Lost House of David UK

By Sophie Jones

**EXCLUSIVE**

ASTONISHING photographs reveal the secrets of the owner of these long-lost treasures of a home frozen in time since 1986.

The house, located a few miles from St Ives, Cornwall, was discovered by an urban explorer who took these haunting images to document the life of the man who once lived within its walls.

In one room of the house belonging to a man revealed to be called, “David”, a dusty old piano was pictured still set up with sheet music as if someone could come back any moment.

Next to the broken piano, a faded black and white photograph showed four young men posing with their musical instruments, perhaps once in a band together.

In the kitchen, frayed curtains drape around a broken window partially covered in ivy and the floor is so blackened with mould it has started to rot and collapse.

A model boat perched on a mantelpiece appeared to be in good condition but it is covered in paint chips from the disintegrating wall.

Nearby, the clock has stopped at 13 minutes past midnight or midday and, above it, a remarkably undamaged calendar on the wall displayed the month of December, 1986.

An old tape cassette and a box of dominoes offered another fascinating glimpse at what life was once like in this remote cottage.

Adam Corkill (40) a hotel reservationist from Paignton, Devon, who took these photographs, said he discovered the name of the home’s owner was David after finding a birthday card amongst the jumble of personal belongings.

“As soon as a name is attached to a house, the feelings and atmosphere intensifies, and you feel a sense of the memories of the past, and what has been before,” he said.

“You wonder if these are the only surviving documents of this family’s life, or why any surviving relatives wouldn’t have collected them.”

There were a large number of strange items items in many of the rooms and several things had been taken apart.

“On exploring the rooms, it became obvious David was a huge collector, and examiner, of electrical items,” Adam said.

“It’s like he wanted to know the inner workings of them, modify them and give them new life. VCRs, gramophones, Television sets all lay with their innards on display, in various states of repair.”

Adam said the old piano had “gone through a half restoration but seemingly not finished enough to hold a note”.

He added: “David obviously was working through so many different projects, and that exact moment he left the house, the projects were destined to never be finished.

“In years, decades, the site will be found, bought and demolished with the items still inside, not a passing thought of the history therein. Many people see Urban Explorers as trouble, vandals, attention-seekers.

“But for someone like David, I would guess with a large amount of hope, that before his partial and finished projects are destroyed forever, he would see that we are there to document, and not to publicise our work, but to publicise his.”

ENDS