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Save the view from Talland House, setting for Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse

Thursday 1 January 2026 by Paula Maggio

Developers are at it again. As in 2015, and 2003, they are planning a multi-million dollar flat project that would obstruct the view from Talland House in St. Ives, Cornwall, which was the setting and inspiration for Virginia Woolf’s 1927 novel To the Lighthouse.

Professor Maggie Humm, vice-chair of the Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain, and Councillor Johnnie Wells, Deputy Mayor of St. Ives at the Talland House plaque unveiling on Sept. 11, 2022. Photo: St. Ives September Festival

The last time, in 2015, developers proposed building a six-story, 10-flat project that would hide the view of Godrevy Lighthouse and the St. Ives coast.

This time, the project submitted to St. Ives Town Council by R.L. Southern, Ltd. is for 12 flats and again threatens to obstruct the view of the lighthouse, as well as of the Heritage Plaque installed on Talland House on Sept. 11, 20022, which will no longer be visible from a public highway, a requirement of any Heritage Plaque.

A parking garage will also be part of the multi-story project developed by R.L. Southern, Ltd., which incorporated in 2019 and appears to have no website of its own. Its director is Robert Mark Lane, 146 High Street, Billericay, Essex, United Kingdom, CM12 9DF. No other contact information is listed online.

Woolfians called to action

In 2015, Woolfians around the world fought back against the project that threatened the view of Godrevy, and the development was halted.  Now, Woolf scholars and readers are being asked to take up the fight again by posting comments objecting to the plan on the St. Ives Town Council website at this link. Registration is required before commenting.

Background

Woolf and her family summered at Talland House for the first 12 years of her life. Godrevy Lighthouse, which she could see from her summer home plays an integral role in her famous novel To the Lighthouse (1927).

Maggie Humm announced this sad news and gave some background on previous development plans:

“For the first application I garnered objections from around the world including from Cecil Woolf, Leonard and Virginia Woolf’s nephew, now sadly deceased. The planning application was denounced in the Observer and other media. (At that time, Cecil posted this comment: ‘About the proposal to build a block of six flats and a car park in front of Talland House, which should, of course, be protected by English Heritage — I am appalled. This is sheer vandalism and should be stopped now.’)

“The [2025] application hardly differs from the original application which received objections from around the world.”

The application for the development, PA25/07750, can be accessed online, along with planning documents, a map, and more.

Maggie shares her objections

  • The view from Talland House of Godrevy Lighthouse was central to VW’s imagination and appears in her novels Jacob’s Room, To the Lighthouse and The Waves, and “Sketch of the Past.” Woolf even called her first Sussex home in Firle Little Talland House. The development would obstruct that view.
  • Tourism, a vital industry in St Ives, relies on writers/artist connections to the town. World-wide visitors come to St Ives to see their houses. This development would constrain visits to Talland House and diminish the number of tourists.
  • A plaque celebrating Woolf’s connections with St Ives, supported by the VWSGB and St Ives Council, and donations from Woolf scholars from around the world, was unveiled on 11 September 2022 by the Deputy Mayor and Maggie. It was part of the St Ives Festival programme that year, and praised on BBC Radio Cornwall, the Observer and by other media. A St Ives spokesman said at the time “this will mark our connection to important writers who also left their mark on west Cornwall.”
  • Woolf’s family made a huge contribution to the town. Julia Stephen, Woolf’s mother, nursed and raised money for a trained nurse; Leslie Stephen gave prizes at the Regatta; and they joined the St Ives Arts Club. The Heritage Plaque celebrates that contribution.

Post objections now

Maggie urges all of us to forward our objections to the development as soon as possible, as the final decision on the new application will be made on 6 February 2026.

Map of the proposed development that would obstruct the view of the coast from Talland House in St. Ives, Cornwall. Talland House is to the left and below the development area, which is outlined in red.

Posted in Talland House, Virginia Woolf | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments »

Tracking Virginia & Leonard Woolf on Dec. 28 over the years

Sunday 28 December 2025 by Paula Maggio

One hundred years ago today, on Dec. 28, 1925, Virginia Woolf headed to London to join her husband Leonard after spending Christmas at Charleston.

“Monk’s House Welcome Home” by Amanda White

The Woolfs were at Charleston to avoid the inconvenience of alterations being made at Monk’s House, and they celebrated the Christmas holiday with Vanessa Bell and her children.

While there, they “spent a fascinating evening reading VW’s diary recalling early days at 46 Gordon Square” (Diary 3, pg. 53).

The Woolfs: where they were and what they did on Dec. 28

Except for 1925 and 1926, the Woolfs spent their Christmas holiday at Monk’s House from 1925 through 1940. As noted in Virginia’s diaries, here is where they were and what they did on Dec. 28 of those years.

1925: 52 Tavistock Square, London

1926: The Woolfs return to 52 Tavistock Square, London after spending Christmas with Ka and Will Arnold Forster at Eagle’s Nest, Zennor in Cornwall (D3, 119).

1927: Monk’s House

1928: No mention

1929: Monk’s House, where the Keynes’ arrive in their Rolls Royce to pay a visit and stay overnight, wrecking Virginia’s “perfect fortnight of silence” (D3, 276).

1930: Monk’s House, where Virginia suffers from influenza and is in bed “with the usual temperature, & cant use my wits or, as is visible, form my letters” (D3, 340).

1931: Monk’s House, where Virginia notes that their “3 black swans came” to visit (D4, 57).

1932: Monk’s House, where Virginia is working on Flush (D4, 134).

1933: Monk’s House, where Virginia’s writing lodge is ready for her use (D4, 266).

1934: No mention

Virginia Woolf’s Writing Lodge at Monk’s House in Sussex

1935: Monk’s House, where Virginia begins a new book for her diary, after finishing the “last revision of the last pages of The Years” and wonders if she will “ever write a long book again–a long novel that has to be held in the brain, at full stretch–for close on 3 years?” (D4, 360).

1936: Monk’s House, where Virginia works on the proofs — “the galleys” — of The Years (D5, 44).

1937: Monk’s House, where Leonard took to his bed with a temperature before heading to London to see his doctor (D5, 122).

1938: Monk’s House, where she is writing Pointz Hall and keeps track of the reception of Three Guineas (D5, 193).

1939: Monk’s House, with snow and a hard frost on the 28th, allowing Virginia to skate on Dec. 31 (D5, 252).

1940: Monk’s House, where on the last Dec. 28 of her life, Virginia “rode across the downs to the Cliffs. A roll of barbed wire is hooped on the edge. I rubbed my mind brisk along the Newhaven road. Shabby old maids buying groceries, in that desert road with the villas; in the wet. And Newhaven gashed. But tire the body & the mind sleeps” (D5, 347).

More on the Woolfs and Christmas

Read on for more details about Virginia Woolf and Christmas and the Virginia Woolf word portrait by Akron, Ohio, artist John Sokol, which is pictured below.

Posted in diaries, quotes | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment »

Session on Woolf and animal studies today on Zoom

Friday 19 December 2025 by Paula Maggio

Today, the Virginia Woolf Society of Turkey presents a new talk in its Woolf Seminar series featuring Jeanne Dubino on “Virginia Woolf’s Life and Writing: The Embodiment of Animal Studies.”

The talk will begin at 7 p.m. (Turkey time) or 11 a.m. EST and is available via Zoom.

In it, Dubino will explore how Virginia Woolf’s work engages with animals, not merely as metaphors, but as companions, performers, and wild beings, while also addressing themes of experimentation and activism.

You can register for the talk via this link. Once registered, you will receive an email with the meeting link. Remember to check your spam folder if the email does not appear in your inbox.

Dubino is professor of English, Global Studies, and Animal Studies at Appalachian State University in North Carolina.

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Happy 250th birthday to Jane Austen from Virginia Woolf

Tuesday 16 December 2025 by Paula Maggio

Today is the 250th birthday of the celebrated British author Jane Austen, an author that Virginia Woolf held in great esteem, as evidenced by the fact that references to Austen are all over Woolf’s writing.

This is the tiny table where Jane Austen did her writing. Only the tabletop is original. It is housed at Chawton House in Hampshire, the one-time home of Jane’s brother Andrew.

Where Woolf mentions Austen

  • diaries — both early and late
  • letters
  • essays, including a chapter on Austen in The Common Reader: First Series (1925)
  • short story “A Society” (1915)
  • Roger Fry: A Biography (1940)
  • A Room of One’s Own (1929)
  • Three Guineas (1938)
  • The Voyage Out (1915)
  • Jacob’s Room (1922)
  • To the Lighthouse (1927).
  • the “Reminiscences” chapter of her autobiographical Moments of Being (1976)

A few quotes from Woolf about Austen

Interestingly enough, today I spotted these two timeless Austen classics on the book table at the bargain store Five Below in my city.

The wit of Jane Austen has for partner the perfection of her taste. Her fool is a fool, her snob is a snob, because he departs from the model of sanity and sense which she has in mind, and conveys to us unmistakably even while she makes us laugh. Never did any novelist make more use of an impeccable sense of human values. It is against the disc of an unerring heart, an unfailing good taste, an almost stern morality, that she shows up those deviations from kindness, truth, and sincerity which are among the most delightful things in English literature. – The Common Reader: First Series, pg. 141.

The real novelist can somehow convey both sorts of being. I think Jane Austen can – Moments of Being, pg. 70.

More on Austen

For more on Woolf and Austen read “Jane Austen Turns 250: Why the Beloved Author Still Endures Today” from the Washington State University Libraries, which has four first-edition Austen novels in its collection.

See more photos from Jane Austen’s House Museum, which uses 41 objects throughout the house she lived in from 1809-1817 to tell her story, as well as Charlton House, where her brother Edward lived. She visited there regularly.

Jane Austen’s House and Museum, which was her home from 1809-1817.

The rather small bed Jane Austen shared with her sister Charlotte.

 

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News about Virginia Woolf scholars

Friday 12 December 2025 by Paula Maggio

Here are just a handful of news bits about Virginia Woolf scholars. I know there are more. So if you have one, please add it as a comment below this post. Or send it to me by clicking on the email link in the right sidebar.

  • Maggie Humm’s book The Bloomsbury Photographs (2024) received two honors this year. It was a finalist in the American Writing Award 2025 for Academic/Educational book, and it won the American Writing Award 2025 for photography.
  • Amanda Golden and Karen V. Kukil edited The Poems of Sylvia Plath, which is listed in the Faber Spring Catalogue and is now available for pre-order on Amazon UK. It is considered the definitive edition of Plath’s poetry.
  • Anne Fernald has a new book coming out in August. Her Own Voice: Eight Women Who Rewrote Life and Art tells the stories of eight radical women who responded to social oppression and helped create the modernist movement. In it, Fernald argues that the stories we read shape the lives we imagine for ourselves, and offers these stories as possible templates for living boldly and creatively.
  • Ane Thon Knutsen had another of her works, A Room of One’s Own (2017), included in the Catalog for Artistic Publishing, which is a collection of the most important 100 publications from Norwegian artists.

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