About Us

In Search of Tywardreath (ISOT) is a local history group that aims to draw attention to the rich past of this Mid Cornwall village.  The group is run on democratic lines by a committee of local enthusiasts keen to engage with the community.  

This community group dedicated to researching the archaeology, history, environment and topography of Tywardreath. Its approach is inclusive and aimed at everybody, from schoolchildren to academics and people of all ages and abilities –  new members are welcome.

The idea is to bring everyone together, foster social cohesion and build the self-confidence and skills of the participants. It aims to connect the local community with its local heritage to leave an everlasting legacy for future generations: an identity of who we are. In addition to local schools and collages, it has made informal approaches to a wide variety of groups. For a full list see Partnerships.

Our main focus is the priory, an important and rich religious centre in medieval times, but although some building blocks of the building are scattered round the village, we don’t know precisely where it was. To unearth the truth a wide range of methods will be used.

So far we have employed documentary research, oral history, surveying, field walking, geophysics and environmental sampling. In future, hopefully with the help of grant funding, it will undertake excavation, historic building analysis, report writing, photography, cartography and digital recording.

Since it had its first meeting in 2017, ISOT has raised money for its endeavours with a series of quiz nights, concerts, craft shows, talks by historians, memory cafes, a medieval feast night and fayre,  Tudor re-enactment events and a number of small grants.