When you visit the Pandora Inn, it’s easy to forget you’re in the 21st century. Its spectacular setting on the edge of Restronguet Creek is timeless.

Parts of the Inn date back to the 13th Century. With its flagstone floors, low-beamed ceilings and thatched roof it’s not difficult to believe that little has changed since that time. In the 13th century, there was a farm on the site. In 1488, the Restronguet Estate Accounts state that the rent was 8s 4d a year.

The building later became known as the Passage House. Lake’s ‘Parochial History of Cornwall’ (141) states: “There is a passing-boat kept there, it being the post-road and by much the nearest cut from Falmouth to Truro.” For centuries, this remained one of the main roads until the Truro turnpike was opened in 1828.

The inn changed its name – this time to The Ship, and its tenant, Joseph B Collins, paid the landlord, Colonel Tremayne, £13.0d annual rent. A clause in the lease stated that “no intoxicating liquor shall be sold on the Sabbath” – a clause that was later removed – fortunately!

The inn was re-named in memory of the HMS Pandora, the naval ship sent to Tahiti to capture the mutineers of Captain Bligh’s Bounty. Unfortunately, the Pandora struck a remote part of the Great Barrier Reef in 1791 and sank with the loss of many crew and mutineers. The captain, Captain Edwards, was court-martialled on his return to Cornwall where he is reputed to have bought this inn.