Hallsands history
Prospect House is rich in history. It sits above the ruined village of Hallsands, which was once a small community that relied on the sea for its living. Located down the cliff, at the base of the rocks with a wide expanse of shingle beach in front of it, it supported 128 people. Hallsands, being round the east side of Start Point, was well-protected from the prevailing south-westerlies, and the fishermen were often able to fish in the relative shelter of the bay, launching and retrieving their boats on the shingle beach.
In 1897, expansion in the naval dockyard in Plymouth meant that there was a need for sand and gravel for building, and so the government embarked in a period of dredging, and removed 660,000 tonnes of material from the seabed, much of it being from the shingle bank that lay off the beach at Hallsands. This decision, to remove the natural underwater defence without understanding that it would not be replaced by existing underwater action, was to have a devastating effect on the village. Dredging activities were eventually stopped, but not before several fishibng villages reported their shingle beaches being relentlessly carried away by the now unbroken effects of tide and wind.
The night of 26th Janurary 1917 was a foul one: a storm blew down the Channel from the east, and the winds strengthened as the tide rose. The fierce onshore winds pushed large waves into the bay, which came surging up the beach. It crashed over the wall into the houses beyond, smashing through windows and doors, and flooded the houses. The waves continued to roll into the houses, and by midnight four houses had been washed away. Dawn revealed a sorry sight, as the inhabitants, clutching what possessions they could carry, gathered on the clifftops to watch the scene. Another high tide that day compounded the problems, and by the end of that dramatic 24 hours, only one house house was left standing and undamaged: 29 had been claimed by the sea. Whilst no villagers lost their lives that night, they lost their livelihoods, possessions and homes. The remnants of the village are still there on the rocks, viewable from a lookout position, a stark reminder of the power of the sea and of man's inability to understand the impact of his actions.
Prospect House
The Trout sisters were inhabitants of Hallsands until it succumbed to the storms, but undaunted they decided to rebuild their lives, and their house, on the clifftop above the village. Persuading an elightened bank manager to extend them a loan, the two sisters built the house themselves, then extended it a couple of times before turning it into a hotel.The hotel subsequently become holiday apartments and had a small tea room, before being bought by developer Amanda Lubrani and restored to its flormer glory, converting it into a number of luxury flats and houses in this unique location. By resotring the house and preserving its history, this development is one of the most sympathetic of its kind, and provides an ongoing connection to the dramatic events of the past.