Many have written about the activities of the Club and the Minute Books for all meetings held since the inaugural meeting in 1890 have been kept. From 1890 onwards the Club has never looked back. Membership, originally restricted to professional painters, sculptors, architects, authors, musicians and engravers has been widened over the years to include, for example, drama, performance poetry, photography, comedy and even those with simply a keen interest in the arts. Both the number of members and their main interests have varied considerably over the years, the club having been through periods where drama has taken a leading role, whilst at other times painting, writing and music have predominated.

"Sir, we the undersigned Artists now residing in St Ives, watch its growth with interest and considerable apprehension. Artists and visitors are drawn to St Ives, not by its beautiful sea alone; but by its unlikeness to other watering places. This distinction, we cannot but feel, is in danger of being lost through hastily conceived building schemes, and thoughtless removal of characteristic features. We would urge upon you as the representative of large landowners here, that there is a future before St Ives as a place of all-the-year-round resort by well to do people in search of health and change, if only those things be preserved which now attract them, and which they can get nowhere else. We would suggest that it is for these people, who turn from other watering places in search of something quite different, that provision should be made by building; and that the erection of long terraces and rows of lodging houses will not attract, but assuredly repel them; and make of St Ives a poor rival, (and that for a month or two in the year only) of Newquay, Ilfracombe and other watering places in the West of England. Our love for the place, to the growth of which we have contributed, must be our excuse for addressing the landowners in St Ives and those who represent them. We would also beg you to use your power and influence to prevent the destruction of objects of natural beauty and interest, - trees, and granite boulders - and especially those gnarled and wind twisted thorn trees which help to give this country its distinctive character, we are Sir, your obedient servants - Thos Millie Dow, F W Brooke, Lowell Dyer, Julius Olsson, H Harewood Robinson, Adrian Stokes, C G Beale Adams, Fred Milner, Mary Lovett Cameron, Edward Fuller Maitland, M D Harewood Robinson, L Kirkpatrick, J Noble Barlow, Moffat Lindue, Emma Chadwick, Francis B Chadwick, Bertha King, E E Mainwaring, Percy Mason, A K Baird Smith, M E Meade, Louis Grier, John M Bromley, Arthur Meade, S C Bosch Reitz, W H Y Titcomb, Stuart Hobkirk, J G Titcomb, W B Fortescue, Arnesby Brown, Miss Brown, J R Weguelin, G Walter Jevons, John C Douglas, S E Whitehouse, H M Maynard - We the undersigned residents desire to associate ourselves with the Artists of St Ives in the above letter - R S Read, Mayor, Edward Hain jr, Geo B Rosewall, William Trewhella, J M Nicholls, W Tolmie Tresidder, Thos Row Harry"; with covering letter from F W Brooke”

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THE PROPERTY:

"All those water grist-mills situate lying and being within the said Borough of St. Ives near The Warren --- bounded with the land formerly of Westcott on the North with the lands of the Lessees of Praed on the West with the lands of the Lessees of Fradd and Hugh Pawley, Gentlemen, on the South and on the East with the sea. . ."

The property and land (as a complete entity) changed hands a number of times (each owner apparently continuing in occupation as millers) falling into the possession of one John Hendy (miller) who struck an agreement, finalised on the 13 November 1812, ending a right-of-way dispute between himself and Charles Richards, Gentleman, and William Richards, Officer of His Majesty's Customs (owners of a fish cellar, now known as No.3 The Warren). In this agreement John Hendy gave Messrs. Richards, their Executors, Administrators and Assigns, on payment of sixpence a year, right-of-way for "Horses, Carts and Carriages" over his "wastrel or void plot of ground being part and parcel of the sea beach on the East side of his grist-mill" to give access to fish-cellars in The Warren. It is important to take note of this agreement which shows why the "warehouse', later built by Charles Eathorne, was built in a particular style.

Mr. Charles Eathorne became the owner of the water grist-mill in 1858, On the 18th November 1882 he assigned to the Borough of St.lves "certain leasehold water grist-mills and hereditaments situate in or near The Warren." This is the first indication of a "break up" of the property originally referred to in 1726. Mr. Charles Eathorne died 26 March 1890, leaving the property to his wife, Elinor Row Eathorne. Mrs. Eathorne sold to John Jenkyn, Builder, St Ives, for the sum of £50, on 27th August 1890:

"All that plot of ground formerly a wastrel and part of the sea beach on the East of the said water grist mill and premises together with the warehouse and premises thereon erected by the said Charles Eathorne and late in his occupation... "

We can, therefore, deduce that the date of the building of the "warehouse and premises" (the Arts Club) is sometime between 1858 (when he acquired the property) and 1882 when he assigned part of his property to St. Ives Borough Council. If Mr. Eathorne started construction of the "warehouse" soon after he became owner, it is perhaps reasonable to assume that the present Arts Club building is about 145 years old at this date (i.e. 1860-2005).

On 19 July 1926 John Jenkyn signed a Deed of Release with the then owners of No.3 The Warren whereby the latter surrendered and conveyed their right-of-way over or through the premises on payment of fifteen pounds. John Jenkyn, now retired and living at 1 Parc Beam Terrace, St. Ives, sold the property on to the Trustees of St.Ives Arts Club (Edward Stewart Darmady, James Marshall Findlay, William Herbert Lanyon and Moffat Peter Lindner) on the 29th September 1928.

From 1890, when the Arts Club came into being, until 1928, the upper floor was leased by Mr. Jenkyn to the Arts Club as a clubroom and the ground floor was used as a carpenter's shop by Mr. Jenkyn. The carpenter's shop had wide openings on three sidewalls, sufficient to give access for "Horses, Carts and Carriages" as provided for in the right-of-way agreement concluded in November 1812. It seems reasonable to assume that when Mr. Eathorne built his "warehouse" (presumably for the storage of corn for his water grist-mill), he had this right-of-way agreement well in mind and visualised using the upper floor for storage, leaving the ground floor open to give free access to the next-door fish cellar. (There still remains the top part of the outside staircase, which originally gave access to the upper floor). 

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The building itself, fronts directly onto the sea, the seaward wall and foundations acting both as support and protecting The Warren and immediate area against damage by the sea. During winter storms the sea breaks directly onto the building and the wave spray travels over the building and into The Warren behind. Next to the club building there is a small area of Westcott’s Quay undeveloped, and it is an ideal spot to sit in the sun on the benches provided, admiring the excellent view of St.Ives and its harbour. It is often one of the quieter spots in the town.

Ground Floor: The Arts Club is approximately 40 feet square, the outer walls of the ground floor being of granite and stone approximately 2' 3" thick on the seaward side and 1' 8" elsewhere. In 2004/2005, with the assistance of a legacy from a former member Mrs. Agnes Naylor and grants from the Lottery Heritage fund and the Penwith Community Network Community Chest fund the downstairs library and dressing rooms were amalgamated and the area renovated to form a large, bright and attractive club room with kitchen facilities. The toilets and entrance hall were redecorated and retained, and a storeroom fitted. During the building work, ships masts and spars were revealed as part of the upper floor support system and two of these are now visible in the ceiling of the new clubroom, one of these being 12" in diameter. All floors are of solid concrete construction and a large drainage culvert, presumably once a stream, runs under the club floor and empties onto the foreshore from the side of the seaward wall through a metal culvert cap. There are two, now unused, chimneys within the structure. A large set of windows fronts onto The Warren and a further set overlook the seats on Westcott’s Quay. Two smaller windows with metal reinforced, obscured glass face the seaward side.

First Floor; The walls are of wood only, vertical studs about 6" and 4" square, weather boarding outside and wood lining inside, the whole about 5" to 6" thick. There is a plastic membrane on the inside of the weather boarding on the seawall side. All walls and the ceiling appear to contain wool-type silicon insulation. The wood floor is supported on joists varying in depth from 9" x 2" to 12" x 2" some having been strengthened by putting 6" x 3" joists under them. The wood stage floor rests on the original floor. The Stage, possibly constructed in the 1930’s, measures 4m x 7m and the auditorium/workspace 6m x 9m. A new, digital, stage lighting system was installed in 2005 and the stage control tower largely re-constructed, all with the assistance of a grant from the Penwith Community Network Community Chest fund to the resident junior drama group “the IMPS”. A new changing room, adjacent to the stage, was also constructed and fitted during 2005. White boards mounted onto the club walls provide art exhibition space upstairs and a further system of boards can be erected within the centre of the auditorium if desired. The upstairs is largely painted black, and has 4 high level windows fitted into dormers. There is also a blind dormer above the changing room. A single large picture window provides one of the best views of St.Ives Harbour in the town. Unsurprisingly, it is the subject of numerous paintings! Two further smaller windows look out over the bay.

Roof: Much of the roof construction is attractively visible from within the first floor area. The hipped roof is constructed from crudely formed trusses. The interior is boarded on the underside of the spars, they in turn being covered on the outside by Cornish slates. Three wood struts on either side of the room are there to hold the feet of the roof rafters and prevent them spreading, also to hold in the wood by tying them down to the floor joists.

Stairs: These are 4 feet wide rising from the hall on the ground floor to the upper room. A single window at the top of the stairs overlooks “The Warren”. The emergency exit consists of a trapdoor in the floor of the auditorium, underneath the stage control tower, leading to a set of concrete steps and a door leading onto Westcotts Quay.

Services: Mains water, electric water heating, electric light and gas central heating. Separate Ladies’ and Gentlemen’s Toilets are connected directly to a mains sewer. 

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