A row has broken out over the future of a Cornish hamlet that Marlborough College was left in a will 50 years ago but is having to sell because of charity rules.

About 40 tenants rent homes in the hamlet of Trevalga between the north Cornwall seaside villages of Tintagel and Boscastle and they fear they would find themselves homeless if a new owner takes over the 3,000-acre estate.

The land was bequeathed to the public school in 1959 by the last Lord of the Manor of Trevalga, Gerald Curgenven.

Before he died at the age of 83 he left his entire estate to his old school believing it was best placed to keep the hamlet and the land unspoilt and allow the tenants to remain.

Now, more than half a century later, Marlborough College has found itself at the centre of a legal dilemma.

The £28,000-a-year public school is run as a registered educational charity and has been told that owning the hamlet infringes charity laws.

The college has instructed property agents Savills to sell Trevalga creating fear and uncertainly among the tenants about their security of tenure.

Tristin Partrick, who has lived in the hamlet since he was three, said the previous owner, Mr Curgenven, would be upset that the college was putting the estate up for sale.

Mr Partrick said: “The sale goes against everything Mr Curgenven set out.

“I believe that he will be turning in his grave that his dying wish has not been respected.”

Families who own their own homes in the hamlet are also concerned that their community might change drastically if the estate homes are sold off as weekender homes.

One said it was feared Trevalga could become a ghost village of second-home owners and holiday lets.

Savills director Mark Syrett said the college had no choice but to sell. “They are a charity and their charity obligations are to provide education facilities so the ownership of an estate in Cornwall does not meet those obligations,” said Mr Syrett, adding that some of the homes included in the sale had protected tenancies.

Mr Syrett said the college was conscious of the uncertainty and worry that the sale would cause the residents. “We have assured them that we are and shall continue to do our best to keep the disruption to a minimum and where possible to keep the village informed,” he said.

The issue came to light after the school sold a parcel of land at Trevalga for a sewage treatment works last year and the HM Revenue and Customs Department raised questions about the trust in which the estate was held.

A college spokesman reiterated that ownership of the estate breached its charitable status. He added: “After taking advice the college took the decision to sell the estate with a view to reinvesting the capital in the furtherance of their charitable obligations.”