Legal dispute
This project aims to raise funds to resolve a claim, or other type of dispute.
Battle for Trevalga
Boscastle, Cornwall, United Kingdom
Aim
Please help us save The Manor of Trevalga; a beautiful & unspoilt 1200 acre Estate in North Cornwall, largely unchanged since medieval times
On the 25th of June 2022 the Trustees of The Gerald Curgenven Will Trust wrote to all the tenants of the Manor of Trevalga to tell us they were selling the entire Estate. This was a day we never thought we would see. Not only did the Trustees assure us in 2011 that they would not do this, a sale goes directly against the express wishes of Mr Curgenven.
In that letter they called a meeting, with tenants only, on the 27th of June, and those 2 days in between were a weekend. This encapsulates how they have treated us residents the whole way along; unprofessionally and inhumanely.
Whilst we fear for our community, we fight for something greater than that also. Trevalga is a living piece of our shared history, a place of unspoilt Cornish beauty, and it should be preserved for future generations to enjoy.
We have expert legal advice which states that the Trustees' understanding of the Will Trust is incorrect and it should preserve the Manor of Trevalga.
Through a Fete and Mega Raffle we have managed to raise nearly enough to cover the £5600 of our legal costs so far. This was for advice received, letters written and our approach to the Charity Commission.
However, as we continue to challenge the Trustees' reading of the Will Trust and their claims regarding the viability of the Manor in its current form, we need to raise a further £5000 to pay the legal fees of our barrister and our solicitors.
The Manor of Trevalga is unique in Cornwall today; we have no second homes, no holiday lets and no Airbnb. We have no street lighting, no tea rooms, and we are people who live and work in Cornwall. Many of us have lived in the Manor for generations. Please help us keep it that way.
History of the Battle for Trevalga:
1959 – Gerald Curgenven dies.
Gerald Curgenven was the last “Lord of the Manor of Trevalga”. Not technically a lord, Mr Curgenven owned Trevalga and was a hands on landlord, once being knocked down by one of his own tenants over a stack of manure. Mr Curgenven ran Trevalga in such a way as to preserve its history and its beauty, whilst providing affordable housing for local people. People with families in the area were prioritised and children were allowed to assume the tenancies of their parents.
In Mr Curgenven’s will he established a trust which protects Trevalga, as Mr Curgenven instructed that the village be managed as it was during his lifetime, and provides yearly donations to his old school Marlborough College.
We understand the school initially try to claim Trevalga directly, this failed and the trust was formed in 1961.
2010 – After a compulsory purchase order is issued for South West Water, a solicitor misreads the will and believes the trust to be failed as it breaches the rule against perpetuities. The College moves swiftly to take ownership of Trevalga and place it on the market.
The Parish Meeting forms a liaison group known as Battle for Trevalga, chaired by Justin and with Serena acting as clerk and campaign co-ordinator. The Battle makes headlines and connects with supporters all over the world, 2 of whom will lead them directly to the very man they most needed to find.
The village secures the opinion of Ted Nugee QC, the greatest living authority on the rule against perpetuities at the time, who gives his time and advice informally and fee free. He finds the trust to be sound. The village also secures the opinion of George Duncan, on an informal and fee free basis, a partner in the trust department at Charles Russell LLP (Now Charles Russell Speechlys) who is in agreement with Mr Nugee.
The sale is stopped, the village returned to the trustees, and it is decided the trust must be registered with the Charity Commission as The Gerald Curgenven Will Trust. The trustees insist Serena cannot be involved any longer as it is a conflict of interest, even though she did not then live in Trevalga. The Will Trust is registered only with the aims of generating income for Marlborough College and preserving the capital, though residents and supporters are unaware of this.
2019 – Residents have been concerned for some time about the way the village is being managed. Questions are asked about why Savills, who were the College’s agent of sale, have been allowed to take over the management of Trevalga. Money seems to be being wasted at an alarming rate, works are not being done, and finally, a resident leaves his home at Welltown after first being told it will be sold and then being told he must pay a rent he cannot afford. He attempts to negotiate with the trustees, and the Parish tries to help, but the stress is too much and he leaves Trevalga.
Residents discover The Gerald Curgenven Will Trust does not have the charitable objective of preserving The Manor of Trevalga as Curgenven intended.
Charles Russell Speechlys writes a legal Opinion for the residents stating that the Will Trust should include the aim of preserving the Manor of Trevalga, they provide numerous examples of similar trusts around the UK. This is disregarded by the trustees.
The residents aim to write to the Charity Commission to raise their concerns regarding the management of the estate and to ask for the charitable aims to be updated to include the preservation of the Manor but then covid hits and meetings become hard, Serena’s sister becomes sick with ovarian cancer and that begins to take up her whole life.
2022 – The trustees write to tenants and inform them they are selling Trevalga. At a meeting they cite debt to the College and the trust’s life span as reasons for selling. They also seem to say they are keeping some sale proceeds for themselves.
Residents write to the trustees with 4 questions:
1. Who has told you this trust must end as that is not the case?
2. Are you keeping any personal funds from the sale?
3. How has the trust come to be in debt to Marlborough College?
4. What other options have been explored besides a sale?
John Wakeham, longest serving trustee, writes back almost immediately to claim the trust is invalid, though he refuses to say where this advice is from. He also refuses to clarify how the trust has come to be in debt to the College and whether any other options have been explored. He tells tenants once again to seek legal advice, whilst ignoring the expert legal advice we have.
Trevalga is placed on the market quickly for £15.75 million pounds with suggestions for redevelopment, leisure and setting up a shoot.
This is the nightmare scenario for Trevalga so the village has come together to try to stop the sale and secure the future of the Manor.
This project successfully funded on 5th July 2023