Blackwater Literary Institute

The Blackwater Literary Institute is a literary institute built in 1889 for John Passmore Edwards, who was the donor. The building features Killas stone with granite quoins and sills, along with brick jambs and arches. It has dry Delabole slate roofs with half-hipped ends on the front range and gable ends elsewhere. The roof is adorned with alternating crested and pierced clay ridge tiles and terminal finials, while polychrome brick chimneys rise from the side walls. The structure has a rectangular plan with a projecting entrance and a wing to the rear on the left (west) side, which includes an attached room to the north. It is a single-storey building with a symmetrical four-window front facing southwest. The design includes a plinth and hoodmoulds over the openings. The central entrance is round-headed and located in a projecting gabled bay, featuring an inscribed plaque above the doorway. Flanking this entrance are paired segmental arched window openings with stop-chamfered edges, and the original segmental arched sashes contain marginal panes of coloured glass. The interior has not been inspected. At the opening ceremony in 1890, the donor expressed his pleasure in giving this building to his native village, located close to his childhood home. This institute was the first of many gifts to Cornwall from Passmore Edwards, particularly significant for the residents of Blackwater, his birthplace.