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Dan Snow's History Hit

Smugglers of Jamaica Inn

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Stories of shipwrecks, smugglers and ghosts. Built in the mid-18th century, over the years many of the Jamaica Inn's patrons have been less respectable than most. The inn has a long history of being used by smugglers to hide away contraband that was brought ashore concealed in all sorts of things - potatoes, women's stockings and even a hollowed-out turtle. It is estimated that half the brandy and a quarter of all tea being smuggled into the UK was landed along the Cornish and Devon coasts. Jamaica Inn was remote and isolated so it was the ideal stopping place on the way to Devon and beyond.


The inn was made famous by Daphne Du Maurier's novel of the same name published in 1936 after she and a friend became lost in fog whilst out riding on the moors and were led back by their horses to safety at the Inn. During the time spent recovering from her ordeal, the local rector is said to have entertained her with ghost stories and tales of smuggling...


Today it still operates as a hotel and museum and local historian at the Jamaica Inn Karin Beasant joins the podcast to regale us with tales of smuggling off the Cornish coast.


Find out more information about the Jamaica Inn.


Produced by Mariana Des Forges, edited by Dougal Patmore and readings by Lucy Davidson.


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