Ilsington: The Carpenters Arms

Image: © Nigel Cox Taken: 18 Oct 2008

The date in the gable end is 1790, but the building is thought to have been a farmhouse before becoming a public house around 1816. The name probably reflects the self-contained nature of the community with a whole selection of different types of artisans living and working in the parish. The old Ordnance Survey map of 1889 shows the name of the building to be "Carpenters' Arms". The 1881 Census shows the following occupants:- George TARR, head of the household, married, age 41, born Bickington, Devon, occupation blacksmith employing 1 man Sarah TARR, his wife, married, aged 40, born Ilsington, Devon Anna J TARR, their daughter, aged 14, born Ilsington, Devon Bessie TARR, their daughter, aged 10, born Ilsington, Devon, scholar Tom TARR, their son, aged 9, born Ilsington, Devon, scholar Ruth TARR, their daughter, aged 6, born Ilsington, Devon, scholar Ellen TARR, their daughter, aged 4, born Ilsington, Devon, scholar Susan FORD, mother (of Sarah Tarr?), widow aged 78, born Buckland, Devon, pauper William H WILLIAMS, a lodger, unmarried, aged 25, born Briage, Cornwall, occupation iron miner Richard H SYMONS, a lodger, unmarried, aged 22, born Briage, Cornwall, occupation iron miner Henry TRUDGEON, a lodger, married, aged 50, born Madern, Cornwall, occupation iron miner Henry PHILIPPS, a lodger, married, aged 36, born Ludgeveen, Cornwall, occupation iron miner Two observations can be made about this. Firstly the head of the household described himself as a blacksmith and not a publican so the running of the public house was not his main occupation, and secondly the presence of the four Cornishmen who were working locally as iron miners, reflecting the existence of mining in the area, and the fact that these men were economic migrants.

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