Row over sale plans for Cornwall's Trevalga estate

The Trevalga estate includes a manor house, six farms and 17 homes

A row has broken out over plans to sell an estate in Cornwall.

Trevalga was left by Gerald Curgenven to a trust in 1959 with the profits to go to his school in Wiltshire.

Residents said selling the hamlet, between Tintagel and Boscastle, for £16m would be against his dying wishes and left them facing homelessness.

Trustees of the estates said they were trying to sell it in its entirety to "provide the best chance" of protecting tenancies and the estate's character.

Mr Curgenven, the last lord of the manor, bequeathed the estate to the Trevalga Estate Trust to maintain it for future generations, with its profits to go to Marlborough College.

It includes a manor house, six farms and 17 homes.

In a letter to tenants, trustee John Wakeham said the intention was "to sell it in its entirety to provide the best chance of protecting the existing tenancies and the character of the estate".

Battle for Trevalga campaign co-ordinator Serena Partrick told BBC Spotlight: "We are aware that this is an unusual situation - that there are people in Trevalga that are not wealthy, that are living in incredibly valuable properties, but why should you have to be a millionaire to live somewhere beautiful?"

She added: "The way the village is being marketed as prime development here in Cornwall shows us there's absolutely no hope of anyone buying it, taking it on in the spirit of Curgenven."

Serena Partrick said Trevalga was unique in having no second homes or holiday lets

Mr Wakeham said the trust was mounting "our defence in the 'Battle for Trevalga'" after criticism.

He said buildings needed maintenance and the only money available was rental income, which it shared with Marlborough College.

He said any works that "cannot come from rental income... must come from borrowing or liquidating an asset, namely selling part of the estate".

He said individual sales would "begin the break-up of the estate, damaging... this rare and integrated coastal mix of unspoilt property".

Talking to BBC Spotlight, Mr Wakeham called on campaigners to work with them instead of fighting.

He said: "The best route forward is for everybody to work together to make sure that we have a purchaser who will be a good custodian of the estate into the future."

Both sides in the row have described a "battle" for Trevalga