New Owner makes his mark at Cornwall's Famous Jamaica Inn

Jamaica Inn on Cornwall's Bodmin Moor has always been considered one of the South West's most famous landmarks. Immortalised in Daphne du Maurier's bestselling novel and close to the author's former homes Menabilly and Ferryside, it has well and truly earned its place in the history books.

Built in 1750 as a coaching inn and frequented by weary travellers using the turnpike between Launceston and Bodmin, it is said that smugglers used the Inn to hide their contraband. It is estimated that half of the brandy and a quarter of all tea being smuggled into the UK was landed along the Cornish and Devon coasts. It is also thought that the Inn may have got its name because it did a considerable trade in rum.

Jamaica Inn

In February 2014, the Inn was sold for the first time in 40 years. The six-and-a-half acre site on Bodmin Moor was purchased by Surrey business man Allen Jackson for over £2 million, after he made an offer within an hour of his first ever visit to the Inn.

As soon as the Inn was purchased, Mr Jackson began his ongoing changes. Improvements have included additional en-suite bedrooms, a décor refresh, a change of policy to welcome dogs, a menu revamp and a reduction in the price of real ales, draught lagers and ciders . . .