A World Of Its Own
Margaret Amelia Grose was the founder of the Thurlestone Hotel. In 1893 she and her husband, William John, originally moved to a farm in South Huish from their farm in Wadebridge, Cornwall with their four young sons. With the advent of the railway to Kingsbridge, the first visitors were coming to the area and, with an eye for coming trends, William John and Margaret Amelia took a lease on the farmhouse in Thurlestone (now the Village Inn) in 1896 and began taking in paying guests.
In the early 1900's, the Prince of Wales (later to become Edward VIII), who was attending the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, would visit with his friends and, after playing a round of golf on the newly established Thurlestone Golf Club, they would have lunch at Thurlestone House. On one such occasion, Margaret Amelia told the Prince of Wales to take his elbows off the table!