AFTER years of mail going to the wrong place because of the popularity of the close name 'Tamar View', residents of Cotehele's Bohetherick Estate have a new address.

The terrace of four cottages called Tamar View, built some time after Queen Victoria began her reign in 1837, has returned to its original name of Victoria Terrace, thanks to super sleuthing skills of cottage tenant Yvonne Mansfield.

Fed up with letters, bills and other mail being lost due to the confusion of 15 other Tamar Views in the area, Mrs Mansfield decided to do a little digging into the history of the National Trust estate.

'When I first came here 25 years ago, a neighbour, who has since passed away, said to me the cottages were not always called Tamar View,' said Mrs Mansfield. 'I did not think about it at the time but the conversation came back to me since losing my mail on so many occasions.'

But when Mrs Mansfield started to do her research, she drew a blank everywhere she turned.

'It was too long ago for any of the Cotehele staff to know and nobody locally seemed to know anything,' she said. '

Some of the records from Cotehele were burned during the war when Mount Edgcumbe was bombed, so I could not find the details there either.'

Even checking the census from 1891 onwards in the library did not reveal anything, because although names were registered, many of the addresses were missing.

Finally, Mrs Mansfield managed to track down the daughter of a man who had great knowledge of the estate.

'From a boy of 14, this man was very interested in the area and particularly Cotehele Estate. He had lots of maps, including one from 1926 when the cottages were called Victoria Terrace, ' said Mrs Mansfield.

With support from the other residents, the National Trust and Caradon District Council, the terrace has now officially been renamed, databases have been updated and the utilities have been informed.

Mrs Mansfield is thrilled and hopes the days of lost mail are over: 'I am delighted that we have managed to get the original name of the terrace back,' she said. 'I put the flags out on the day the signs went up.'