Cornish Historian with the stone (Photo Barry West)

Col Edward Treffry CMG, OBE, TD, DL (Photo courtesy of Royal Fowey Yacht Club)

A few steps from the everyday route past Fowey Library, there is a small memorial you could easily miss. It sits unobtrusively in the greenery, its lettering now so faint that it is almost invisible unless you get close to the stone, but it carries a story that reaches back almost a century and explains why this much-used recreation ground is still called Squires Field.

Cornish historian Barry West got in touch with LoveFowey with a straightforward request: could we help bring that story back into view now that the field’s centenary has passed? The 100th anniversary fell on 1 May 2026. His research traces the five-acre site to a gift from Colonel Edward Treffry of Place, who gave the land to the people of Fowey in memory of his father, Charles Ebenezer Treffry.

Charles had served for forty years as Squire of the parish before his death on 27 February 1924. The following year, his son gave the field as a recreation ground “in perpetuity”. On 1 May 1926, it was formally opened and passed into the care of Fowey Town Council.

The inscription on the memorial stone is now extremely difficult to make out, which makes Barry’s transcription all the more important. It records that Squires Field was presented to the town by Colonel Edward Treffry CMG, OBE, TD, DL, in memory of his father. It is more than a formal dedication. It is a reminder that this was land given for public enjoyment, and for the long life of the town.

That gift is still important today. Squires Field is where football is played, children climb and swing, bowlers gather, families meet and summer evenings spill out across the grass. Visitors may come to Fowey for the harbour, the steep lanes, the estuary views and the town’s literary connections, but places like this reveal something just as valuable: the ordinary spaces where local life happens.

One condition of the gift was that the ground should always be known as Squires Field. It is a small detail, but an important one. It links the green space near Fowey Library to the Treffry family of Place, to local stewardship, and to a very Cornish sense of looking after what belongs to the community.

There is another detail worth noticing on the stone. Barry has identified what appears to be a Cornish chough’s head holding a sprig of laurel, closely echoing the historic Treffry family crest. The chough has long been associated with Cornwall, and here it gives the memorial a distinctly local signature: a carved link between family history, landscape and the community life of Fowey.

But small pieces of heritage can fade without anyone meaning them to. The inscription has become difficult to make out. Shrubs have grown around the stone. Unless you know it is there, you might walk straight past. Barry hopes the centenary can still become a prompt for action. He has written to Fowey Town Council suggesting that the memorial stone be restored, and that a modest heritage board could explain the history of Squires Field, the Treffry gift and the meaning behind the name.

Barry is also keen to gather the memories that bring the field’s story to life. Old photographs, newspaper cuttings, family stories, match memories, school sports day snapshots, carnival recollections and documents about Squires Field are all welcome. Put together, they can show how this Fowey recreation ground has been used, loved and remembered across generations.

The timing feels right. Fowey Royal Regatta Week has just passed, the summer holidays are drawing to a close, and plenty of families and former residents have recently been back in town. The Grand Carnival has once again brought life to Squires Field itself. If those visits stirred a memory, now is the moment to open the albums, check the drawers and share the photographs, cuttings and stories that might otherwise stay tucked away.

Squires Field is not just a football pitch, a play area or a patch of green near Fowey Library. It is a civic gift, a memorial, a meeting place and a living piece of Fowey heritage. Its story has been there all along. It just needs bringing back into the light.

Photos

Barry West, The Cornish Historian with the stone (Photo Barry West)

Col Edward Treffry CMG, OBE, TD, DL (Photo courtesy of Royal Fowey Yacht Club)

If you have a photograph, cutting, document or memory of Squires Field, please send it to Barry by email to barrywest.cornishhistorian@gmail.com. Your story could help restore the stone’s significance, shape a new heritage board, and make sure this much-loved corner of Fowey is understood and cherished for the next hundred years.