The shop in the Village Square now known as the Cornish Stone Shop was originally two properties dating from 1879. They were sold in 1925 to Mr Cecil Jose and Miss Agnes Roberts for the sum of 9 GBP a piece. Both were serpentine shops and a close inspection will show that the workshop window is still there today. Cecil Jose’s grandfather was also the official guide, showing visitors the splendid coast line just a walk away from the shop. He was a respected botanist, an authority on the wild flowers which still grow at the lizard.
Mr Hedley Mundy bought the shops and the land over a period of four years between 1928 and 1932. He converted the two shops into one and built the living accommodation above. On his death the property passed to his son, Hedley Granville. In 1988 my mother, Barbara Shipton, and I bought the property which, although improved, still retains the character of the original two shops. We discovered an old cast iron window which we have made into a feature, and found also old newspaper advertising plaques, a reminder of the days when Hedley Mundy senior sold newspapers. Today we run the family business much as we have always done, but now with the help of my husband, Barry.
Zena Browning.
The business started on the site of what is currently the Shevera gift shop as a serpentine workshop. In 1933 it was built at a cost of 100 GBP for Mr Wilfred Shipton by Percy Emmett and Leslie Hendy. In 1946 an extension was added, built from secondhand wood purchased from Mr Leonard Casley as building materials were very scarce after the war.
Serpentine continued to be turned until the late 1950’s and it was not until 1974 that the lathe shop was converted to a shop window. Mr Shipton continued to run the business until his death in 1969, when Mrs Barbara Shipton took over, soon to be joined by one of her daughters, Zena.
From ” The Lizard in Landewednack” – A Village Story.